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RICHARD WATSON, 1730-1780, was also a historian of some note, but by no means equal to the three already named.

Watson was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and at Glasgow and St. Andrew's; he entered the Scottish Church, and finally became Principal of St. Leonard's. He is the author of two historical works, the Life of Philip II., and the Life of Philip III. (of Spain). These works are written in a graceful and spirited style, but are not original, either in tone or in research. The author followed Dr. Robertson too closely to be independent, and was not sufficiently aware of the prime necessity of authentic contemporary documents in writing the history of any period. His Philip II., moreover, has been completely superseded by Prescott's great work, so far as this last extends.

Macpherson.

James Macpherson, 1738-1796, one of the literary celebrities of this period, is chiefly distinguished for his connec tion with the publication of the Poems of Ossian.

Macpherson was a native of Scotland. He was educated at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and held various political appointments under the English and East India Governments. He is the author of several historical works, of comparatively little value, such as the History of Great Britain from the Restoration to the House of Hanover; also of a reply to the Declaration of Independence. But he is almost exclusively known by his celebrated Ossianic publications.

History of the Ossianic Poems.-The external history of these poems is briefly as follows. While a tutor in the family of Mr. Graham, Macpherson exhibited to John Home, the author of Douglas, specimens of translations from Gaelic poetry such as was recited among the inhabitants of the Highlands. Home communicated these to Blair, Robertson, Ferguson, and others, who encouraged Macpherson to publish his translations. Accordingly, in 1760, appeared Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland and Translated from the Gaelic. The work attracted so much attention that a subscription was raised to enable Macpherson to extend his researches. This he did, making a tour through the Highlands in company with Lachlan and Ewan Macpherson and Capt. Alexander Morrison. The materials thus collected were arranged and translated by James Macpherson in the winter of 1761-2, and were presented to the world shortly afterwards, 1762 and 1763, in the shape of two Epic poems, Fingal and Temora, purporting to be translated from the Gaelic of Ossian, son of Fingal.

Effect of the Publication.-These two books created a new era in literature. Their fame ran like wildfire throughout Europe; they were admired, read, and trans

lated into all the leading languages of the continent, and were eagerly taken up by some of the most distinguished men of letters of the day, such as Goethe, Wieland, Hume the historian, and others. On the other hand, there were many who rose in opposition, headed by Dr. Johnson. The great English lexicographer did not hesitate to pronounce the entire body of poetry an imposition, and Macpherson the originator. Ever since then the contest has been waged hotly, with more of vituperation, it must be admitted, than of argument on either side. Dr. Johnson was, as usual, thickheadedly obstinate, and Macpherson lost his temper.

State of the Controversy.-General opinion had, until recently, settled down in favor of Johnson's view of the case. But of late the matter has been most carefully and elaborately investigated by the Highland Society, and by Dean Lismore, J. F. Campbell, Archibald McNeil, and Rev. Archibald Clerk. The last mentioned has fairly exhausted the subject, at least so far as Macpherson's sincerity is concerned. From the very beginning of the controversy, one thing is evident that neither Dr. Johnson nor any one of his immediate school knew a word of Gaelic, and they were, for that very reason, incapable of forming a correct opinion. They demanded direct evidence for or against an allegation of forgery in a case where nothing would answer but the most delicate investigation by experts. The haste with which they jumped at their conclusions, and the recklessness with which they enforced them, are characteristic of Dr. Johnson in particular, and of the eighteenth century in general.

The Result.-The result of seventy years of philological investigation may be briefly summed up thus: that Macpherson did collect, on his journey, a mass of native poetry, principally from recitation; that he worked up these fragments into shape, in Gaelic, by means of omissions and transposition, so as to form a continuous manuscript, which is now extant; and that the Fingal and Temora are pretty close translations from this manuscript. Macpherson's character is thereby cleared from the charge of imposture, and his work may be justly regarded as a valuable contribution to literature. The task of exploring Gaelic poetry has been scarcely begun, but it already promises much. The character of the Ossianic poetry itself is familiar to all, and is as unique, in its way, as that of Iceland or of ancient India. It is probable that the connection between it and Irish on the one hand and Welsh on the other may yot be fully made out.

John Hawkesworth, LL.D., 1715-1773, is known as one of the English classical Essayists, ranking in that respect with Addison, Johnson, and Steele.

Hawkesworth was a native of London. His paper, The Adventurer (1752-1754), was continued for one hundred and forty numbers, of which he wrote seventy. In addition to this, which was his chief literary work, he contributed to the Gentleman's Magazine, edited Swift's Works, and wrote Zimri, an Oratorio, and other Plays. He was also employed by the Government, at a remuneration of £6000, to prepare An Account of the Voyages of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Cook, 3 vols., 4to.

SIR JOHN HAWKINS, 1719-1789, was a member of the literary club of which Dr. Johnson was the centre.

Being in possession of a large fortune, and having a taste for literature, Hawking bestowed a good deal of his leisure time to pursuits of this kind. He edited the complete works of Dr. Johnson, and made some contributions to Shakespearian criticism. His chief work was A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, 5 vols., 4to. This was an original work, coming into competition with Dr. Burney's great work on the same subject. The latter has been much the more popular of the two, being written in a more graceful style; but the work of Hawkins is regarded as extremely valuable for its accuracy.

SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, 1723–1792, celebrated chiefly as a painter, is also known as an author by his Discourses on Painting, delivered before the Royal Academy. The Discourses are ably written, but the art-theories which they set forth have been called in question. Sir Joshua was, next to Vandyke, the greatest portrait painter of England. His historical pieces, however, are not so successful. In his manners Sir Joshua was extremely genial; he enjoyed throughout life a high degree of popularity, and accumulated a large fortune.

Horace Walpole.

Horace Walpole, 1717-1797, is one of the literary celebrities of the last century. Although he achieved no great work of his own, he is so mixed up with the works and the personal affairs of others who did achieve greatness, that no history of the period is complete which does not include him. as one of the leading figures.

Career. Walpole was the youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, and eventually succeeded his father in the title of Earl of Orford. After figuring for a while in politics, and holding for several years a seat in Parliament, he retired to private life. Purchasing a small estate near Twickenham, which he called "Strawberry Hill," he gave himself up to the decoration of the house and grounds and to the gratification of his whims. He had a private printing-press at Strawberry Hill, which he used in printing his own works and some others. The house itself he filled with odds and ends of all kinds, antique armor, books, engravings, and articles of vertu.

Character. In his personal character Walpole decidedly affected the paradoxical. A royalist at heart, he professed to be republican, even hanging up in his study a fac-simile of the death-warrant of Charles I., with the title Major Charta. Ostensibly shunning court life, he was an eager collector of every scrap of court gossip. He professed aversion to being regarded as a man of letters, and yet he craved praise, and was unusually sensitive to criticism. It may be observed, however, that Macaulay's sketch of his life and character is palpably overdrawn. Miss Berry, who had every oppor tunity of knowing Walpole intimately, especially in the latter portion of his life, gives in her Memoirs a much more favorable estimate of his talents and character. According to her, Walpole was a true and amiable friend to those whom he really liked, and his taste as a collector was really remarkable.

Works.-Walpole's works are not of great importance, being all more or less spoiled by dilettanteism. Among them are his Aedes Walpolianæ, or catalogue of his father's pictures, his Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, his Catalogue of Engravers (handsomely illustrated), his Castle of Otranto, a wild romance which is commonly regarded as the parent of the Radcliffe and Lewis school of fiction, and the Mysterious Mother, a powerful but revolting drama much admired by Byron. Walpole's literary remains are much more important than the works published during his life. They consist of his Correspondence, first published complete in 1857, by Peter Cunningham, and his Memoirs of the last ten years of the reign of George II., and the first twelve of that of George III. Both letters and memoirs are alike in tone, spicy, clever, gossipy. They can scarcely be regarded as furnishing material for history, inasmuch as they are too one-sided and prejudiced. But they certainly give a good insight into the political, social and literary feuds of the time, and are, through their style and caustic humor, among the most entertaining personal records in the language.

John Wilkes.

John Wilkes, 1727-1797, one of the notorieties of English politics, is known to literature by his violent partisan writings in The North Briton.

Career.-Witkes was educated at the University of Leyden, where he acquired a life-long fondness for the classics. In 1749 he married an heiress, and was for a while the centre of an extensive social circle. But his dissipated habits and immorality led to a separation. He turned his attention to politics, was elected Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, and also returned to Parliament. In 1762 he founded The North Briton, in which he attacked Lord Bute's ministry unsparingly. No. 45 of the paper boldly charged the King with having uttered falsehood. His papers were seized and he himself was imprisoned in the Tower on a general warrant, but was released by Chief-Justice Pratt. Wilkes was expelled from the House of Commons, and was re-elected four times by the same constituency, but each time rejected by the House. He was then elected Sheriff of London, and finally admitted to the House in 1774. During all this stormy period, Wilkes was looked upon by his admirers as a political martyr. His success, in fact, was due to the blunders of the Government. His arrest on general warrant was clearly unconstitutional, and so also was his rejection by the House. Many were forced to side with him, on principles of abstract justice, who thoroughly mistrusted and despised him.

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Conviction for Obscenity. While absent at one time in France, he was convicted of having published an obscene poem. It is doubtful whether Wilkes was really the author of this poem. The work was printed privately, was only begun, not finished, and, according to Wilkes's statement, not a copy of this fragment was ever distributed. In no legal sense, therefore, can he be said to have published the work. The copy on which the Government accusation rested was stolen from his office. In

looking back upon the entire Wilkes trouble it certainly seems that the English Government was bent upon stultifying itself.

Works.-Wilkes merits some place in the history of English literature in virtue of his articles in The North Briton, and of his Collected Speeches, published by himself in 1786. His Letters to his Daughter was published in 1804, with a Sketch of his Life, and his General Correspondence in 1805. He possessed a sharp, incisive style, and unparalleled audacity. The chief interest of his writings, however, lies not so much in their intrinsic excellence as in the political tempest which they aroused.

"Wilkes had, till very lately, been known chiefly as one of the most profane, licentious, and agreeable rakes about town. He was a man of taste, reading, and engaging manners. His sprightly conversation was the delight of the green-rooms and taverns, and pleased even grave hearers when he was sufficiently under restraint to abstain from detailing the particulars of his amours and from breaking jests on the New Testament. His expensive debaucheries forced him to have recourse to the Jews. He was soon a ruined man, and determined to try his chance as a political adventurer. In Parliament he did not succeed. His speaking, though pert, was feeble, and by no means interested his hearers so much as to make them forget his face, which was so hideous that the caricaturists were forced, in their own despite, to flatter him. As a writer he made a better figure."-Macaulay.

JAMES RALPH,

1762, was a native of Philadelphia, but went in 1724 to London in company with Franklin, and there led a somewhat irregular life as a political pamphleteer, dramatist, and poet.

Ralph espoused the cause of the Prince of Wales, was "bought off" by Walpole, and on the accession of George III. received a pension. The titles of his poetical pieces are the following: The Muse's Address to the King, an Ode; The Terror of Death, a Poem; Night, a Poem; Clarinda, or the Fair Libertine, a Poem; The Law of Liberty, a Poem: The Fashionable Lady, a Comedy; Fall of the Earl of Essex, a Tragedy; The Lawyer's Feast, a Farce; The Astrologer, a Comedy. Franklin tried to dissuade Ralph from attempting poetry, which was evidently not his vocation, but "he continued scribbling verses till Pope cured him." The dose which is supposed to have wrought this cure, was the following lines from the Dunciad:

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Silence, ye wolves, while Ralph to Cynthia howls,
And makes night hideous: answer him, ye owls."

The Groans of Germany, a political pamphlet, had a large sale, fifteen thousand copies.
The Case of Authors by Profession, or The Case Stated in regard to Booksellers,
the Stage, and the Public, was an essay of considerable merit and of sober sense.
Ralph wrote also A History of England during the Reigns of King William and Queen
Anne, and George I., which is commended by Fox.

ABRAHAM TUCKER, 1705-1774, was born in London, and studied at Oxford. He purchased a country-scat near Dorking, in 1727, and resided there in retirement till his death. He wrote several works, but is known by one only, The Light of Nature. It has passed through many editions, and is usually in several volumes. It is a metaphysical work, but is discursive and entertaining, and was greatly admired by Paley and Mackintosh, Paley acknowledging himself in

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