had left her about a year before, placed Mrs Carter very much at her ease in point of circumstances. Her habits of life, indeed, were such, that a very little sufficed her.

Early in August, 1768, Mrs Carter had the misfortune to lose her old and highly respected friend, Archbishop Secker. Mrs Talbot and her daughter had resided with him; but upon this occasion they removed to Lower Grosvenor-street, where Miss Talbot also expired, January, 9th, 1770. This was a very severe stroke to Mrs Carter, and most deeply felt; nor did she ever speak of Miss Talbot without the most affecting expressions of esteem and tenderness.

Mrs Carter's father died in the year 1774, in his eighty-seventh year. "This event made no great difference in her establishment or way of life, excepting that she had no longer the use of a carriage which he had kept for some years. His fortune was divided amongst his children; but the house was Mrs Carter's, and her income was now sufficient to enable her to live in it with much comfort and hospitality." To this fortune an addition was, next year, very unexpectedly made, by the death of Mr Montague; soon after which event, Mrs Montague settled upon her an annuity of one hundred pounds, and secured it to her by bond.

"From this period of her life, Mrs Carter could hardly be considered in the light of a professed literary character.

"After the publication of the third edition of her poems, to which some were added, she wrote nothing for the press. Her head-aches were very violent and frequent, and prevented her from reading or writing any thing which required much attention."

This excellent and exemplary woman expired on the 19th of February, 1806. In 1807 were published Memoirs of her Life,' with a new edition of her poems, by the Rev. Montague Pennington; and, in 1808, her correspondence with Miss Talbot was published in two volumes octavo.

Edward King.

BORN A. D. 1734.-DIED A. D. 1807.

THIS learned gentleman was descended from a Norfolk family of high respectability. He received the first rudiments of education from Drs Clark and Rullock, successively deans of Norwich; and, in 1748, was sent to the university of Cambridge as a fellow-commoner of Clarehall. He resided several years at his hall, most sedulously prosecuting his academical course, and distinguishing himself by the correctness of his moral conduct. He afterwards entered himself of Lincolns-inn, by which society he was called to the bar, and practised at it with considerable success, and the promise of future eminence in the profession, until the decease of his father, when, coming into the possession of a handsome fortune, he took his leave of Westminster-hall, and devoted himself to the pursuits of learning.

His first literary performance was, 'An Essay on the English Constitution and Government,' published in 1767. In 1773 he published A Letter addressed to Dr Hawkesworth, and humbly recommended

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to the perusal of the very Learned Deists.' In 1777 he communicated to the society of Antiquaries an ingenious and very interesting memoir on the Castellated Remains of Past Ages,' which was followed by a fuller memoir in 1782. They are both printed in the Archæologia.' In 1780 he published Hymns to the Supreme Being, in imitation of the Eastern Songs,' 12mo. In 1783, Proposals for establishing at Sea a Marine School, or Seminary for Seamen,' 8vo. In 1788 he presented to the religious world his curious and learned' Morsels of Criticism, tending to illustrate some few passages in the Holy Scriptures, upon Philosophical Principles, and an enlarged View of Things,' 4to; to which a supplement was added in 1800. The public attention was in a very particular manner called to the contents of the former of these volumes, by the author of the Pursuits of Literature,' on account of some striking interpretation of prophecy which they exhibited, and which were, several years after the appearance of the Morsels,' in a remarkable degree confirmed by the great events which took place in Europe.

In his explanation of the 24th chapter of St Matthew's gospel, principally of the 29th verse, he observes as follows:-" We may remark, if the words are to be understood as spoken merely emblematically, that the images made use of are such as are well-known to predict— consistently with their constant use in many other parts of prophecya great destruction and almost annihilation of many of those lawful powers which rule on earth, however beneficial any of them may be to the earth; and a dreadful lessening of the dignity and splendour of all greatness, and a subversion of all good order and civil government. Than which nothing can be expected more formidable. Dreadful indeed," adds he, "must be a time, if such a one is to come, when men are let loose upon each other, possessed of all their present improvements and advantages, but unrestrained either by law or civil government, or by conscience and good principle; scorning the admonition and authority of those who ought to maintain justice, and assisted by the more rude and barbarous parts of the world, whom they shall find too ready to increase the universal uproar." At the conclusion of his remarks on the Revelation, chap. xvi. verses 13 and 14, he says: "Here, while we maintain due reverential fear, our interpretation must end. Nothing but the events themselves, when they come to pass, can rightly explain the rest. And they will certainly speak loudly enough for themselves, as those before them have done. Only I must just remark, that it seems as if persecution, and the horrid influences of ignorance and barbarism, were allowed to produce their dire effects during the first part of the period of time described under the vials; and as if irreligion, vanity, and a total want of all serious principle, and a misapplication of the refinements of civilization, were to be allowed to produce their mischief also, at the latter end of that period."- "It will be happy for those who shall live some years hence, if they can prove me guilty of a mistake on this point. I speak and write with cautious reverence and fear, acknowledging that I am liable to error, and by no means pretending to prophecy; but still apprehending myself bound not to conceal the truth, where any matter appears to be revealed in Holy Scripture; and especially when the bringing an impending denunciation

to light, if it be a truth, may be an awful warning and caution to many, and prevent their becoming accessory to evil.”

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In 1791 he published An Imitation of the Prayer of Abel,' in the style of Eastern poetry; and in 1793 his Considerations on the Utility of the National Debt,' 8vo. In 1796 the lovers of antiquarian research were gratified with his elegant Vestiges of Oxford Castle,' folio; and in the same year he presented to the philosophical world his Remarks concerning Stones said to have fallen from the Clouds, both in these Days and in Ancient Times,' 4to. Two years afterwards he sent forth his Remarks on the Signs of the Times,' 4to. to which a supplement was added in the following year, which led to the 'Critical Disquisitions' of Bishop Horsley on the 18th chapter of Isaiah, addressed in a letter to Mr King, in which his lordship bestows the following high but well-merited eulogium on that gentleman: "I cannot enter upon the subjects without professing, not to yourself, but to the world, how highly I esteem your writings for the variety and depth of erudition, the sagacity and piety which appear in every part of them: but appear not more in them than in the conversation and habits of your life, to those who have the happiness, as I have, to enjoy your intimacy and friendship. I must publicly declare that I think you are rendering the best service to the church of God by turning the attention of believers to the true sense of all the prophecies." The learned prelate some years afterwards published his ingenious and scientific tract On Virgil's Two Seasons of Honey, and his Season of sowing Wheat, with a new and compendious Method of investigating the Risings and Fallings of the Fixed Stars,' which he likewise addressed to Mr King in an affectionate dedication, "as eminently qualified to judge of the soundness of the arguments, the truth of the conclusions, and to appreciate the merits of the whole."

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In 1799 Mr King published the first volume of a most arduous and magnificent undertaking, the work of many years laborious study and investigation, entitled Munimenta Antiqua, or Observations on Aucient Castles, including Remarks on the whole Progress of Architecture, Ecclesiastical, as well as Military, in Great Britain, and on the Corresponding Changes in Manners, Laws, and Customs, tending to illustrate Modern History, and to elucidate many Interesting Passages in various Classic Authors,' folio. The second volume of this work appeared in 1802, and the third in 1804. A fourth volume was nearly ready for the press-when death closed the labours of its author. In 1803 Mr King published a small tract entitled 'Honest Apprehensions, and sincere Confessions of Faith of a plain honest Layman,' and in 1805 he engaged in a literary discussion with Mr Dutens on the antiquity of the arch, which led to several publications on both sides.

Mr King died in 1807. He left behind him an uncommonly large collection of most curious and valuable MSS. on various subjects, written at different periods of his life.

John Opie.

BORN A. D. 1761.-DIED A. D. 1807.

JOHN OPIE was born in 1761, in the parish of St Agnes, county of Cornwall. His father moved in a humble walk of life, being a village-carpenter; and the education received by the boy is not likely to have been very liberal. He himself, however, at the early age of twelve, taught an evening-school; and we are told, by a very respectable authority, that at "ten years old, he was not only able to solve many difficult problems of Euclid, but was thought capable of instructing others." Certain it is, however, that it was not in the character of a pedagogue that young Opie—although denominated the "little Sir Isaac"-distinguished himself. The first spark of latent genius appears to have been elicited on beholding one of his companions employed on a subject of natural history; and the first effort of the pencil was directed towards the drawing and embellishing of a butterfly,object at once gaudy and familiar, and not at all unlikely to attract the ambition of a child.

-an

Dr Wolcott, who at one time actually wielded the pencil himself as an amateur, and with considerable success as to effect, was occasionally carried by his professional pursuits to the village of St Agnes, about eight miles distant from the usual place of his abode. While there, he

had seen and admired some rude drawings in common chalk, and soon learned the history of the artist at the house of a patient. The lady of the mansion, pointing to a very popular print of a farm-yard, observed, that the sawyer's lad, of whom she had already made mention, had copied it very exactly. On this the doctor immediately proceeded to the saw-pit, at the bottom of which he discovered the youth in question occupied about his daily labours. Having called him up, he began to put questions about his performances, and was told, in the true Cornish dialect-the accent of which never wholly forsook the artist's tongue,"that he painted blazing stars! Duke William King and Queen! and Mrs Nankivell's cat!" On expressing a wish to behold some of these master-pieces, the boy, tucking his leathern apron around his loins, immediately bounded across the hedge, and returned, not only with the cat just alluded to in the catalogue of his works, but also with two other most ferocious-looking monsters, and a portrait of the devil sketched out in strict conformity to vulgar tradition, being provided with a monstrous pair of horns, two goggle eyes, and a long tail.

Soon after this interview the lad trudged to Truro, and, by invitation, dined at the house of his new protector; who presented him with brushes, colours, &c. These trifling favours were soon followed by others of a more important nature. In addition to some practical instructions in his art, he received both bed and board, and was accommodated with the use of productions of a superior class of artists, for the purpose of imitation; while his own rough sketches were carefully corrected by the hand of friendship. By the kindness of his patron the acquirements of the young painter were now greatly increased, and his fame began to be blazoned abroad. He soon could pencil out a

decent head for five shillings, and at the end of a twelve-month he undertook small half-lengths. When he had thus depicted the likenesses of half the town of Truro, he determined to increase the circle of his practice, and accordingly trudged, with his apparatus, to the neighbouring villages and seats. From a profitable expedition to Padstow, whither he had repaired dressed in a peasant's short jacket, after painting not only the heads, but the menial servants, together with the dogs and cats, of the ancient family of Prideaux; he returned with a fashionable coat, laced ruffles, and silk stockings! On this occasion, with true filial piety, he presented his mother, who had been uneasy at his long absence, with the sum of twenty guineas, the fruit of his recent labours. The late Lord Bateman, one of his earliest patrons, now employed him on old men, beggars, &c. and in 1777, when only sixteen years of age, he painted his own portrait for that nobleman. By this time, he had raised the price of his heads progressively to seven shillings ten and sixpence, fifteen, and twenty-one shillings; it remained sometime stationary at a guinea.

It was now determined by Dr Wolcott that the young man should remove to Exeter. On this occasion he determined to change his surname from Hoppy, which it originally had been, and which was conceived to have something vulgar appertaining to it, to that of Opie, the appellation of a very genteel family in the duchy of Cornwall. In 1782 the doctor and his protegé, being both determined to emerge from the obscurity of provincial practice, repaired together to the metropolis, and, as they were unmarried, their joint expenses were supplied from a common purse. This mode of life, however, as might have been easily conjectured, did not continue long; and Mr Opie, being the first to perceive its inconveniences, communicated his opinion by letter to his friend, who happened to be absent in the country; subsequently to this period they were never cordially united; they indeed met and visited, but all their former attachment was wanting; nor during the remainder of their joint lives did a sincere reconciliation take place.

The artist's Old Beggar-Man' introduced him to the notice of the royal family, and he was honoured with an order to repair to the queen'shouse. On this occasion, his majesty purchased some pictures of him, not indeed at a royal, but at a "gentleman's price," a circumstance which assuredly proved serviceable to his reputation. The talents of the artist himself and the newspapers did the rest; as public curiosity was not a little excited by the accounts respecting a self-taught boy, "drawn out from a tin-mine in the county of Cornwall."

Success now smiled on the labours of Mr Opie, and, as is usual in such cases, he changed his place of residence with his change of fortune. Having originally resided in a little court in the neighbourhood of Leicester-square, he removed first to a house in Great-Queen-street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, and then to Berner's-street, Oxford Road. In 1786 he was known as an exhibitor at Somerset-House, soon after which he aspired to academical honours. He accordingly became, first an academician elect, and then a royal academician. For some little time he enjoyed the profit and reputation of a fashionable portrait-painter; and, where strength, breadth, and character, were demanded, his pencil was deservedly celebrated, in respect to the male figure. For interesting beggars, a complete representation of age and misery coupled to