Cambridge; and soon after he had quitted the latter place, he accompanied the honourable Horace Walpole on a tour through Europe. After his return to England, he spent most of the remainder of his life, in academic retirement, at Cambridge; where he took the degree of bachelor of civil law, which gave him every necessary privilege of a university residence. In 1768, the professorship of modern history at Cambridge, with a salary of four hundred pounds a year, was conferred upon him "unsolicited and unexpected," in the most handsome manner, by the duke of Grafton: but, soon after, bis health declined; and he died at Cambridge, on the thirtieth of July, 1771, in the fifty fifth year of his age.

With all

His character was amiable and respectable. the poet's warmth of imagination, he had a calm, sedate disposition. He was prudently attentive to economy: but he was very delicate, and even scrupulous, with respect to pecuniary matters; devoid of all tincture of avarice; and bountiful, even when his circumstances were the most narrow. He was temperate and upright; a constant friend to virtue; and much, opposed to scepticism and infidelity.

His poems are short, and few in number: but they are, for the most part, eminently beautiful; and they are chaste and moral. His far-famed "Elegy in a country church-yard," one of the most favourite productions of the British muse, transcends all praise. His letters, of which a large collection is interspersed in the Memoirs of his life and writings, published by his faithful friend and executer, the Rev. Mr. Mason, are lively, interesting, and instructive, and contain, a very pleasing account of his travels. "He that reads," says Dr. Johnson, "his epistolary narration, wishes, that to travel, and to tell his travels, had been more of his employment; but it is by studying at home that we must obtain the ability of travelling with. intelligence and improvement."

2

HALE, sir Matthew,-lord chief justice of England, an eminent lawyer, and a most upright judge, was born at Alderly, in Gloucestershire, in the year 1609. He received a religious education; but he did not, in very early life, act in strict conformity to its precepts. When he was at Oxford, he took much pleasure in stage entertainments: but finding that they tended to corrupt his mind, and to divert his attention from study, he wholly relinquished them, and resolved, on his going to London, never to see a play again; a resolution to which he steadfastly adhered. When he was a student at Lincoln's Inn, the following striking circumstance made a very salutary impression on his mind. Being with some other young students, invited to a party of pleasure, one of his companions drank to such an excess, that he fell down, apparently dead. Hale was deeply affected on the occasion. He retired into another room; fell on his knees, and prayed earnestly to God that his friend might be restored to life, and that he himself might be pardoned for having given countenance to so much excess; and he made a solemn vow that he would never again keep company in that manner. His friend recovered: Hale religiously observed his vow; and, from that time, spent the remainder of his days in a uniform course of virtue and piety, and paid the most exemplary attention to the duties of his profession. He died at Alderly, after a long illness, on the twenty sixth of December, 1676, in the sixty seventh year of his age. "He saw with great joy," says bishop Burnet, "his deliverance approaching. In the extremity of his pain, he forbore all complaints or groans; and, with his hands and eyes lifted up, was tixed in his devotions. He continued to enjoy the free use of his reason and sense to the last moment, which he had often and earnestly prayed for, during his sickness; and when his voice was so sunk, that he could not be heard, it was evident from the almost constant lifting up of his eyes and hands, that he was still aspiring towards that blessed

state, to which he was speedily to be advanced. His end was peace; he had no struggling, nor seemed to be in any pangs in his last moments."

Sir Matthew Hale's works, on moral and religious subjects, are published in two volumes octavo. His "Contemplations," which form the principal part of them, were written entirely for his own private edification. They breathe a spirit of serious and fervent piety; and they are justly held in high estimation.

"Sir Matthew Hale was of a middle stature; his countenance was engaging; his conversation affable and interesting; his temper warm, open, and generous. He was sincere in his attachment to his friends; and affectionate to his family. However engaged in the service of his country, he neglected not the education of his children. To form their manners, and direct their talents; to promote in them the practice of virtue and of piety; to guard them from imprudence, indigence, and misfortune; were the important objects of his attention. He was a kind and gentle master; often gave his servants good advice and instruction; liberally rewarded their faithful services; and never turned any of them away, except they were so faulty, that there was no hope of reclaiming them. He was very charitable and humane to the poor; and his mercifulness and kindness extended even to beasts. his profession, his judgment was clear; his opinion was authority. When at the bar, nothing could induce him to prostitute his abilities; and though civil war raged with all the violence of contention, yet he not only preserved his integrity, but lived in ease and security. On the bench, he reigned a pure intelligencer.' There he was all patience; and though the temper of the times too often occasioned innovations in the profession, yet he never gave way to injustice, however formidable. Nothing could alarm, nor any thing allure him. He held equity to be not only part of the common law, but also one of its principal grounds. It is almost incredible that

In

one man could acquire the knowledge which he possessed; but his apprehension was quick, his memory retentive, his judgment sound, and his application indefatigable. Notwithstanding the variety of his avocations, he daily pressed nearer to perfection by a devotion which, though elevated, was rational, and though regular, was warm. He was a religious observer of the sabbath; and constant in his attendance on public worship, on that day. For a long time, he concealed the consecration of himself to the strictest duties of religion, lest by some adventitious action he should bring piety into disgrace. He taught the theory of Christianity by his precepts, and the practice by his example. The faith which influenced his own actions, he religiously communicated to others; he improved devotion where he found it, and kindled it where he found it not. May those who study his writings, imitate his life; and those who endeavour after his knowledge, aspire likewise to his piety!"

HAWKESWORTH, John,-an elegant writer, was born in the year 1715. Few particulars of his life are known. He resided, for many years, at Bromley, in Kent; where his wife kept a boarding-school for young ladies, which was much encouraged, and was a source of considerable emolument. In 1752, he began his most celebrated work, a periodical publication, entitled "The Adventurer;" to which Dr. Johnson was a liberal contribu tor, and which was afterwards collected into four volumes duodecimo. This work is distinguished by elegance of language, force of sentiment, and an evident tendency to promote virtue and piety. Dr. Herring, archbishop of Canterbury, was so much pleased with it, that he conferred upon the author the degree of doctor of civil law. In 1772, Hawkesworth was appointed to the very lucrative and honourable office of compiling "An Account of the Voyages undertaken, by order of his present Majesty, for making discoveries in the South Seas ;" but the manner in

which he executed it, was, in many respects, liable to much and very serious objection. The work was ill received by the public. This circumstance greatly affected and chagrined him; and, it is said, even contributed to shorten his days: for he was a man, who, with many amiable qualities, possessed an irritable temper, and a too poignant sensibility. He died on the sixteenth of November, 1773, aged fifty eight years. A handsome monu❤ ment was erected to his memory in Bromley church. The following lines, from the concluding number of the Adventurer, form part of the inscription.

"Time, who is impatient to date my last paper, will shortly moulder in the dust the hand which is now writing it, and still the breast that now throbs at the re flection. But let not this be read as something that relates only to another: for a few years only can divide the eye that is now reading, from the hand that has written."

HERVEY, James,-a clergyman of exemplary virtue and piety, and a very popular writer, was born in the year 1714, at Hardingstone, a village near Northampton. Soon after he had completed his studies at Oxford, he accepted a kind invitation from his much esteemed friend, Paul Orchard, esq. to spend some time at Stoke Abbey, in Devonshire, the seat of that worthy gentleman; and he continued there more than two years. He then undertook the curacy of Biddeford, in the same county. When he had held it about two years and a half, the rector died. The new incumbent dismissed Mr. Hervey; contrary to the united request of the parishioners, by whom he was so highly beloved and esteemed, that they offered to maintain him at their own expense. In 1752, he succeeded, by the death of his father, to the benefices of Weston and Collingtree, in Northamptonshire; and from that time, till his death, he constantly resided at Weston. He was zealous and indefatigable in the exercise of all his ministerial duties. In the pulpit, he was highly animated, and