and our author's little property having been exhaufted in his travels, he engaged in teaching fhorthand writing, and for fome years obtained a competent fubfiftence by that ingenious and useful art, and taught, amongst many others, the celebrated EARL of CHESTERFIELD. His talents, however, must have been otherwife confpicuous, as, in 1724, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Some time after, the family eftate at Kerfal devolved to him by the death of his elder brother, and relieved him from the bufinefs of teaching fhort-hand. He now retired to enjoy, what it appears he was eminently qualified for, the pleasures of domeftic life, and indulged his pen in a variety of poetical attempts, chiefly on religious fubjects; but his lighter veries, which in mature years he defpifed, have ge nerally been allowed the preference. His religion, which was ftrongly tinctured with Behmenifm, led him to difcufs fubjects in verfe, which perhaps no man but himself would have clothed in that drefs. His humour was, however, generally predominant, and inclines us to with that he had been lefs attached to rhime, a propenfity which betrayed him into more than poetical freedoms with fubjects beyond his province. In one of his critical differtations in verse, he denied the existence of St. George, the patron of England, and challenged the antiquaries to confider the queftion. The conteft between a poet and an antiquary feems very unequal, yet the late venerable Dr. PEGGE accepted the challenge, and confuted the poet's hypothefis in a paper in the Archæologia. Mr. BYROM died on the 28th of September, 1763, leaving behind him the character of a man of piety, wit, and learning. The general tenour of his life was innocent and inoffenfive, and it appears that the great truths of Chriftianity had, from his earliest years, made a deep impreffion on his mind *. It is fome deduction from his character, however, that he not only spent much of his time in reading the myftic writers, but even profeffed to understand the works of JACOB BEHMEN. Four papers in the eighth volume of the SPECTATOR, were the production of Mr. HENRY GROVE, of Taunton, a very learned and pious divine of the diffenting perfuafion, who died in 1737, and of whom a very copious account is given in the Biographia. His papers are of the serious kind. Nos. 588, and 601, on felf-love and benevolence; No. 626, on the force of novelty; and No. 635, on the enlargement of the powers of the mind in a future state. Of these effays, the praise has been uniform. ↑ Dr. JOHNSON declared No. 588 to be "one of the finest pieces in the English language t;" and No. 635, was republished by the direction of Dr. GIBSON, Bishop of London, along with ADDISON's Evidences, in a 12mo. edition, dated 1731 . Mr. GROVE's publications in his lifetime were very numerous, and after his death, four volumes of pofthumous pieces were added to his works. His "Moral Philofophy" is a very useful book, not only on account of the manner in which he has treated the various fubjects connected with morals, but as forming an index of reference to every publication that had then appeared, in which each topic had been directly or collaterally treated. In the lift of the writers of the SPECTATOR, given by STEELE in No. 555, the name of Mr. HENRY MARTYN Occurs, but no part of his fhare can be afcertained, except the letter to the King of France, * Biog. Brit. new. edit. + BOSWELL'S Life of JOHNSON. Sec alfo the Additions to his Life, p. 12. 2d. edit. 1793. ‡ Biog. Brit. in No. 180. No. 200, on the fame fubject, is conjectured by the annotators to be his, and they have the fame fufpicion of No. 232. Some account of this gentleman is given in WARD'S Lives of the Grefham Profeffors*. He was an excellent fcholar and an able lawyer, but his infirm ftate of health would not permit him to attend the courts. He had a principal concern in a paper called "The BRITISH MERCHANT, or Commerce Preserved," in'anfwer to "The MERCATOR, or Commerce Retrieved,” written by DEFOE, in 179 numbers, from May 26, 1713, to July 20, 1714, with a view to get the treaty of commerce made with France at the peace of Utrecht ratified by parliament. The rejection of that treaty was in a great measure promoted by Mr. MARTYN'S paper, and government rewarded him for it by making him Infpector-General of the imports and exports of the cuftoms. He died at Blackheath, March 25, 1721. The In the fame lift, in No. 555, are given the names of Mr. CAREY, of New College, Oxford, Mr. TicKELL, and Mr. EUSDEN †, but no inquiry into their respective shares has been yet fatisfactory. fignature T. has been frequently suspected to mean TICKELL; yet nothing of his can be afcertained, except what will not rank him among ESSAYISTs, a poem entitled "The Royal Progrefs," in No. 620 ‡. An ingenious letter on the eye, in No. 250, is ascribed to Mr. GOLDING, of whom I have not been able to procure any information. * P. 333, after the life of his brother, EDWARD MARTYN, profeffor of Rhetoric, and the immediate predeceffor of WARD, the biographer. † A fhort letter in No. 84, on idols, is afcribed by the annotators to Mr. EUSDEN, afterwards the poet-laureat, but this cannot deferve the acknowledgment in No. 555 The annotators give him the first part of No. 410, as has been already mentioned. A very short letter, written with a tradesman-like fimplicity, in No. 268, and figned JAMES EASY, was the production of Mr. JAMES HEYWOOD, many years a wholefale linen-draper, on Fish-Street-Hill, who died at his house in Auftin-friars, in the 90th year of his age, July 23, 1776 *. The excellent character of Emilia, in No. 302, was claimed by Mr. DUNCOMBE for Mr. HUGHES, but it has fince been ascertained that it was written by Dr. BROME; but whether Dr. BROOME, the poet, and partner of POPE in tranflating the Odyffey, is not fo clearly determined. BROMIUS, mentioned in this paper, will not agree with his character, who, when rector of Sturfton, in Suffolk, "married a wealthy widow t." The lady named here Emilia, was the mother of Mrs. Afcham, of Connington, in Cambridgeshire, and grandmother of the prefent Lady Hatton .' The letter on foreign travel, in No. 364, figned Philip Homebred, was written by Mr. PHILIP YORKe, afterwards the celebrated Lord CHANCELLOR HARDWICKE. Mr. BoswELL informs us, probably in too decifive language, that Dr. JOHNSON would not allow merit to this letter, and said that "it was quite vulgar, and had nothing luminous." It is certainly not the paper we might expect from a LORD CHANCELLOR, but it was written by a young man, juft admitted to the bar, and who had sense enough. to cenfure a prevailing folly with fome degree of humour, and with great juftice. The fame fubject has been fince illuftrated in the WORLD by another nobleman, PHILIP EARL of CHESTERFIELDS. *Spect. vol. iv. p. 97, note. JOHNSON'S Lives of the Poets, art. BROME, or BROOME. § See an article on the fame subject by ADDISON, in TATLER, No. 93. The EARL of HARDWICKE, who is fuppofed to have been the author of another paper, which cannot now be ascertained, was one of thofe illuftrious characters who have ennobled their families by merit in a profeffion, in which, with very few exceptions, merit only has been found to fucceed. In very early life he appears to have been noted for learning and industry, and for qualities which were fitted to shine in public life. When only twenty-eight years of age, he had a feat in parliament, and the following year was promoted to the office of folicitor-general, on the recommendation of the LORD CHANCELLOR PARKER. In Feb. 1723-4, he was appointed attorney-general, and in October, 1733, lord chief juftice of the king's bench. On the decease of Lord TALBOT, in 1736-7, he was called to the high office of lord chancellor, when only in his forty-feventh year. Yet this rapid fucceffion of honours was followed by a correfpondent fhare of popularity. In each office he discharged his duty in a manner both honourable and dignified: his ftation derived luftre from his piety, his learning, and his juftice, and he at once enjoyed and deferved the efteem of the public. Of his abilities the following character is faid to be strictly juft. "The ftyle of his eloquence was more adapted to the house of lords than to the house of commons. The tone of his voice was pleafing and melodious; his manner was placid and dignified. Precifion of arrangement, clofeness of argument, fluency of expreffion, elegance of diction, great knowledge of the fubject on which he fpoke, were his particular characteristics. He feldom rose into great animation: his chief aim was more to convince than amufe; to appeal to the judgment rather than to the feelings of his auditors. He poffeffed a perfect command over himself, and his even temper was never ruffled by petulant oppofition, or |