INTRODUCTION.

THE following notices may not be unacceptable to the reader. They were communicated to the Editor by one who had some share in the work,* and who hopes that his partiality, founded on an acquaintance with the principal writers in it, has not blinded his judgment, when he attempts to give some slight sketches of their lives, and of their literary merits.

THOMAS MONRO, the original projector and promoter of the Olla Podrida, was the son of the Rev. T. Monro, rector of Burgate and Wortham, to which livings he was presented by R. Holt, Esq. of Redgrave Hall, in the county of Suffolk. Thomas, the subject of this article, was born in October, 1764, and finished his education under the celebrated Dr. Parr, when master of the grammar school in Norwich. He continued, after he left school, to be one of the doctor's distinguished favourites; and he has been heard to declare, that if he was raised to the bench of bishops, Monro should be his first chaplain. He was entered a commoner of St. Mary Hall, in the university of Oxford, and was chosen a demy of Magdalen College. How much he pleased Dr. HORNE, the president of that society, appeared by the contributions of that eminent person to the OLLA PODRIDA. He quitted the university to be united to a lady, whose

The papers signed Q.

6

personal and mental charms rendered her worthy of such a partner for life. The living of Easton, in Essex, was given to him by Lord Maynard. He resided upon that preferment; and with a degree of prudence, that showed the excellence of his understanding, he at once accommodated himself to a retired situation. He submitted his lively mind to the restraints of tuition, and the solemn duties of the pastoral care; and for the remaining years of his life paid the most unremitting attention to his pupils and his parish. In the year 1813, his family and his friends experienced his irreparable loss; and no one was ever more sincerely lamented by all who had the happiness to know him.

He was handsome in person, his temper was mild and frank, and his heart warm and affectionate. Such was his peculiar ease of deportment and manners, that it appeared to be the effect of nature rather than of education. His smile, which was remarkably engaging, never arose from feelings of vanity or presumption, but was the indication of candour and benevolence. His company was courted by all who once came within the sphere of its attractions; for in his conversation there was the same native ease that graced his manners, and indeed the same charm: it was distinguished by sound sense, wit, and facetiousness; yet, when serious, he was never dull, his facetiousness never descended to buffoonery, nor was his wit tarnished by coarseness, or poisoned with personality. Openhearted and generous, and equally averse to flattery and to defamation, like Bishop Beveridge," he never spoke of a man's virtues before his face, nor of his faults behind his back." His learned al

lusions or quotations never showed the conceited pedant, but always the unassuming and polite scholar.

His writings as an ESSAYIST reflected the bright images of his conversation. He wrote without effort, as he was accustomed to talk. His compositions were the spontaneous fruits of a fertile mind. He had the ready command of various subjects, and could proceed, with the most happy transition

From grave to gay, from lively to severe.

What he aimed at he accomplished-" to catch the manners living as they rose" to his observation, and to exhibit them in striking pictures, for amusement and instruction; to be jocose without insipidity, and to moralize without affected gravity, were the leading objects pursued by himself and his coadjutors in the OLLA PODRIDA.

Among these Monro had the distinguished honour to record BISHOP HORNE, one of the brightest ornaments of the English church and nation. He is the person alluded to in a very delicate manner in the preface to the OLLA PODRIDA, but without the disclosure of his name. Well, indeed, does he deserve an ample tribute of praise to his memory, which we should cheerfully pay, if the limits assigned would allow us to make such digression; nor could a more acceptable service be rendered to the cause of piety and literary merit, than by giving an enlarged detail of his life and his works. This has been the honourable task of Jones, and Chalmers, and Todd, his professed biographers.

Only a sketch, therefore, will be attempted; and we leave them in possession of the praise due to complete portraits, with a confidence, that even our feeble effort to embellish such a subject cannot be regarded without interest and advantage by all who reverence the exalted virtues and talents of the good and the great.

GEORGE HORNE was born at Oldham, near Maidstone, in Kent, in the year 1730. From the Maidstone grammar school, at fifteen years of age, he succeeded to a scholarship in University College in Oxford. There he was distinguished by bright abilities, a studious disposition, and a pious turn of mind. In the year 1749, he took his first degree, and in the following year was elected a fellow of Magdalen College. Following the impulse of a warm imagination, he embraced some of the reveries of Hutchinson, which, when his judgment became more mature, he either suppressed or rejected. In 1753, he took orders, and soon obtained a high reputation as a preacher, both on account of his excellent discourses and the pleasing manner of his delivery. In 1764, he took the degree of D.D. and four years after was chosen president of Magdalen College. He served the office of vice-chancellor four years after, and no one ever did more honour to that important office by a conscientious discharge of duty, and an engaging attention to all who had business to transact with him. This situation introduced him to the notice of Lord North, then chancellor of the university, and prime minister; and, by his interest, he was promoted to the deanery of Canterbury. In 1790 he was advanced to the bishopric of Norwich;