Life of Robert Southey

Preface

The present Volume does not aspire to compete with the "Life and Correspondence of Southey," edited by his Son. It is necessarily less copious in detail, less full of familiar and affectionate illustrations of character ; but I have aimed, without yielding to any political or literary bias, at giving a cheerful narrative of the actions, and an impartial estimate of the opinions and genius, of ,a man whose name is deservedly ranked amongst those of our first writers .

C. T. B.

Paris, Nov. 1853.

Contents

CHAPTEK I.

Lineage and Birth of South ey — His Infancy — His First School — Curious Incident — Miss Tyler — The Theatre — Misapplication of Terms Page 1

Chapter II

The Character of his Schools — Remarks on Education — His Grandmother's House — Visit to Weymouth — Eondness for Reading — Attempts at Composition — Habits and Disposition— Shadrach Weeks — Preparing for Westminster — His Entrance — Public Schools — Anticipations — Life at Westminster— Friends — Literary Efforts — The Flagellator — Dr. Vincent — Expulsion — Life at Bristol ... 8

Chapter III

His Father's Affairs — His Uncle South ey — His Uncle Hill — Death of his Father — Matriculates at Oxford — His Feelings and Opinions — Life at Oxford — Edmund Seward — Coleridge — Trip into Herefordshire — Visit to Brixton — Joan of Arc — Views in Life — Pantisocracy ; its Plans, Projects, and Impracticability . . . . . . . ,25

Chapter IV

Prospects in Life — Miss Tyler — Dependence upon Literature — Lectures at Bristol — Publication of "Joan of Arc" — Return of Mr. Hill to England — Southey prepares for a Voyage to Lisbon — His Marriage ...... 43

Vlll CONTENTS.

Chapter V

Delay at Falmouth — Character of Mr. Hill — Portuguese History— Coruna — Spanish Inns — Description of the Town — His Journey — Mules and Bells — Description of Scenery — Villages— The Country People— Madrid— The Palace— The Theatres — The Fiesta de Novillos — Grand Parade of the King — Entrance to Badajos — Adea Gallega — Lisbon — " Letters from Spain and Portugal" — Character of Southey P. 50

Chapter VI

Death of Robert Lovell — His Widow — Opinions — Literary Labours — Study of the Law — Life in London — Burton — John Rickman — His brother Thomas — Convalescent Asylum — " Morning Post " — George Burnett — His brother Henry — Visit to Norwich — Mr. Taylor — Verses to his Wife 66

Chapter VII

Westbury — Humphry Davy — " Madoc " — Poetry — Engagements— Health — Tour through North Wales — Its Scenery

— Strewing Graves — Play -writing — Literary Reputation — Reviews — A Strange Lady — Visit to London — Books — Suwarrow — Sabbath Mails — Tour through North Devon — Valley of Rocks — Settles at Burton .... 77

Chapter VIII

Indisposition of Southey — Return to Lisbon — Alarm at Sea — Coast of Portugal — Residence at Lisbon — Literary Labours

— State of Lisbon — The Government — Condition of the People — Crime — Negroes — Charity — Catholicism — Cintra

— Journey into the Interior — Preparations for quitting Portugal 89

CONTENTS. IX

Chapter IX

Return to England — Mr. Drummond — Keswick — Coleridge and Wordsworth — Cumberland Scenery — Secretaryship to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland — Celebrated Characters — Death of his Mother — Chatterton's Sister — Sir Herbert Croft — Birth of a Daughter — House-hunting — Literature . Page 100

Chapter X

Fondness for the Past — The " Bibliotheca Britannica" — Death of his Daughter — Resides at Keswick — His Character — Literature — " Madoc " — Specimens of the Modern English Poets — Thoughts of visiting Portugal — Visit to Scotland — Edinburgh — Ashestiel — Walter Scott — Jeffrey and Brougham — Criticism and Reviews . 110

CHAPTER XL

Cumberland — The Lakers — Change of Ministry — Expectations — Death of his Uncle, John Southey — Pension — Literature — European Politics — History of Brazil — Kirke White — Literature— Letter to Grosvenor Bedford .... 121

Chapter XII

Disagreement between the Editor and Proprietors of the " Edinburgh Review" — Overtures to Southey — Continental Politics — Sir Walter Scott withdraws from the " Edinburgh Review" — "The Quarterly Review" — Engagement of Southey on it — Gifford and his Contributors 138

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII. Marriage of his brother Henry — Goes to Durham — His Family

— Canning — Stewardship of the Greenwich Hospital — "The Friend" — Ebenezer Elliott — Criticism — "Edinburgh Annual Eegister" — William Koberts — Opinions — Death of his Uncle Southey — Generosity — Advice to a young Friend entering College — Shelley — Assassination of the Hon. Mr. Perceval — Politics Page 146

Chapter XIV

Engagements — His Family — Annual Register — Quarterly Review— Life of Nelson — Applications from Literary Aspirants — James Dusatoy — Vacant Office of the Laureateship filled by Southey — Lord Byron — The Carmen Triumphale — Politics — Laureate Odes — Don Roderick, the Last of the Goths — Southey's Poetry— Wordsworth's — Immortality . .169

Chapter XV

Battle of Waterloo — Public Rejoicings — Visit to the Continent — Pilgrimage to Waterloo — Brussels — French History of Brazil — Detained at Aix-la-Chapelle — Companions — Ghent — Beguinages — Return — Death of his Son — Employments — Visits — Owen of Lanark 186

CHAPTER XVI. Lord Liverpool — Southey requested to meet the Prime Minister

— Means of suppressing Sedition — Observations on the Moral and Political State of England — Herbert Knowles — Academy of Madrid — Royal Institution of Amsterdam — Wat Tyler— The " Times " Newspaper — Tour on the Continent — Lakers 200

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XVII

Offer of Librarianship of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh — His present Powers — His future Prospects — Birth of a Son — Method of Study — History of Brazil — Visit to Scotland — John Morgan — Bequest of a Lunatic — Biographical Hoax — Life of Wesley — Visit to Wales— Degree of LL.D. — Literary Labours — Shelley — Life of George Fox— Death of Nash the Artist — Boderic, dernier Boi des Goths — Death of Miss Tyler Page 213

CHAPTER XVIIL

Death of George III. — Vision of Judgment — The Critics — America— Mr. Ticknor — American Literature — Book of the Church — Dr. Channing — Rev. G. Benson — Gifford — Domestic Expenses — Visit to London — Charles Lamb and the Quarterly Review — Criticism and Remarks on " Elia " — Rowland Hill — Present of a Bible— Journey to the West' — Wesleyan Methodism and Church Government — Morning Chronicle, Southey, and Mr. H. Taylor— The Book of the Church and the Romanists — Testimonies in its favour — Vindiciae Ecclesise Anglicanse .....' 225

Chapter XIX

Journey to Holland and Belgium — Brussels — Antwerp — Is laid up at Ley den — Mr. Bilderjik — Lowland Hospitality — The Hague — Return to England — Literary Labours — A Second Visit to Holland — Death of his youngest Daughter — Is elected to sit in Parliament for the Borough of Downton — Garrick Papers — Foreign Quarterly — Visit to his Uncle — Engagements in London . . . . . . 239 ^

XU CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XX.

Keview of Southey's Labours — His Hopes and Aspirations — Kev. Mr. Shannon— Colloquies of Sir Thomas More, and the Eev. J. Hornby — The Church and Methodism — A Charitable Institution — Literary Labours — Visit to London — Political Excitement — Visit to Hampshire — Crediton — Bristol Page 251

Chapter XXI

Lord Brougham and the Endowment of Literature — Southey's Opinions on the Subject — Character of Education — Observance of the Sabbath — Eeform Bill and the Conservatives — Dr. Bell — Professorship of Humanity, Glasgow — Essays, Moral and Political — The Doctor — Its Publication — Marriage of his eldest Daughter — Illness of his Wife — State of Southey's Feelings 261

CHAPTEE XXII.

Offer of a Baronetcy — Pension from the Civil List — Health of Mrs. Southey — Southey subpoenaed to the Lancaster Assizes — Tour to the West of England — Life of Cowper — Naval Biography — Death of Mrs. Southey — Tour on the Continent

— Calais — Caen — Bayeux — Nantes ■ — Orleans — Paris — Eeturn to England — Second Marriage of Southey . 273

CHAPTEE XXIII.

The last Scene — Eeview of Southey's Character and Writings

— Greta Hall 286

Chapter I

Lineage and Birth of Southey — His Infancy — His First School — Curious Incident — Miss Tyler — The Theatre — Misapplication of Terms.

Beneath tlie shadow of the Blackdown Hills, and in the beautiful and fertile valley of the Tone, in Somersetshire, lies the elegant little town of Wellington. Here, in the yellow pages of the Parish Register, towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find the first authentic notice of the Southey s. Tradition, it is, true, faintly asserts that Robert Southey, who married a niece, or second cousin, of John Locke, was engaged in the Monmouth rebellion, and narrowly escaped the tender mercies of the Bloody Assize. There is always some heroic legend of this kind floating in the memories of families that have become illustrious. However, as we have said, the prosy register of Wellington introduces Mr. Robert Southey, and his wife Anne, engaged in the peaceful and pleasant duty of recording

2 FAMILY ANTECEDENTS.

that their son Thomas had been admitted into tho Christian Church by the rite of baptism in the month of October, 1696.

Robert Southey was a second son ; but we have no interest in following the fortunes of the eldest branch. The Thomas we have mentioned was a tiller of the ground, and yet no boor. His great descendant records, with quiet pride, that he enjoyed the privilege of armorial bearings, and belonged, therefore, to a superior class of yeomen.

Thomas Southey 's second son was named after his grandfather. Nature had formed him for a rural life, but circumstances placed him behind a grocer's counter in one of the densest quarters of the metropolis. There, instead of the first-fruits of the earth, he dealt in tea and currants, until the insolvency of his master sent him again adrift upon the world. He was soon, however, apprenticed to a Mr. Britton, a linendraper of Bristol, and ultimately set up a similar business on his own account in that city, where he married Miss Hill, daughter of an attorney of Bedminster. His first son died when an infant ; but the second, born on the 12th of August, 1774, was Robert Southey, destined to become celebrated as a poet and historian. We record the fact advisedly, and purposely indicate the humble fortunes of the great writer's ancestors : but we must not be confounded with those who find in such circumstances a weapon of detraction. Intellect lends glory

THE TYLERS AND THE HILLS. 6

to ancestral honours ; it derives none from them. Who would find a topic of applause in the fact that Robert Southey might have come in for a share in a property of a hundred thousand pounds ?

The maternal grandmother of the poet married twice, and thus connected him with two honourable families. Her first husband, Mr. Tyler, claimed a remote lineage, and had a seat at Dilwyn, in Herefordshire. At his decease, the widow, who was left with three sons and a daughter, married Mr. Hill, himself a widower, and father of two children. To this branch of his family Southey seems to have been indebted for much of his intellectual vigour ; and we may add that his uncle, the Rev. Herbert Hill, watched with paternal solicitude over his future career.

The infancy of the future poet, for what reason does not appear, was intrusted to the care of a foster-mother, who had from childhood been employed as a servant in the family. By her he was treated with great 'kindness ; but it seems that, even as early as the second year of his age, he was painfully affected by the dismal nursery tales told him. Partly from this reason sensibility became a prominent feature in his character, and made him acutely alive not only to his own sorrows, but to the distress and privations of others.

At a very early age Southey was sent to a Dame School in the vicinity of his father's residence, to be initiated into the mysteries of the alphabet. His recol-

4 MRS. POWELL AND HER UGLY EYES.

lections of this period, however, seem to have been by no means pleasant. Mrs. Powell, to whom he had been surrendered for educational and disciplinarian purposes — the torture of the mind as well as the body — was of rough aspect, and deficient in that patient kindness which children's training requires. Her first appearance impressed him with more dislike than awe. They left him to her charge ; face to face with her — this little genius of three years old ! He became the focus of numbers of strange eyes, and felt lonely because there were no signs of love. So he cried to return home, and was, probably, noisy and imperative. Dame Powell had too long been invested with the awful power of irresponsible authority to feel moved to tenderness by the complaints of this sorrowful little thing. The lictor was called, and the threatening rod hung over him. But he was not to be daunted, and finding that his demands to be taken away were not complied with, gave a reason for the desire that was in him. " You have ugly eyes, I don't like you," he exclaimed; defying thus the irritated susceptibility of self-love. But might at length prevailed. Mrs. Powell directed his juvenile studies for three years, when he was removed to a school of higher pretensions.

That portion of Southey's childhood which was not neglected seems to have been controlled with arbitrary indiscretion. His mother was a woman of a meek and gentle disposition, and, unfortunately, under the sub-

MISS TYLEK HER CHARACTER AND HABITS. 0

jection of a maiden half-sister, a person of very eccentric manners and imperious spirit, who resided at Bath. To her management the domestic education of Southey was intrusted, and in every respect no one could he less fitted to undertake that office. The ideas of Miss Tyler, on the suhject of training, were formed on the most rigid and precise rules. In the arrangement of her household there was conspicuous the same order, stiffness, and regularity. Not a chair, not a book, not a pin, was suffered to he out of its place ; her abhorrence of dust amounted to a mania ; noise was a distraction ; and, being piously observant of the formalities of religion, she studiously prohibited from her youthful protege anything that might stimulate the buoyancy of his spirits. As she made no allowance for the difference of feeling existing in the heart of a child and the sobriety of age — an age that had numbered ten times his years — it may easily be imagined that he suffered little less than a species of torture. In his chair,' when in her presence, he had to maintain an immovable, upright position. If he ventured forth into the garden, or indulged in the semblance of play, his clothes were to be kept unsoiled and unruffled : in all his amusements he had to proceed with a quiet stealthiness, which at once took away their enjoyment and efficacy ; while, to fill up the measure of this indiscretion, he was kept up to a late hour of the night, and only retired with his aunt to rest. The want of play-

6 WANT OF PLAYMATES.

mates with whom to associate, and by whose merrymaking he might beguile the monotony of those hours which dragged their slow length along, was no less irksome to his feelings, and served, probably, to lay the foundation of that reserve which was a strong characteristic of the man.

The occasional visits which his aunt received from her friends, though they were persons in whom he could take little interest, and in whose conversation he was too young to join, still formed an agreeable episode in his life. Had it not been for a present of story-books, such as children delight in, the days would have been irremediably dull. The amusement, however, which these juvenile tales afforded him, and the eagerness with which he pored over them, filled up the gaps of time, satisfied his solitary spirit, and gave him a taste for reading.

Being intimately acquainted with the lessee of the Bath Theatre, and having the privilege of entree, Miss Tyler omitted no opportunity of being present at the representations, and not unfrequently at the rehearsals of new and familiar plays. The extreme youth of Southey did not prevent his accompanying her, and the constant exhibition of the same pieces tended greatly to familiarise him with the scenes, plots, and dramatis persona of the most popular dramas of Shakspeare, Jonsou, and Beaumont and Fletcher ; whilst it awakened within him a thirst after distinction, and an early energy

THEATRE — ANECDOTE.

of fancy and power of composition. There was, apparently, some justification for the conduct of his aunt in thus exposing him to such a fascinating allurement, in the reply which she always made, — that he could comprehend nothing of the morals of the play, and that it was no more to him than an amusing and exciting spectacle. Yet he did not escape entirely unscathed. The phraseology of the theatre became ready upon his tongue, and on one especial occasion he incurred the indignant censure of his aunt by observing, before some friends, as they wrere returning from chapel, that there had been a " full house" that morning.

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.

Chapter II

The Character of his Schools — Kemarks on Education — His Grandmother's House — Visit to Weymouth — Fondness for Eeading — Attempts a Composition — Habits and Disposition — Shadrach Weeks — Preparing for Westminster — His Entrance — Public Schools — Anticipations — Life at Westminster — Friends — Literary Efforts — The Flagellator — Dr. Vincent — Expulsion — Life at Bristol.

The school to which Southey was next removed was conducted by a Baptist minister, by whom he was treated with unusual severity. He now experienced, for the first time, the tyranny of the world, and in the elder boys of the establishment learned to regard human nature with suspicion and dread. But he remained here only a twelvemonth, and was placed under the care of Mr. Flower, of Corston, near Bath. The progress he made with, him was not commensurate with the abilities lie possessed. The real object of schools, in those Boeotian days, seems to have been miserably neglected. Institutions of learning, in too many in-

SOUTHEY AT COKSTON. 9

stances, they were not. Even where the most zealous advocates of education were to be found, the method which was pursued was usually the least facile and direct. A knowledge of the classics was regarded as the most essential, and the plan by which it was acquired was rather a scheme for loading the memory and puzzling the mind than a system for simplifying the difficulties of the dead languages, and rendering their terms comprehensible to the understandings of youth. The true purpose and aim of education — the leading the mind to observe and discriminate — to depend upon its own powers, feeble at first, but gathering strength with every effort — to draw inferences and educe truth — was seldom contemplated: and the discipline then in practice tended rather to defeat the work of learning than to promote it. If there were some conscientious men who strove to impart to their pupils what they considered real knowledge, there were others who imagined they had done enough for duty when, they had placed a book before their scholars, and left them to discover its signs and unravel its mysteries themselves. Of this class was Mr. Flower. His chief delight was in the study of mathematics and astronomy, to which he devoted his whole time, whilst the charge of the school was committed to his son, a youth of sixteen. It is, therefore, no surprise that the progress of Southey was slow ; and what was, perhaps, still worse, the knowledge he acquired imperfect. A well-grounded acquaint-

10 MB. flowee's establishment.

ance with the principles of language was that which was most essential to him ; and to this no attention was paid. The injurious effects of this neglect he afterwards fully experienced when a student at Westminster.

Nor were the physical habits of the pupils more respected than their mental training. Their morning ablutions were performed in a brook not more than ankle deep, that ran through the court-yard in which they played. Their breakfast consisted of porridge in winter, of bread and milk in summer. One day in the week bread and cheese served them for dinner, and when bedtime arrived they had the same for supper. Southey's experience of this management was of no long continuance, the school having been broken up, by the conduct of the father and son, shortly after he was placed there.

Mr. Williams, a person who resided on St. Michael's Hill, Bristol, was the next person who had the care of Southey's education. The lad made greater proficiency here than at his previous schools ; but the limited acquirements of his master and the unambitious character of the seminary checked his ulterior studies, and he only acquired as much as he could teach himself with a little guidance. He learned the mechanical art of caligraphy in this establishment, for which both himself and the printers were afterwards sensibly grateful.

During his residence at Corston young Southey lost an infant sister and his grandmother, Mrs. Hill. Upon

THE OLD HOUSE AT BEDMINSTER. 11

the decease of the latter, Miss Tyler thought it expedient to break up her establishment at Bath and occupy the house rendered vacant by the death of her mother. This house had frequently been the home of Southey whilst he was at school in Bristol, and here he had passed many of the most agreeable hours of his childhood. With his aunt he was under too much restraint ; his father's residence was in one of the noisiest parts of the city : but here he enjoyed a liberty that sweetened every enjoyment, and leasut to take delight in rural sights and sounds, — a taste which grew up with him and remained unabated through life. He had not that alertness or propensity to youthful sports that usually distinguishes boyhood ; but he gave indications of a reflective and experimental mind. He pursued with ardour the study of botany and entomology, and watched with peculiar inquisitiveness the changes and habits of flowers and insects.

The house itself was one calculated to feed a pensive mind. It was old. It stood by itself, enclosed in a garden or orchard, down a green lane, removed yet not remote from the Great Western high-road. The antique porch was lined with white jessamine; and on its semicircular steps he spent many hours with his sister, threading the fallen blossoms upon grass stalks. Its quaint appearance and quaint furniture were remembered long, and the reference to them in " Dr. Daniel Dove's Patrimonial Cottage," exhibits the strong link that still bound him to the house.

12 VISIT TO WEYMOUTH.

During the first two years after his removal from Corston, Southey lived with his father in Wine Street, at a convenient distance from Mr. Williams's academy. His holidays, however, were usually passed at Miss Tyler's, who took him upon occasional excursions. Their first trip was to Weymouth, and its object a visit to Madame Dolignon. For the first time the future poet now saw the sea, and the impression it made upon him was commensurate with its magnitude. His mind was as yet too young to have framed any previous idea of the ocean ; and when it burst upon him in the fulness of its glory, there were no false conceptions to remove, no exaggerated anticipations to disappoint. The pleasure of this visit was further enhanced by short journeys into the country.

Southey was now twelve years of age, of a quick and apprehensive mind, and an enthusiastic temperament. Although he did not possess the advantage of a regular course of study, he was a close reader, and was laying in an extensive stock of desultory knowledge. The frequency of his visits to the theatre had given him a taste for Shakspeare, and he was stimulated to read and re-read the productions of that great poet. " Titus Andronicus r> was his favourite play, probably on account of the tales of deep horror it contains, more suited to his comprehension than appeals to the feelings. " Cymbeline " and " As You Like It" pleased him best on the stage, being the most romantic. He was also familiar

READING AND STUDY. 13

with the writings of Beaumont and Fletcher. The effect of this constant excitement and study soon manifested itself in his desire to become a play -writer. When he was only eight years of age he had fixed upon his subject, contrived the plot, and composed an act and a half. His ardour was not confined to himself. He endeavoured to inspire his school-fellows with the same enthusiasm, and to prevail upon them to join in the composition of a tragedy. In vain : they all, from the oldest to the youngest, protested their incompetency. He gave them the dramatis persona, but their incapacity continued. He remonstrated, but was at length compelled to desist, with surprise and vexation, from the arduous task of communicating his own energy and genius to others.

His time, however, was not spent solely in playreading and composition. " Gerusalemme Liberata," for which he had imbibed a passionate fondness from the " Stories of Orlando and Sopkronia," was another favourite ; and when this was devoured, " Orlando Furioso" and Spenser's "Faery Queen" caught his affections. The miscellaneous volumes upon his fathers shelves were too few and too common-place to afford food for his expanding mind. Yet there were amongst them those from which he learned something of political wit, scandal, and warfare. But from the circulating library he obtained books of greater value. Mickle's "Lusiad," Pope's "Homer," Sidney's "Arcadia," and

14 POETRY AND COMPOSITION.

Rowley's " Poems," are amongst those which he enumerates as having greatly delighted him. He also acquired an extensive acquaintance with the novels of the day, the Arabian and mock -Arabian tales, the whole works of Josephus, a general idea of Greek and Eoman history, and some conception of ancient mythology.

The faculty of composition was scarcely ever dormant. After failing to engraft a story upon the " Orlando Furioso," of which " Arcadia" was to have been the scene and title, and the expulsion of the Moors out of France under Marsilius the subject, he made some progress in an epic poem upon " Egbert, king of Saxon Heptarchy."* In imitation of Ovid, he had written heroic epistles in rhyme ; besides several other productions, satirical and dramatic, which it would be superfluous to enumerate, but which exhibit an extraordinary activity of thought and power of invention, as well as an unusual facility of expression.

The excessive attachment to reading which Southey exhibited, and the unrestricted liberty with which he was permitted to indulge it — he was quiet whilst he read — made him contract a spirit of reserve and isolation from even his equals in age, which sensibly affected his manner. Amongst those with whom he had for so long a time associated at school, there were none whom he

* This epic having been seen by a lady, who could not restrain her curiosity, the indignant author composed a system of ciphers for himself.

SHADKACH WEEKS AND HEALTH. 1 5

selected as friends and companions ; nor does he appear to have engaged in boyish sports and exercises with the alacrity and vigour consistent with his years. For this he was, doubtless, indebted to the injudicious treatment of his aunt ; and it might have been carried to an extent permanently injurious, had not his attachment for Shadrach Weeks, who acted in the capacity of servant-boy, in some measure interrupted his close application. Having this youth as a companion, the bad effects of his home education were partially counteracted. They worked together in the garden, played in the fields, made kites and flew them, tried their hands at carpentering, strolled into the country, gathered the primrose, the cowslip, the violet, and a thousand other wild flowers that garland the brow and perfume the breath of Spring, — penetrated as far as Clifton and the St. Vincent's Rocks, climbed their steep and romantic pathways, inhaled the fresh air of the Downs, and acquired some of that masculine vigour and strength natural to boyhood.

Southey had exhibited unquestionable proofs of an intelligent and active mind. His friends were, therefore, anxious to give full scope to his abilities, and Westminster School was fixed upon as being the fittest arena for displaying and maturing his awakening talents. Apprehending, however, that he was not sufficiently advanced for his admission, or wishing to give him an additional advantage previous to his entrance, it was arranged that he

1 6 PREPARATIONS FOR WESTMINSTER.

should receive lessons from a gentleman who devoted a few hours each day to the education of private pupils only. By him Southey was introduced to the m Greek language, and made to try his hand at nonsense verses. He read the " E electa ex Ovidio et Tibullo," Horace's " Odes," and wrote English themes. On being first required to perform this last task, his powers utterly failed him. He had been accustomed to pour out his thoughts in almost unpremeditated verse ; but when asked for an essay in prose, his mind appeared a chaos, and the fountain of his ideas dried up. Every effort was in vain ; and his aunt was at last obliged to write the lesson for him. His future attempts, by the kind guidance and instruction of his tutor, were more propitious. It was not, however, till some time after that he overcame his disinclination to prose so far as to make its composition a labour of love. His great ambition was to be a poet.