ART. XXVI. Literary Epitaph at Honiton, Devon. "Hic jacent exuviæ mortales reverendi admodum viri Azra Cleveland, S. T. B. collegii Exon. Per id omne tempus studiis gnavitèr incubuit, necnon Christianæ fidei articulos, peculiari perspicuitate concionibus enucleavit. Moribus inerat severitas, sermoni gravitas, Idem vero cùm tempus posceret, comes mirè multo permaduit sale. Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ rituum et doctrinæ fuit Et uno contentus sacerdotio, Alterum non ambivit,, oblatum etiam recusavit. Senio potius quàm morbo confectus, Gent. Mag. Vol. LXIII. Part I. p. 393. ART. He compiled a "Genealogical History of the noble and illustrious Family of Courtnay. In three parts. The first, giveth an account of the Counts ART. XXVII. Literary Obituary. On the 16th of May last, died, John Charnock, Esq. F. S. A. to whose memory the writer of these lines, who sincerely esteemed him, feels much pleasure in being permitted, through the friendship of the Editor, to dedicate somewhat more than a bare obituary notice. He was born on the 28th of November, 1756, the only son of John Charnock, Esq. a native of the island of Barbadoes, and formerly an advocate of eminence at the English bar, by Frances, daughter of Thomas Boothby, of Chingford in Essex, Esq. both of whom are still living. He was placed about the year 1767 at the Rev, Reynell Colton's school at Winchester, and went from thence to the college, where, in the station of a commoner, he was under the immediate care of Dr. Joseph Warton, the Head Master, in whose house he boarded, and became the peculiar favourite of that so justly beloved and admired man. Having attained to the seniority of the school, and gained the prize medal annually given for elocution, he removed from Winchester to Oxford, and was entered in 17,4 a Gentle man Commoner of Merton College. Here he soon discovered his passion for literary composition, " Jear Counts of Fdessa of that family. The second, of that branch that 's in France. The third, of that branch that is in England. By E. C.eaveland, B. D sometime fel ow of Exeter College, in Oxford, and rector of Hori on in Devon. Exon. Printed by Edward Farley, at Shakspeare's Hea East gate, 1735, iol. pp. 339." Gibbon, in his Digression on the Courtnay Family, Hist. Decl. and Fall, Vol. XI p. 294, 8vo. says— "I have applied, but not confined myself, tɔ A Genealogical History of the noble and illustrious Family o. Courtnay, by Ez.a Cleaveland, tutor to Sir William Courtnay, and rector of Honiton.' The first part is extracted from William of Tyre; the second from Bouchet's French History; and the third from various memorials, public, provincia!, and private, of the Courtnays Devons e The rector of Honiton has more gratitude than industry, and more industry than criticism" in in a multiplicity of fugitive pieces on various subjects, which appeared in the periodical prints of the time: among these his political essays, written during the heat of the American war, and in that vehement spirit of opposition which distinguished the young politicians of that day, bear chiefly the signatures of Casca, Squib, or Justice. He left the university to return to a domestic life totally unsuited to the boundless activity both of mind and body for which he was remarkable, and rendered almost intolerable by certain family differences. To detach his attention from these inconveniences he applied himself, with his accustomed ardour, to the study of naval and military tactics; and with no other assistance than that of his mathematical knowledge, aided by a few books, soon attained the highest degree of science which could be gained in the closet. The noble collection of drawings which he has left, executed during that short period solely by his own hand, would alone furnish an ample proof of his knowledge of these subjects, and of the indefatigable zeal with which he pursued them. He now became anxious to put into practice the theory of which he had thus become master, and earnestly pressed for permission to embrace the naval or military profession. He was at that time the sole heir to a very considerable fortune, and the darling of his parents; and these very facts, such is the occasional perverseness of human affairs, constituted his greatest misfortune. His request was positively denied, and, unable to resist the impulse of his inclination, he entered as a volunteer into the naval service, and very soon attained that proficiency, of which his publications on the subject will be lasting monuments. A sense of duty, however, which no man felt more keenly, withdrew him again, "A mute inglorious Nelson," into private life; but his mind had received a wound in the disappointment, and other circumstances which it would be indelicate to particularize, contributed to keep it open. Hence Hence arose an indifference to the meaner and more common objects of human prudence, and many little singularities of conduct which, though they detracted nothing from his good understanding or good nature, rendered him remarkable to common observers. He dedicated his retirement unceasingly to his pen, and the profits of his pen, which now constituted nearly his whole revenue, in a great measure to the gratification of that benevolence, which in him was equally warm and active with the rest of his passions and sentiments, and shone, in the most extensive sense of the word, in every shape of charity. It would be needless to inform those whom experience has taught to estimate duly the meed of literary labours in this time, and, perhaps, impossible to convince those who have had the good fortune to avoid that experience, how very far the means of such a man must have fallen short of their various ends. Suffice it, therefore, on this head, to say, that he became somewhat embarrassed in his pecuniary circumstances, that the sources from which he had the fairest right to expect relief were unaccountably closed against him; and that his uncommonly vigorous constitution, both of body and of mind, sunk by slow degrees to dissolution, under the misery of an abridgment, which his proud and generous spirit could not brook, of that liberty and independence in which his soul delighted. He died childless, and was buried on the 21st of May, with considerable ceremony and expense, at Lee near Blackheath, leaving a widow, Mary, the daughter of Peregrine Jones, of the city of Philadelphia, whose exemplary conduct in the vicissitudes of her husband's fortune has secured to her the lasting respect of his friends. Mr. Charnock possessed a firm and penetrating understanding, a surprising quickness of apprehension, an excellent memory, and a lofty, but well-governed, ambition. He was formed to shine in any profession, for he had the faculty of devoting all his powers to any object which deeply engaged his attention: but he had no profession; no one important object, object; and he scattered his natural advantages with the cold and limited hope of an husbandman who knows that the seed which he throws abroad cannot produce a crop beyond a certain value. Much of the character of his mind, however, may be traced in his literary productions. They merit the highest credit for various and indefatigable research, sagacious selection, and faithful detail: they, perhaps, deserve some censure for certain faults of style which must inevitably attend rapid composition. He has more than once declared to the writer of this sketch, that he scarcely ever read a line which he had dictated (for that was his almost invariable custom) except in the proof sheets; and this must be ascribed merely to the natural eagerness of his temper, for those who knew him best well knew that he had none of the affectation of "The mob of gentlemen that write with ease." His published works, with many smaller pieces, are "The Rights of a Free People," printed in svo. in 1792, in which he ironically assumed the democratic character which then feebly appeared in a few insignificant individuals. In this volume may be found an historical sketch of the origin and growth of the English Constitution, equally remarkable for its correctness and conciseness. " Biographia Navalis," in 6 vols. 8vo. the first of which appeared in 1794. A Pamphlet in 8vo. entitled" a Letter on Finance, and on National Defence," 1798. "A History of Marine Architecture, in three volumes, 4to. a very valuable and superb work, iilustrated by a great number of fine engravings,” 1802. And a Life of Lord Nelson, in one volume, published in 1806, enriched with some very curious original Letters of that eminent pattern of public and private worth." E. L. June |