Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

Amusement of the Princess Royal. By John-Huddleston Wynne *," 12mo,

with whom he lived in intimacy-a set of gentlemen as conspi cuous for their amiable qualities as for their rank in life and their literary acquisitions.—I had almost addled, that, by exhibiting a list of the adversaries and associates of any private man, his genuine merits might be ascertained. But, in the present instance, such an experiment, if attempted, would be incomplete; for he who, like Mr. Tyrwhitt, had no enemies, must be content to lose the benefit of contrast, and be estimated only by the value and number of his friends.-Of the Royal Society Mr. Tyrwhitt was many years a Fellow; and, to his honour be it remembered, that one of the Trusteeships of the British Museum, an office not unfrequently courted by the great and the vain, was conferred on him without the slightest private interest or soligitation. His constitution had never been of the athletic kind, and therefore easily gave way to a joint attack from two violent disorders, which hurried him with uncommon speed to his grave. Can it be necessary to subjoin, that he died lamented by all who knew the worth of his friendship, or enjoyed the honour of his acquaintance?" Tò vag, vígas, is! Javorlar.- He died in Welbeck-street, Cavendish-square, Aug. 15, 1786, in his 66th year.

* Whilst I was compiling a short biographical article for this ingenious but unfortunate, Writer, a Friend pointed out to me the following memoir, which was written by his Son in 1806; and being well worth preserving, I shall only add to it the titles of a few of his works." Edward Wynne, Richard Wynne, and Thomas Wynne, were sons of a gentleman of Welsh extraction, who gave them respectively a liberal education. Edward enjoyed situation under Government, and resided on a small estate in Southampton, Richard had a classical education, obtained the degree of Master of Arts, became afterwards Chaplain to the Earl of Dunmore, and Rector of St. Alphage, London; was author of An Universal Graminar of the Learned Languages,' Letters on Education,' and several other productions. Thomas held a situation in the office of the Duke of Bedford, Edward was considered-handsome, and had a good address. He married thrice, and had portions with all his wives. By the first of these ladies he had one son only, who was christened John-Huddlestone, the subject of the present memoir.

And

Mr. John-Huddlestone Wynne, a character pretty generally known in the literary world, was born in the year 1743, and flourished between the years 1760 and 1786.-Being an only -child, his mother was particularly solicitous for his safety; and as it generally happens that the impressions received in childhood are retained, and pervade our ideas the rest of our lives, so it happened with the subject of the present essay, who imbibed some eccentricities from his too indulgent mother, of which he never afterwards became entirely divested. Her anxiety for his health

and

"Othello, a Tragedy. By William Shakspeare, Collated with the modern Editions. By the Editor of King Lear;" 8vo.

and preservation kept her in a perpetual state of alarm. He was encompassed with flannels winter and summer, and bled and physicked for the most trifling indisposition. And, calling him to her bed-side when on the point of death, she made him solemnly promise that he would attend her injunctions; which, among several others, were, to shun horses, never to go into a boat, or enter a belfry. Had not these cautions been too much heeded, and occasioned a peculiarity of manner in his conduct, which seemed unaccountable, these circumstances would not have been noticed But though the care and attention he experienced from his mother during her life-time plainly indicated he was a great favourite with her, yet it seems he was in no high estimation with his father and other of his relations, who, as appears by their conduct to him, rather envied or strove to suppress his dawning genius, than used any endeavour to foster it. Taught by his father early to contemn mechanical employ ments, and expecting he should be bred to some liberal profession, he was much disappointed by being, contrary to his expectations, prematurely apprenticed, at the age of thirteen, as a compositor to a letter-press printer. His education was by no means finished: he had been initiated in Latin at St. Paul's school the progress he afterwards made in classical knowledge must have been attained during his leisure-hours, when the business of the day was over, undirected by any, and the sole result of his own exertions. Very early in life he evinced his poetical talent, having, when scarcely eight years of age, written a Poem, which he afterwards declared would not have disgraced his riper years. During his apprenticeship he sent many of his effusions to different periodical publications, where they obtained a ready insertion, and were generally approved by those who read them. Shortly after completing his term, not choosing to follow the business of a printer, he obtained Lieutenancy in the East-India service; whither he went; but, on account of some unhappy controversy with a superior Officer, and from a disgust he had taken to some unfair proceedings in that hemisphere, he in less than two years from his departure returned to England; and, being received coldly by his relations, who were not pleased at his quick return, he resolved on the expedient of trying his success as an Author. He got accordingly introduced to several booksellers of that day, aniong whom were Kearsley, Riley, Bell, Evans, and Wilkie, who gladly availed themselves of his literary talents. Mr. Wheble engaged him to conduct the Lady's Magazine, for which he received a regular monthly stipend; nor had he any reason to complain of their liberality for his labours, as it is certain several of these gentlemen were great friends to him in future life. Many of Mr. Wynne's poetical productions are to be found in a publication intituled, The

British

"Macbeth, a Tragedy." By William Shakspeare. Collated with the modern Editions. By the Editor of King Lear;" 8vo,

[ocr errors]

British Magazine and Review.' Some of these appeared in his own name, others under the fictitious signature of George Osborne, esq.' Mr. Wynne also wrote The History of England in Verse,' which has not yet appeared in print.-Though Mr. Wynne excelled as a Poet, his prose productions are likewise numerous. It was by the advice of Dr. Goldsmith, who was his contemporary, that he first began the History of Ireland,' which he afterwards dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland. The Doctor jocosely observed, that it would be better to relinquish the draggle-tail Muses; as, for his part, he found productions in prose were more sought after and better paid for.' Mr. Wynne's reputation as an Author soon become established; and had his œconomy kept pace with his success, it is certain he might have passed through life, if not in affluence, at least above indigence. But want of ceconomy was his prevailing fault. Possessing a sanguine imagination, and having the highest sense of honour and rectitude himself, he was easily imposed upon; and while he had money, he considered but little the value of it; yet, wanting it, perhaps none suffered more from the poignancy of poverty than he did. His acquaintances, knowing his failings, took advantage of his unsuspecting benevolent disposition, by soliciting him to become surety for a person, of the name of Stevenson, which he did, for goods to a considerable amount, which were to be disposed of in India, whence Stevenson was to remit the value at a stated period; but, through change of climate, and inebriety, Stevenson died, no remittances came from India, and his security, unable to pay the demand, was forced to prison; where he remained, in great distress, for a considerable time; until, by the assistance of his uncle Edward, the debt was paid, and he obtained his discharge. In the beginning of the year 1770 he married the daughter of an eminent mason of Lambeth, who had at his death bequeathed 1000l. to each of his daughters; but the Brother, being principal executor to the will of his Father, applied his Sister's fortune to his own use in trade; and, through his ill success, not a guinea of Mrs. Wynne's portion was ever paid. This lady, however, had received a good education, possessed an agreeable person, and was not more than seventeen when she was married. She was accomplished, and had an excellent understanding, which became afterwards materially improved by her connexion. Before she was eighteen the fruit of their union was the Writer of this Memoir. From the great number of acquaintances Mr. Wynne at this time had, some of whom were persons of wit and erudition, it was almost impossible for a man of his ardent imagination to avoid on every occasion sacrificing too freely at the shrine of Bacchus; and it frequently happened that it was one or two o'clock in the

-

morning

A Third Edition of Dr. Hurd's Warburtoniar Lectures at Lincoln's Inn, 8vo.

morning when he returned home. This occasioned an unquiet house; and his bride, being very abstemious herself, often admonished him in strong terms on the impropriety of his conduct; but, notwithstanding such remonstrances, he was too frequently led to err in the same way; and though gentle means would probably have brought him to reform, harsh treatment had a contrary effect. Had his wife's good sense led her to adopt those endearing methods of persuasion which some few women of discernment know how to employ with such great effect, she would have ultimately succeeded; but, alas! in this respect she only copied the generality of her sex. Repeated brawls at home not suiting her husband's irritable disposition, and tending to disturb his studies, constrained him at length to seek an asylum elsewhere, so that the remainder of his life passed more like a single than a married man. Nor can it occasion much surprize that a man of literary pursuits should, under such circumstances, abandon his home, especially when it is so well known that a Xantippe was never a friend to the students in Philosophy, or the suitors of the Muses. Mr. Wynne was for a considerable time Editor of the Gazetteer, and was a well-known speaker at the Robin Hood and Coachmakers Hall Debating Societies; but, being unhappily a staunch supporter of an Administration whose measures were extremely unpopular, he got little good by his political speculations. In those days such topics were freely discussed, and often agi tated with much warmth. Mr. Wynne in this respect acted the part of a champion, and undertook to defend the Mi nistry in their War with America, and other ruinous measures. This was done in the most disinterested and ingenuous man, per possible, as he acted purely from the dictates of his own opinion. On his return from these heated debates, way-laid by some of the opposite party, many an unmerciful drubbing has he suffered, and once was so cruelly beaten that his life was endangered. It was in one of these rencounters that the lachrymal vessels of his right eye became contused, and occasioned him to undergo at times the most excruciating ago. nies, to alleviate which he frequently had recourse to large doses of opium.-But the most fatal accident happened at the time he was in the zenith of his fame, about the year 1778, when, crossing Snow-hill on a dark night, he was run-over by a hackneycoach, and his leg broken in three places. Surgeon Young reduced the fracture as well as he could, being loth to amputate the limb; but, owing to the terrible manner in which it was shattered, sixteen weeks elapsed ere it was judged proper to shift the leg from the cradle that encompassed it. The limb, from remaining so long in one posture, became constricted, and an instrument was obliged to be had to enable him to walk, and by degrees to reduce the contraction of the sinews, which in time

"The Intent and Propriety of the Scripture Miracles considered and explained, in a Series of Ser

Pre

it nearly effected. It was during this confinement (although obliged to remain nearly in a horizontal position) that he wrote the Elegy on the Death of Garrick, published by Mr. Harrison. This accident was severely felt by his family, and occasioned himself much pain and anxiety. After writing many Volumes, of which the Writer of this article can give no satisfactory account, an asthmatic complaint, with which he had long been afflicted, occasioned his death, Nov. 1788, in the 45th year of his age. His wife survived him but a few days, leaving three children totally unprovided for, the eldest of whom alone survives, and has now a wife and six children of his own. - Mr. Thomas Wynne died at an advanced age. The Rev. Richard Wynne lived till the year 1793, being more than eighty years of age when he died. The whole of his fortune he left to an only daughter. Mr. John Huddlestone Wynne was below the middle size (about five feet four inches in height), of a clear complexion, dark hair, a sanguine temperament, irritable and nervous. vious to his lameness, though he always took short steps, yet he walked remarkably fast. In his youth he acquired a bad habit of stooping, which his subsequent infirmities tended to increase, His eyes were piercing; his brow remarkably fine, and had the appearance of being pencilled; his nose aquiline, which, as Lavater well observes, always indicates a good arrangement of features. He certainly had many peculiarities, was very absent and negligent in his external appearance, and the dress worn when himself a youth he seemed always to prefer, and would probably have done the same had he lived in affluence. He spoke and read with wonderful facility, yet with accuracy and taste. When speaking in public, which he was much in the habit of, his delivery was flowing, animated, and eloquent, and almost 'forced conviction on his hearers. His reading must have been multifarious, and his memory very retentive; for, without the advantages of a classical education, or being taught any language than the Latin, he nevertheless by his own exertions attained a perfect knowledge of the French, and a cursory one of the Greek and Hebrew. Nor was he ignorant of the elements of physicks, astronomy, mathematicks, and navigation; and in theological and philosophical knowledge in general he stood high in repute. But his chief delight was poetry; and to his friends it is well known that he has sometimes composed a poem with as much facility as a merchant would write a letter on the ordinary concerns of business; so that many of his productions may be considered as mere extempore effusions. Yet, with these uncommon abilities he was modest and diffident; and far better would it have been for himself and his family had he duly appreciated his own merit, been less prodigal and abstracted in his ideas, and made men and manifers more his study."

He published, amongst other works, "A general History of the

British

« VorigeDoorgaan »