attainments, we should describe him as a clergyman well informed in the studies of his profession. He is said by his biographer to have been, to a certain degree, a Hebrew scholar, well versed in ecclesiastical history, in the evidences of religion, and in the different systems of theology; and we have no doubt that his knowledge in all these was sufficiently respectable. His apprehension seems to have been quick, his taste correct, and his memory retentive. The distinguishing and prominent feature of his mind, was a rich and exuberant imagination, which gives a peculiar warmth and colouring to his style. He did not excel in analysis or nice discrimination, nor was he remarkable for a keen penetrating sagacity. As a reasoner, he is not distinguished by a close and logical accuracy; still his arguments are generally so well conceived, and always so dressed out with expression, as forcibly to strike the attention.

Bishop Percy.

BORN A. D. 1728.-DIED A. D. 1811.

THOMAS PERCY, D. D. dean of Carlisle, and lastly bishop of Dromore, was a descendant of the family of the earls of Northumberland, or, as stated by Boswell, the heir-male of the ancient Percies. He was born at Bridgenorth, in Shropshire, in the year 1728; and educated at Christ church college, Oxford. In consequence of his connection with the family of the late duke of Northumberland he became his chaplain. In the year 1769 he was nominated one of the chaplains to his majesty; in 1778 he was promoted to the deanery of Carlisle; and in 1782 to the bishopric of Dromore, in the county of Down, where be expired, September 30th, 1811, at the advanced age of eighty-three.

He commenced his literary career in 1761, by publishing, Han Kiou Chouan, a translation from the Chinese Miscellanies,' and, in the following year, by Five Pieces of Runic Poetry,' freely paraphrased from the Icelandic. In 1764 appeared his version of the Song of Solomon, which was succeeded, in the following year, by his most popular work, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry." He also published A Key to the New Testament;' translations of Mallett's Northern Antiquities;' The Hermit of Warkworth,' a poem ; and a curious and valuable record belonging to the Percy family, entitled, The Northumberland Household Book.'

The antiquarian researches and literary effusions of Dr Percy are to be contemplated as the relaxations of an ardent mind. The first of these afforded him relief from his more serious avocations; and the latter introduced him to the friendship of scientific men, whose company gilded those hours in which it was absolutely necessary to unbend and seek those pleasures that arise from select society. In the early part of his life, Dr Percy became acquainted with most of the men of learning and genius that then adorned our literature. His Reliques of Ancient Poetry,' open to the learned new sources of investigation. While his admirable arrangement of some that were mere fragments, and his elegant mode of supplying their deficiences, systematized the whole in a manner that at once informed and delighted the

general reader. The beautiful ballad of The Friar of Orders Grey,' upon which Goldsmith founded his interesting poem of The Hermit,' was among the remains of antiquity that Dr Percy completed in the manner above-mentioned. The song of Oh Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me,' was also his composition.

Dr Johnson once praised Pennant very highly; Dr Percy, who had measured the extent of his genius, and had, from local knowledge, reason to think neanly of some parts of his travels, ventured, with rather more eagerness than was usual to him, to express his opinion; opposition roused Johnson, and humiliation seems to have fanned the flame it was intended to smother; be this as it may, this trifling dispute produced the following letter, which does the memory of both parties honour.

"To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.

"Sir,-The foolish debate betwixt Dr Percy and me, is one of those foolish controversies which begin upon a question of which neither party cares how it is decided, and which is, nevertheless, continued to acrimony by the vanity with which every man resists confutation. Dr Percy's warmth proceeded from a cause, which, perhaps, does him more honour than he would have derived from juster criticism. His abhorrence of Pennant proceeded from his opinion that Pennant had wantonly and indecently censured his patron. His anger made him resolve that for having been once wrong, he never should be right. Pennant has much in his notions that I do not like, but still I think him a very intelligent traveller. If Percy is really offended, I am sorry, for he is a man whom I never knew to offend any one; he is a man very willing to learn, and very able to teach; a man out of whose company I never go without having learned something. It is true that he vexes me sometimes, but I am afraid it is by making me feel my own ignorance: so much extension of mind, and so much minute accuracy of inquiry, if you survey your whole circle of acquaintance, you will find so scarce, if you find it at all, that you will value Percy by comparison. Lord Hailes is somewhat like him: but Lord Hailes does not, perhaps, go beyond him in research, and I do not know that he equals him in elegance. Percy's attention to poetry has given grace and splendour to his studies of antiquity. A mere antiquarian is a rugged being. Upon the whole you see, that what I might say in sport or petulance to him, is very consistent with full conviction of his merit. I am, dear Sir, your most, &c.

Bishop Cleaver.

"SAM. JOHNSON."

BORN A. D. 1742.-DIED A. D. 1815.

At an

THIS prelate was born in the year 1742. He received his early education under his father, at the village of Twyford, Bucks. early age he was sent to Oxford; and, in 1764, he obtained a fellowship of Brazen-nose college, which he afterwards exchanged for the living of Cottingham in Northamptonshire.

solitary seclusion from the world, but in the midst of its most active and busy scenes, he drew his last breath on the 18th of May, 1807, without a struggle and without a pang, in the arms of his son.

Bishop Hurd.

BORN A. D. 1720.-DIED A. D. 1808.

RICHARD HURD was born at Congreve, in Staffordshire, on the 13th of January, 1720. His parents were, according to his own statement, "plain, honest, and good people,-farmers, but of a turn of mind that might have honoured any rank and any education." After passing some time at two provincial schools, he was admitted, in 1733, of Emanuel college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1738, and proceeded M. A. in 1742, during which year he was elected to a fellowship; shortly after, he took deacon's orders, and became B. D. in 1774.

The society of Emanuel college presented him to the living of Thurcaston in Leicestershire. In the retirement of his country-parish he prepared his edition of the Ars Poetica,' which he dedicated to Warburton. That prelate soon recognised his fine scholarship, and made him archdeacon of his diocese; he also procured his appointment to the preachership of Lincoln's inn, on the vacancy occasioned by his own resignation.

The twelve discourses which he delivered at the lecture which had been founded by his patron for the illustration of the prophecies, added to the high reputation which he already enjoyed. They attracted the attention of William, earl of Mansfield; and, at the request of that nobleman, Dr Hurd was appointed to succeed the archbishop of York as preceptor to their royal highnesses the prince of Wales and the duke of York.

In 1774 his majesty, with circumstances of grace and regard which peculiarly marked his perfect approbation, conferred on him the bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry. In 1781 the king appointed him clerk of the closet. In the same year he was translated to the see of Worcester; and in 1783, on the death of Archbishop Cornwallis, he had the offer of the primacy, which, however, he declined, "as a charge not suited to his temper and talents, and much too heavy for him to sustain, especially in such troubled times. Several much greater men than myself," added he, "have been contented to die bishops of Worcester; and I wish for no higher preferment."

The remainder of his life was passed, with very few intervals of absence, in his diocese, where he enjoyed an almost filial affection and respect from all around him. His serious employment consisted in the strictest discharge of the spiritual and temporal duties of his station; and his amusements, in literary composition, and the revisal of his former works. He died unmarried at Hartlebury, on Saturday, the 6th of June, 1808, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.

1749, which 1753, in two

His first publication was Horace's epistle to the Pisos, was reprinted, together with the epistle to Augustus, in octavo volumes, with an English commentary and notes. This work,

various editions of which have since appeared, is esteemed one of the most acute and classical pieces of criticism in the language. His 'Letters on Chivalry and Romance' were republished in 1765, together with his Moral and Political Dialogues,' in three small volumes.' About the same time, Mr Hume put forth his essay on the Nature and History of Religion,' which Dr Hurd answered with a boldness and perspicuity which suited his calling and his talents. Hume, in his rejoinder, charges him with "all the illiberal petulance, arrogance, and scurrility of the Warburtonian school."

The twelve discourses at Bishop Warburton's lectures for the Lincoln's-inn chapel, were published in 1772. Some passages in them were attacked by Mr Evanson. In the same year he published Select Works of Abraham Cowley,' with a preface and notes, in two small octavo volumes. In 1776, he published a volume of sermons preached at Lincoln's-inn chapel, between the years 1765 and 1776; to which, in 1781, he added two more.

His largest work appeared in 1788: this was an edition of the works of Bishop Warburton, in seven volumes, quarto, with a supplemental volume in octavo. For the deficiencies of this collection, he was attacked by Dr Parr; who, to supply the prelate's omissions, printed a volume entitled, Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian.' The last literary labour undertaken by Hurd was the arrangement for publication of Warburton's correspondence.

6

John Whitaker.

BORN A. D. 1735.-DIED A. D. 1808.

JOHN WHITAKER was born at Manchester about the year 1735. He went early to Oxford, where he was elected fellow of Christ church, and where he discovered those originalities and peculiarities of mind which afterwards so strongly marked him as an author and as a man. His vigour of intellect at once displayed itself among his acquaintance; but, whilst his animated conversation drew many around him, a few were repelled from the circle by his impatience of contradiction. The character of his genius, however, was soon decidedly manifested in literary composition. In 1771 Mr Whitaker published his History of Manchester,' in quarto, a work—distinguished above all other works of the class for acuteness of research, bold imagination, independent sentiment, and correct information. Nor does its composition less merit applause, whether with respect to the arrangement of the materials, the style, or the language. With regard to the general subject, it may be observed, that Mr Whitaker was the first writer who could so light up the region of antiquarianism as to dissipate its obscurity, even to the eyes of ordinary spectators. The discoveries of our anti

"Some of these pieces had appeared before, without a name, and their success probably led the ingenious author to publish a complete and enlarged edition. These dialogues evince a profound knowledge of the English history and constitution, and breathe a warm attachment to the cause of liberty. It is said that the king, one day pointing to these dialogues, observed, 'These made Hurd a bishop. I never saw him till he came to kiss hands.""-Monthly Magazine.

quaries, indeed, have been attended with no brilliant success; but Whitaker's Manchester' is one of the few books in which the truth of our island-history has been elucidated by the hand of a master.

It is rather singular that this work was in the order of merit as well as time-the first of Mr Whitaker's publications. In proportion as he advanced in life his imagination seems, by a strange inversion of what is characteristic of our nature, to have gained an ascendancy over his judgment; and we perceive more of fancy and of passion,-of conjecture and hypothesis,-in some of his subsequent productions. His Genuine History of the Britons asserted,'-an octavo volume, published in 1782,-may be regarded as a sequel to his previous work. It contains a complete refutation of Macpherson, whose Introduction to the History of Great Britain and Ireland' is full of palpable mistakes and misrepresentations.

In 1773 we find Mr Whitaker filling the office of the morning preacher at Berkeley chapel, London, to which office he had been appointed by Mr Hughes; but about the end of the following year he was removed from that situation. This gave occasion to the publication of The Case between Mr Whitaker and Mr Hughes, relative to the Morning-preachership of Berkeley chapel;' in which Mr Whitaker relates some remarkable particulars, and declares himself "unalterably determined to carry the matter into Westminster hall!" He actually used his utmost efforts to bring his determination into action; but the fervour of his resentment threw him off his guard, and he expressed himself so indiscreetly that his Case' was considered as a libel by the court of king's bench. During his residence in London he had an opportunity of conversing with several of our most celebrated writers, among whom were Dr Johnson and the historian of the Roman empire. It does not appear that the former of these parties was much attached to Whitaker. With Gibbon Mr Whitaker was well-acquainted. The manuscript of the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was submitted to his inspection; but, to his surprise, when he read the same volume in print, he found that chapter, which has been so obnoxious to the Christian world, then for the first time introduced to his notice!

About the year 1778 he succeeded, as fellow of Corpus Christi college, to the rectory of Ruan-Lanyhorne, Cornwall, one of the most valuable livings in the gift of that college, where he had proceeded to his degree of B. D. It might have been expected that retirement and leisure would greatly favour the pursuits of literature, and that, though 'the converser'-to use an expression of Mr Whitaker-had disappeared, the author would break forth with new energies. But RuanLanyhorne was, for several years, no tranquil seat of the Muses. Mr Whitaker had proposed a tithe-composition to his parishioners by no means unreasonable. This they refused to pay; but he was steady to his purpose. A rupture ensued between the parties; the tithes were demanded in kind; disputes arose upon disputes, animosities were kindled, and litigations took place. It was long before harmony was restored to Ruan-Lanyhorne. In 1783 Mr Whitaker published a volume of Sermons.' That he should have published so little in the line of his profession is perhaps to be regretted: his Origin of Arianism' is a controversial tract full of erudition and ingenious argumenta