tention. In his first publication, he declared himself to be the nephew of the Almighty, and the prince of the Hebrews, who was to restore the Jews to their ancient privileges, and to lead them to the land of Canaan. He also predicted the destruction of the city of London by an earthquake, and many other absurdities. Extravagant as were these pretensions, there were not wanting persons distinguished for abilities, who openly asserted the divinity of his mission. Among these the most conspicuous was Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, Esq. a member of parliament, and a gentleman eminent for his extensive attainments in classical, and particularly in oriental literature. Several pamphlets were published on the subject, and such was the infatuation of a few deluded persons, that they sold all they possessed, in order to be ready to accompany the prophet to the Holy Land. This mad enthusiast was at length properly noticed by government, and confined as a lunatic.'-p. 40.

'CANNING, Rt. Hon. GEORGE, M. P. for Liverpool, son of George C. Esq. barrister at law, a branch of the Cannings of Garvagh, in the county of Londonderry, but who settled at an early period of life in London. His son, born about 1770, was educated at Eton, and Christ Church College, Oxford. Whilst a senior scholar at the former seminary, he was a principal contributor, in association with Messrs. J. and R. Smith, and J. Frere to the Microcosm, a well known periodical paper, written entirely by Etonians. The papers by him are signed B. At the university Mr. C. gained several prizes by his compositions, and was, with Messrs. Frere and Ellis, a principal conductor of the Antijacobin, or Weekly Examiner, in 1798. On leaving college, he commenced the usual studies for the profession of the law, from which he was soon diverted into the field of politics. In 1793 he obtained a seat in parliament for Newtown, I. of Wight; in 1796 was elected for Wendover, and appointed one of the under secretaries of state, and receiver-general of the Alienation Office. In 1801, on the retirement of Mr. Pitt from power, Mr. C. resigned his situations, and was the following year returned for the Irish borough of Tralee. In 1803, when Mr. Pitt returned to the helm, Mr. C. became treasurer of the navy, which office he resigned on the death of his patron in 1806, when he was elected M. P. for Sligo. In 1807, on the formation of Mr. Perceval's administration, he was returned for Hastings, and became secretary of state for foreign affairs; but in 1809 a misunderstanding with his colleague lord Castlereagh, respecting the conduct of the fatal expedition against Walcheren, occasioned his resignation, and a duel, in which Mr. Canning was wounded. Since that time he has not filled any public station: he is supposed to be politically attached to the marquis Wellesley, and at the general election, in 1812, was chosen one of the representatives of Liverpool. Mr. C. is married to a daughter of the late general Scott, sister to the dutchess of Portland, with whom he received a considerable fortune.'-p. 53.

CARTWRIGHT, EDMUND, D.D. rector of Goadby Merwood, Leicestershire, and prebendary of Lincoln. This gentleman was born at Marnham, Nottinghamshire, 1743. He was educated under Mr. Clark of Wakefield, and Dr. Langhorne, till he was sent in 1760 to University College, Oxford. In 1762 he was elected a Demy of Magdalen College, and in 1764 a Fellow of that society. In 1779 he was presented to the rectory which he still holds, and in 1785, went to reside at Doncaster, where his extraordinary mechanical talents first discovered themselves in various inventions, particularly of a loom worked by machinery, and a machine for combing wool, for which as well as for an improvement in the steam engine he obtained a patent. In 1796 he removed to the metropolis, and on the death of Mr. Moore offered himself as secretary to the Society of Arts, but voluntarily withdrew in favour of a competitor, whose practical knowledge in the manufacturing line promised to be highly serviceable to the society. In 1801 he was invited by the late duke of Bedford to superintend his very extensive farming concerns at Woburn, and likewise a kind of agricultural college which that enlightened nobleman designed to establish; but this project was suddenly frustrated by the death of the duke. In 1807 his invention for weaving by machinery was beginning to be generally adopted, but as his patent right had expired several years before, it was then too late for him to reap any benefit from the circumstance: however, some of the principal merchants and manufacturers of Manchester, and its vicinity addressed a memorial to the lords of the treasury, setting forth the benefits which Dr C. had conferred on his country, and praying a remuneration of his eminent services. The result was a proposal from Mr. Perceval, then chancellor of the exchequer, to parliament to grant Dr. C. 10,000l. which was unanimously agreed to. Dr. C. married first in 1772, Alice, daughter of Richard Whitaker, Esq. of Doncaster, who died in 1785; and secondly, in 1790, Susannah, youngest daughter of the Rev. Dr. John Kearney, precentor of Armagh.'-p. 56, 57.

DAVY, REV. WILLIAM, A.B. curate of Lustleigh, Devonshire, formerly of Baliol College, Oxford. This gentleman is the editor, printer, and publisher of a compilation, intitled: A System of Divinity, in a Course of Sermons on the First Institutions of Reli gion-on some of the most important Articles of the Christian Religion in connexion-and on the several Virtues and Vices of Mankind; with occasional discourses. Being a compilation from the best sentiments of the polite writers and eminent sound divines, both ancient and modern, on the same subjects properly connected, with improvements; particularly adapted for the use of chiefs of families and students in divinity, for churches, and for the benefit of mankind in general, 26 v. 8vo. 1795-1807. The history of this voluminous work affords an example of perseverance that can scarcely be paralleled in the annals of literature, though so fer

tile in curiosities. Mr. D. having completed his collection, at first issued proposals for publishing it by subscription: but as he was poor, and, for obvious reasons, his theological labours obtained no patronage, he resolved to print it himself, that is, with his own hands. With a press, which he made for himself, and as many worn and cast-off types, purchased from a country printing-office, as sufficed to set up two pages, he fell to work in 1795. Performing with the assistance of his female domestic, every operation, and working off page by page, he struck off forty copies of the first three hundred pages; 26 of which he distributed among the universities, the bishops, the royal society and the reviews, hoping no doubt to receive from some of those quarters, that encouragement to which he thought himself entitled. Disappointed in this expectation, he resolved to spare himself the expense of paper in future: and as he had reserved only fourteen copies of the forty with which he commenced, three of which he mentions as being imperfect, he continued to print that number, and at the end of twelve years of unremitting toil, finished the whole 26 volumes. Disdaining any assistance, he then put them in boards with his own hands, and made a journey to London for the express purpose of depositing a copy in each of the most eminent public libraries of the metropolis.'—p. 88, 89.

GIFFORD, WILLIAM From a truly interesting biographical account of this gentleman, prefixed to his translation of Juvenal, it appears that he is a native of Ashburton, Devonshire, and was born in 1757. At the age of thirteen he became an orphan, by the loss of both his parents; was then placed on board a coaster at Brixton, by his god-father, who afterwards bound him apprentice to a shoe-maker, with whom he worked till his twentieth year. About this time some poetical trifles which he had produced, attracted the notice of a gentleman who interested himself so warmly in his behalf, that a subscription was raised expressly for the purpose of purchasing the remainder of his apprenticeship, and maintaining him for a short time, while he improved himself in writing and English grammar. Such, however, was his assiduity under the master provided for him, that his patrons extended their views, and determined to send him to the university. The office of Bib. Lect. at Exeter College, Oxford, was procured for him, and thither he removed. About this time he commenced his translation of Juvenal, which he proposed to publish by subscription; but afterwards relinquished that plan, and returned the money which he had received. Accident introduced him to the acquaintance of the late earl Grosvenor, whose son, the present earl, he accompanied in two successive tours to the continent, and by whom he was finally placed in ease and independence. His first avowed work was devoted to the chastisement of the poetasters of the Della Crusca school. He is understood to have been the editor of the

Antijacobin, or Weekly Examiner, as he is at present of the Quarterly Review.

GREATHEAD, HENRY, of South Shields, born at Richmond, Yorkshire, 1757. His father, who was comptroller of the salt duties at South Shields, apprenticed him to a boat-builder at that place. He afterwards embraced a sea-faring life, was for six years in the royal navy, during the American war, and in 1788 was shipwrecked on the French coast. In 1789 a committee of the shipowners of S. Shields offered premiums for plans of a boat best calculated to save shipwrecked persons, and the preference was given to one proposed by Mr. G. whose invention under the name of the Life Boat, has been introduced in many places on the British coasts, and in 1802 procured him from parliament the sum of 1200l. In 1786 he married the daughter of Mr. Wood, collector of excise at Norwich.'-p. 135, 136.

HERSCHELL, WILLIAM, LL.D. F.R.S. This gentleman was born at Hanover in 1738, and was brought up to his father's profession which was that of a musician. In 1759 he came to England, and was soon afterwards engaged as a performer on the hautboy in the band of the Durham militia. He next became organist at Halifax in Yorkshire, and in 1766 obtained a similar appointment at the Octagon Chapel, Bath. His leisure hours, while in these situations, were devoted with extraordinary assiduity to the study of the languages and the mathematical sciences. Astronomy also engaged his attention and at length absorbed all the time that he could spare from his profession. His observations were made with instruments of his own making, and his discoveries entitle him to the foremost rank among the astronomers of the present day. In 1781 he discovered a new planet in our system to which he gave the name of Georgium Sidus, and the same year communicated an account of it to the Royal Society, which unanimously elected him a member and conferred on him the gold medal. The year following his majesty appointed him his astronomer with a handsome salary, and a house at Slough near Windsor where he has ever since resided. Here he was enabled to accomplish various plans for the improvement of his favourite science; his grand forty feet reflecting telescope in particular is a noble monument of philosophical zeal and princely munificence. It was completed in 1789, and an ample account of it may be seen in the Phil. Trans. for 1795. To that work Dr. H. has ever since his first communication been a regular contributor. In his scientific pursuits he was assisted by his late sister, Carolina, who distinguished herself by her application to the sublime science of astronomy, and by several ingenious reports of her observations to the Royal Society." p. 153, 154.

PENN, JOHN, Esq. of Stoke Park, near Windsor, and of Spring Garden, London. This respectable gentleman is a lineal descen dant of the founder of Pennsylvania; and though he does not pro

1

fess the same religious faith, he is as much distinguished by talent and philanthropy. Mr. Penn has devoted much of his time to literary pursuits, and he has had the honour of being noticed by the marked esteem of our venerable sovereign and most of the royal family. Near his residence is Stoke Church, in which are deposited the remains of the poct Gray; and as a mark of respect to this great man, he has, in his own grounds, erected a mausoleum to his memory. This gentleman preserves with veneration part of the trunk of the tree under which his ancestors signed the treaty with the Indians.'-p. 269.

REDE, L. S. barrister at law. This person, who never made any progress in his profession, contrived some years ago to gain a livelihood by cutting out extracts from newspapers, magazines, and other periodical publications. These he pasted on folio paper, and by dexterous combination he gave them the appearance of a curious and valuable collection of memoirs illustrative of the history of the times For one of these sets, thus manufactured, with the aid of scissars and paste, a late noble duke gave the sum of three hundred guineas. But on some account or other the ingenious projector was under the necessity of withdrawing from the kingdom, and what has become of him we know not.'—p. 287,

288.

'SOUTHEY ROBERT, Esq. poet laureat. He was born August 12, 1774, at Bristol, where his father carried on an extensive business as a wholesale linen draper. The son was educated first under Mr. Foote a baptist minister of great ability, but at that time very aged. After a short time young Southey was removed to a school at Carston, where he remained about two years, and was then entered at Westminster school, in 1787, where, in 1790, he fell under censure for his concern in the rebellion excited against the master, Dr. Vincent. In 1792 he became a student of Baliol College, Oxford, with a view to the church, but Unitarian principles and the revolutionary mania put an end to that design. So strongly did he imbibe the new opinions on politics which the explosion in France had produced, that he, with his friends Lovell and Coleridge, projected a plan of settling on the banks of the Susquehannah in North America, and of there founding a new republic. This Utopian scheme was soon dissolved for the want of means, and in 1795 Mr. Southey married Miss Tricker, soon after which event he accompanied his maternal uncle the Rev. Mr. Hill to Portugal, that gentleman being appointed chaplain to the Factory at Lisbon. In 1801, Mr. Southey obtained the appointment of secretary to the right hon. Isaac Corry, chanceller of the exchequer for Ireland. On retiring from office with his patron, our author went to reside in a cottage near Keswick, where also dwelt under the same roof the widow of his friend Lovell and the wife of Mr. Coleridge, both which ladies are sisters to Mrs. Southey. In 1813 he succeeded Mr. Pye as poet laureat, and it must be confessed that, with some