"New Letters from an English Traveller. Written originally in French; by the Rev. Martin Sher

only sister, whom he most tenderly loved, and whose character he pathetically pourtrayed in Mr. Urban's Obituary*. Many similar articles might be recollected in a cursory glance through the several volumes of the Magazine; but it may be sufficient at pre

* "On the 2d of October 1786, departed this life, which had been a life of care and anxiety, in St. Michael's-square, Southampton, Mrs. Margaret Rogers, the wife of George Rogers, Esq. a gentleman much esteemed, and resident in that place. She passed her last twenty years amidst the sociable and amusing scenes (the cheerfulness of which she helped to increase by her domestic parties) in that hospitable and pleasurable spot. She was married very early, and might have seen her children's children: but, as that was not the happiness of her destiny, she had the more leisure to wait on the interests and welfare of her near and numerous relations, of whose prosperity she never lost sight, living or dying. Fifty years rather increased than diminished the ardour of her attachment. She performed all the duties belonging to her station-of a daughter of a wife (during six and forty years)-of a sister-affectionate to all, of near or remote kindred-and in the rank of her friends. Her conscience never upbraided her with doing too little. Who knew her, knew; who lov'd her, tell.'-She had a countenance full of suavity, except when she put on the frown of disapprobation. It was a pity it could not be concealed; for it looked like momentary ill-nature without being it. She was not the slave of dress, of fashion, or opinion. 'What a fine woman must she have been when she was young' observed a judge of merit, personal and intellectual, in that neighbourhood. There was great meaning and expression in her face-not of beauty, but perhaps of something better. She was above the middle size, and rather corpulent than thin. Her manners were engaging. She had a ready and natural elocution, with an understanding improved by reading the best authors, and by keeping good company. She had an easy turn, and an useful one it is, for epistolary correspondence, and could write a sheet full of good sense and information without taking the pen off the paper. No one, perhaps, who once partook of her conversation, but wished a repetition of it. Those of her acquaintance who thought they wanted advice, consulted her, and seldom repented abiding by her opinion. She gained an ascendancy over others, that amounted almost to fascination: and, in her turn, was apt to be captivated by liking too much at first sight for in most people sensibility takes place before the judgment. She was thought by some old acquaintances to be fond of new faces: but Friendship has not the privilege of Love, to keep the object to itself. fler management and authority over young minds was very remarkable. She had qualities and qualifications that would have made her have been submitted to and respected any where and every where. She gained also a little importance from her state of independence (that procures respect from all who surround it), which, if it sometimes produces envy, is sure to prevent every degree of contempt. She was thankful to the Lord of Life for existence; and took incessant pains, during a long and helpless illness (when life generally becomes a disease), to prolong it to the last drop; for she was not grown weary of the world, any more than the world was weary of her. She breathed her last, overcome by the jaudice and dropsy, at the age of sixty-four, without a single groan. May my latter end be like hers!' wishes the writer, and perhaps the reader of this sketch. But she has left amongst her surviving relations and intimates a remembrance and example that no time can obliterate, and no vicissitude of things can efface." Mr. T'yers, in Gent. Mag. LVI, 909.

:

sent

lock, A. M. Chaplain to the Right Hon. the Earl

sent to exhibit another specimen or two of his manner of embalming his friends; and the rather, as an ingenious Correspondent sent the following character, supposed to be drawn up by Mr. Tyers himself, and annexed to a printed Review of several of his own publications: "It being very natural, says the Spectator, for the Reader to wish to know whether his Author is tall or short, a married man or a batchelor, or otherwise, we are obliged to comply with this expectation, however undesirous the gentleman may be to be exhibited a prominent figure on our biographical canvass. We have a right to him as a public man, which we hope we shall not abuse, nor give him any material offence. The Author, or Editor as he calls himself, of the Political Conferences' (his greatest performances are richly bound in Morocco, and presented to the King's Library), was sent so very early to the University, that he was animadverted upon as the Boy Batchelor, and not in the strain of compliment

"About the 10th of August, 1786, after a few days illness, at his sister's, near London, unmarried, beyond his 60th year, William Allen, Esq. one of the Gentlemen Ushers to the Queen. He was born and bred at Richmond in Yorkshire, where he had some family property, which commended and recommended him to a Parliamentary candidate for that town. Promotion not coming soon enough from that quarter, he came up to London, to make or to find new patrons. By the kindness of Lord Bute he obtained a pension, which he continued to receive till, on the establishment being settled for the Queen, he was nominated a Gentleman Usher. He was not wanting in endeavours to raise himself still higher for who does not want and wish to advance himself, and to grow plumper by preferment? He had his eye upon sundry vacancies and reversions, to increase his income, which, it is supposed, was not equal to bis necessary expences; and his place was, perhaps, more honourable than lucrative. The silver beams of the Moon are not so warm as the golden rays of the Sun. But his application did nothing for him. Neither did he win a young and rich matrimonial prize, though a competitor; nor was so lucky (pardon, reader, jocularity in an Obituary) as to take his stand-upon a Widow's jointured land.' They who knew him intimately, thought they observed him dissatisfied with his narrow accommodations; but he was too proud, though angry enough, to complain; and that they contemplated in him an instance of the malignant wish towards an enemy, Let attendance and dependence be his fate!' He thought that, if a dissolution had not unexpectedly taken place, he might have procured a seat in Parliament (an Englishman wants no better friend) whence he hoped to have forced his way into more appointments. He had a projecting and fertile brain ('a head to contrive, and a tongue to persuade'); and is supposed to have furnished hints and expedients to men in power towards ways and means. He was of an obliging disposition, and lived in all the habits of politeness. His station and situation gave him frequent opportunities of granting little civilities, which cost him nothing (though he performed some occasional and useful services out of the line of his department); and made every body glad of having such a friend at Court. His patience on expectation seemed to be much worn, though hope never quite forsook him, for he thought his long service deserved a quicker provision. A Court had not spoiled him for a Commissioner, or a Comptroller, or a Sinecure. But Fortune did not second Merit on this occasion. He was a Captain, in the last war, in

the

of Bristol. Now translated into English by the Author," Svo.

as was passed upon Cardinal Wolsey, on taking his first degree in arts. In the year 1753 he was admitted a Student of the Inner Temple, and became, after he had kept his Terms, a Barrister in that house. His father hoped he would apply to the Law, attend, take notes, and make a figure in Westminster-hall, But he never undertook any causes, nor went a single Circuit. He loved his ease too much, to acquire a character in that or any other profession. It should have been mentioned in the former part of this paragraph, that he wrote and published two Pastorals before he went to the Temple, that were printed for Dodsley. One was called Lucy,' inscribed to Lord Chesterfield; the other Rosalind,' to Earl Granville: never much inquired after by the world, and only in the hands of a few of his acquaintance; and perhaps now forgotten by himself, We just remember, they were Theocritus, Spenser, Phillips, Pope, and Drayton, over again, and at second-hand. If we are the Middlesex Militia; but a momentary commission does not fill the pocket. He served for honour, as long as that service lasted. He did not want presence of mind, of which he gave a proof in fifty-one, on an insult offered him; or shew any deficiency of public or private spirit. The recorder of this character, one of the oldest of his intimates, and whose associates fade like the leaves in Autumn, wishes he had lived longer; and who could be desirous of losing him? for Death is sure to arrive soon enough to take every companionable comfort from us!' Gent. Mag, vol. LVI. p. 715.

"Sept. 10, 1786, at Blackpool, near Manchester, where he first set out in the world as a manufacturer, Mr. Henry Fielden. He was afterwards appointed (but was obliged to give way to superseding recommendations) Agent to the Manchester Volunteers, who so honourably and cheerfully left England to perform military service at Gibraltar. He possessed a place in the Custom-house, where he dispatched every body's business with all possible celerity, being a stranger to the insolence of office. He was enjoying a leave of absence amongst his convivial friends, and preparing for the entertainment of a well-spread table (though not more hospitable than his own at Chelsea), where Disease is sure to be hovering over the dishes, when Death, without warning by terror or surprize, took him off by an apoplexy. He breathed his last in the arms of his son by an early marriage, now grown up to man's estate, and heir to a good fortune, who was his associate in this tour. The suddenness of his departure did not astonish any one who knew him. He was forty-eight years of age, of a very sanguine habit of body, and may be truly said to have died from too much health. Though he was very bulky, he was very active, and was among the very few who had a love for Archery, or had great skill or practice in that masculine amusement. The society call themselves Toxophilites. He had a strong arm and a judicious eye for this oncefashionable instrument of war. No man seemed to have more happiness from the feast of life, or to have less reason to wish to retire from it. His jovial temper and good nature were visible in his countenance. 'He was a sleek-headed man, and such as sleep a-nights.' He will be long remembered in the circle of his friends, and enemies perhaps he never had the ill fortune to make; and his companions will hardly have done talking, till themselves shall be dropping into the grave, of honest Harry Fielden." Gent, Mag. vol. LVI. p. 814.

not

"Whispers to the Ear of the [Rev. Spencer Madan] Author of Thelyphthora, in Favour of Reason

not misinformed, very light studies became the choice digestion of his mind. Perhaps we might insinuate, a line of Pope,

'He penn'd a stanza, when he should engross.'

We are assured he was the Author of a great deal of vocal poetry, or, in other words, of sing-song; part of which might be owing to the inspiration of Love. Perhaps he was not, in his heart, A fue to the Syrens of his father's grove :'

for he gave a great many of his hours, in his younger days, to Vauxhall Gardens, of which his father was sole proprietor and manager. When he had, without drinking deeply, tasted enough of the Pierian spring, and given up the invocation of the Muses, he addicted himself to the reading of History, and made inquiries into public affairs. For this gratification he went, for several Sessions, to hear the Debates in both Houses of Parliament. His leisure enabled him to run over a great number of English books. He has never been out of the kingdon (though he has travelled all over it); yet he has been all his life talking of doing it. He has been heard to declare, that he has not been, for these forty years, a single day, when in health, without a book or a pen in his hand-nulla dies sine lined. He has out-lived a great deal of shyness, that by no means became a liberal man. He always was, and still continues, a frequent visitor of Dr. Johnson. That great man has acknowledged, behind his back, that Tyers always tells him something he did not know before.' He attended, for twenty years, the literary levee of the communicative and good-tempered Dr. Campbell, in Queen-square; and values himself on having had his curio-ity gratified in being acquainted with Authors, as well as with their works. Having an affluent income, he affects to be ashamed of the imputation of being an Author, and, the old case of Voltaire and Congreve over again, chooses to be considered only as a Writer. If he is above ranking with Authors by profession, they may place him among the Mob of gentlemen who write with ease.' He is now obliged to pay a good deal of attention to his health. He purchased a snug box at Epsom, many years ago, for this purpose. He has been met with so often on the turnpike road, that he is supposed to pass a great part of his life upon it. He is inquisitive, talkative, full of notions and quotations, and, which is the praise of a purling stream, of no great depth. His principal care seems to be, to prolong his life (of which he appears to know the use, at least the enjoyment) by exercise and cheerfulness. He seems ta choose to pass for a valetudinarian. He never was capable of severe application. What he performs with his pen, he does without much labour. · Who know him, know.' -Johnson has told him, he would do better if he was not content with his first thoughts. He is by no means original in his compositions. His last two pamphlets he has only printed, and not published, to give to his friends, in imitation, perhaps, of his great ac

quaintance

and Religion, aspersed in that Work. Burnaby-Greene, Esq." 8vo.

By Edward

quaintance Lord Hardwicke. He has heen at the expence of a signature of Memory, which he has had drawn and engraved, to adorn the title-page of all his pieces. He presents to his friends a head of himself, a very good likeness, drawn by Taylor, and engraved by Hall, who executed the portrait of Mr. Gibbon. He aims only at amusement to his Readers, and not without success. In his person, he is two inches under six feet -‘seen him we have' of a brown complexion, that threatens to receive a yellowish tint; wears what is not quite either a wig or his own hair; is neither heavy nor large, has a remarkably good appetite, was never married, and is fifty-eight years of age. We are well informed he has a good moral character, which we wish him to preserve as long as he lives.-All this we believe to be truth, and nothing but truth." Thus far from his own pen; and from personal knowledge I can vouch for its veracity. He died, at his house at Ashted, Surrey, after a lingering illness, Feb. 1, 1787, in his 61st year. He was certainly among the "Gentlemen who wrote with ease;" witness his, Rhapsodies on Pope and Addison; his "Biographical Sketch of Dr. Johnson;" and his spirited vindication of Mr. St. André from the violent attack of Mr. Steevens, highly creditable to the goodness of his heart. (See the "Anecdotes" of Hogarth, 1809, vol. I. p. 464.)-The "Political Conferences," however, will place him in a higher point of view in that production much ingenuity and sound political knowledge are displayed; and the work has received the plaudits it so well deserved.

*This ingenious Writer was brother to Admiral Sir William Burnaby, who distinguished himself in the war of 1756, and to the wife of Alexander Bennett, Esq. sworn Clerk of the Exchequer; and half-brother to the late venerable Dr. Burnaby, of Greenwich, and Archdeacon of Leicester. He was nephew of Mr. Greene, an eminent brewer in Westminster, for whose fortune he changed his name, in addition to his own; but, from various events in the management of the business, to which he had never been brought up, he had contracted, in 1779, a very large debt, for which his stock and property was sold, and he retired to a lodging. His valuable library was sold by Christie. He had been admitted of Bene't College, Cambridge, 1755, under the private tuition of Dr. Sharpe. He was well known in the regions of Parnassus, by "An Imitation of the Tenth Epistle of the First Book of Horace, 1756;" "A Translation of Anacreon, 1768;" "Critical Essay, 1770," 8vo; a volume of " Poetical Essays (of

which the greater part had been published before separately), Jalues of

1779," small 8vo; A Translation of Pindar, 1778;" "Satires paraphraste. of Persius paraphrastically imitated, 1779," Svo; "Substance of muht Political Debates on his Majesty's Speech on the Address and cally Amendment, Nov. 25, 1779," 8vo; "Ode inscribed to Leonard 1 di Smelt, Esq. 1780," 4to; a turgid Translation of "Apollonius 1774 Rhodius, 1781;" his tract on Madan's Thelyphthora, 1781,"

be wrote Friends hif

The Chaplain. Do

Privilege do

Svo;