The Political Dramatist of the House of Commons.' 1795. A Pair of Epistles to Dr. Randolph and the Earl of Jersey.' 1797. The Shade of Alexander Pope, on the banks of the Thames, a satirical poem, with notes, occasioned chiefly, but not wholly, by the residence of the Rt. Hon. Henry Grattan.' 1798. Odes, English and Latin,' 1798, small octavo; not published. A Letter occasioned by the death of the Rev. Norton Nicholls, LL.B. Rector of Lound and Bradwell in the county of Suffolk;' privately printed, and first published in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. cxxx. ii. 316-351. Mr. Nicholls had been the friend and correspondent of Gray the poet. As a mark of friendship, he bequeathed his books to Mr. Mathias, and a considerable sum of money in the event (which did not take place) of his surviving one of his own near relations. Mr. Nicholls, as well as Mr. Mathias, was much distinguished by his elegant and extensive classical acquirements, and his taste for general literature, particularly the Italian. Works of Thomas Gray; with his Life, and additions,' printed at Cambridge. 1814. 2 vols. 4to. This magnificent work, though valuable as even the fragments and sweepings from the portfolio of so distinguished a genius and scholar, was very unprofitable to the editor; and would have been more seriously injurious to him, had it not been for the kindness and liberality of Pembroke college, under whose auspices it was undertaken, and who purchased a large number of copies. This disappointment, however, coinciding with the establishment of general peace in 1814, and with finances always very limited, induced Mr. Mathias to quit this country for Naples, where he resided, much cultivated and respected by eminent persons of rank and literature, both of that country and his own, until his death. We add some descriptive anecdotes of Mr. Mathias, when in Italy, furnished by a writer in the Athenæum.' 6 "I became acquainted with Mr. Mathias at Naples in 1823; he had then been a resident in, that city for some years, and was much esteemed and valued by the few among the Neapolitans who had any pretensions to literature. He had translated into Italian several of our English poems, which appeared to great advantage in their new garb, but his selections were not always fortunate, as witness Armstrong's Art of Health.'* The Italians were as much surprised as delighted at his proficiency in their harmonious language, and I have heard several of the literati amongst them bestow the warmest eulogiums on the purity and precision with which he wrote it. Though his writings displayed a perfect knowledge and mastery of Italian, his conversation in that language was not remarkable either for its fluency or correctness; but conversation in any language was not his forte, for his colloquial powers were so very limited, that one could not help feeling surprised, that a man possessed of so much erudition should bring so little interesting matter into the general mart of society. Any allusion to The Pursuits of Literature' was extremely offensive to him. It was believed, that the personal severity of several of the observations in that book had drawn on the supposed author some very disagreeevaded, by equivocating about the authorable demands for satisfaction, which he ship, a denial which he felt himself bound to persist in to the last. thias was below the middle size: in face, In stature, Mahe bore a striking resemblance to Sir Francis Burdett. He was particularly neat in his attire, and scrupulously clean in his person. He was universally respected at Naples; and though possessed of little, if any, fortune besides the pension granted to him by the late King, he maintained an independent and respectable station, and was a welcome guest in all the houses occupied by English residents. The fine climate, the cheapness of the luxuries he liked, the cheerful society, and the respect his acquirements had won for him, must have rendered the residence of Mr. Mathias at Naples the most agreeable part of his life. He spoke of it as such, and seemed to shrink as if exposed named, as among the possibilities of to cold, when a return to England was fate." logue, an imperfect list of Mr. Mathias's We have reserved, for a separate cataItalian publications: Rime Scelte de Francesco Petrarca.' 'Componimenti Lirici de' piu Illustri Poeti d' Italia,' &c. 3 vols. small 8vo. 1802. 6 Aggiunti ai Componinenti Lirici,' &c. 3 vols. small 8vo. 'Comentari interno all' Istoria della Poesia Italiana, da Crescembini,' 3 vols. small 8vo. 1803. Istoria della Poesia Italiana da Girolamo Tiraboschi,' 3 vols. small 8vo. 1803. 'Canzoni Toscani de T. J. Mathias.' Why unfortunate? It is a poem of great beauty and excellence, and we think well chosen. The Italians abound in didactic poems.-ED. 4to. and small octavo. These original compositions, addressed by Mr. Mathias to some of his learned friends, were first prefixed to the publications before enumerated. A complete edition of them was afterwards printed, with notes, by Stefana Egidio Petronj, an eminent Italian poet resident in England, who bore honourable testimony to the purity and elegance of Mr. Mathias's Italian muse. No Englishman, probably, since the days of Milton, had cultivated the Italian language with so much success. Saffa, drama lirica tradotta dell' Inglese di Mason.' 1807. 'Licidas di Giov. Milton, tradotta dell' Inglese.' 1812. Della Ragion Poetica de Gravina.' 1806. We add a few observations on Mr. Mathias's works by a correspondent: “Mr. Mathias had claims on public attention from two causes; his Italian Literature,' and the poem called the Pursuits of Literature.' "Of his proficiency in the former, there can be no doubt; he composed in the language of Petrarch, with elegance and correctness: though he could not converse with facility, probably from never having been in Italy till towards the end of his life. · "As he never owned the authorship of the Pursuits of Literature,' many doubts and disputes arise on the subject. We are surprised that those persons interested in the inquiry, never brought for ward some poems written by him at Cambridge against Dr. Watson, then Professor of Chemistry, which are the very prototypes of the Pursuits,' both in the versification and the notes. "The 'Pursuits' occasioned much bustle in the literary world, from the poignant remarks and slashing satire on contemporary characters. The book, however, gradually kept sinking into the oblivion that it deserved. The poetry is of a very inferior character; except in a few happier passages, cumbrous, heavy, and often prosaic; and George Steevens said truly, it was only a peg to hang the notes on.' The prefaces were all written in a high, stilted and pompous style, very artificial and very disagreeable. The notes are such as the author threw off from his reading; and his censures are as often wrong as right. His abuse of Payne Knight and Parr (who were immeasurably his superiors as scholars) was absurd. As far as concerns P. Knight's book, which he so abuses, it is to be wished that it had been written in Latin. There is a great show of Greek scholarship in the notes of the Pursuits of Literature;' but it is very inaccurate. "Mr. Mathias's most pleasing publication, is his letter on the death of his friend Norton Nicholls. We think he completely failed in his edition of Gray. No doubt he had a great deal of reading; but his restless desire of shining, led him to display his glittering stores of erudition before The diamond ripen'd in its infant dew.' As a severe satirist, an elegant poet, and a correct scholar, he was far excelled by the late Mr. Gifford." • REV. WILLIAM LONG. July At Bromley-hill, Kent, aged 76, the Rev. William Long, Canon of Windsor, Rector of Sternfield, Suffolk, and of Pulham, Norfolk; only surviving brother to Lord Farnborough. Mr. Long was the fifth son of Beeston Long, esq. of Carshalton, by Susannah, daughter and heiress of Abraham Crop, esq. He was a member of Emanuel college, where he took the degree of LL. B. in 1788. In that year he was presented by his cousin and brother-in-law Charles Long, esq. to the rectory of Sternfield and to that of Dennington, both in Suffolk. In 1808 he was presented by the King to the rectory of Pulham in Norfolk, when he resigned that of Dennington. In 1804 he was appointed a Canon of Windsor. His death was very sudden, occurring within a few minutes after he had been engaged in showing some visitors of distinction over his brother's beautiful garden at Bromley-hill. He was never married. Mr. Long had a taste for elegant literature, and read most of the best productions in history, biography, and criticism, that appeared. He possessed a considerable knowledge of Painting, and was a liberal supporter of the arts; scarcely a year passed but he purchased some pictures of modern artists; and he handsomely bestowed Sir Joshua Reynolds's Banished Lord' to the National Gallery. He was also from his knowledge and judgment made Director at the British Institution, of which his brother Lord Farnborough is Vice-President. " While he resided in the country, he was friendly and hospitable to his neighbours, and a kind benefactor to the poor. His table was elegant, and his society select. His manners had all the politeness of a man of the world, tempered with the decent gravity of the clergyman. George the Third once, and justly, on the terrace at Windsor paid him the compliment of saying- Mr. Long, I hear you are a very good parish priest;'-and the good old King was not often wrong in his knowledge of these matters. Mr. Long preached the funeral sermon of George the Fourth. He had many friends sincerely attached to him; and his name will be long remembered with love and respect. HENRY O'BRIEN, ESQ. June 28. At Hanwell, Middlesex, aged 27, Henry O'Brien, Esq. This singular antiquarian enthusiast was, we believe, a native of the county of Kerry, and was educated at Trinity college, Dublin, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1831. Being stimulated by the prize offered by the Royal Irish Academy for a dissertation on the Round Towers of Ireland, he eagerly applied his studies to that subject, and produced an essay, which, although it did not obtain the prize, was yet considered so elaborate and meritorious, that the Society awarded him a small sum of money, the consequence of which act of intended kindness was an angry correspondence on the part of Mr. O'Brien. Shortly after, he came to London, where he employed himself in arranging the publication of his essay; which, with various additions and many illustrative embellishments, he at length published in 1833 under the title of "The Round Towers of Ireland; or, the History of the Tuath-de-Danaans (being the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaïsm, and of Budhism) for the first time unveiled." Ireland,' by the latter, now publishing in Dr. Lardner's Encyclopedia, in which he accused the historian of having adopted some of his discoveries without acknowledgment. Shortly before his death he had announced for publication "The Pyramids of Egypt for the first time Unveiled." A letter which he addressed to Mr. Urban, in defence of our reviewer's remarks on his "Pillar Towers," will be found in our vol. II. p. 365. Fondly imagining that he was the author of most profound discoveries, and as it were the founder of a new historical creed, Mr. O'Brien was always in a state of the highest excitement. By the grandeur of his theories, he was removed far above any feeling of deference to contemporary criticism; yet he was very anxious for publicity, and where his lucubrations were treated with ridicule instead of serious refutation, he was acutely irritated. We have seen the copies of a curious correspondence between him and the poet Moore, relative to the History of GENT. MAG. VOL. IV. · O'Brien's spirit was of a nature likely to destroy the frame in which it was embodied. Such was his ardent disposition, that we have heard him seriously speak of compiling and publishing within six months a Celtic Dictionary, although knowing nothing of the language or its various dialects at the time. He was found dead in his bed, at the house of a friend where he had spent the preceding day at Hanwell, and lies buried in its church-yard. A short time previous to his death, he held the situation of tutor in the family of the Master of the Rolls, was presented at Court, and received as a guest at Lansdowne-house. In his character as a teacher he was, we are told, beloved and respected by his pupils. SIGNOR BELLINI. Sept. 23. At Puteaux, near Paris, in his 29th year, Signor Bellini, the composer of I Puritani,' &c. He had published earlier in that year a translation of "Phoenician Ireland," by the Spanish antiquary Villaneuva, illus. trated with notes; which he had broughtIl with him to London prepared for the press. It is reviewed in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. c. ii. 340. Bellini was a native of Catania, in Sicily. His father and grandfather were both musical men; the former was a chapel-master. Bellini studied in the conservatory at Naples, and was a pupil of Zingarelli. His talent developed itself at a very early period, and before he had attained his twentieth year he had written the successful opera of Bianca e Fernando,' which was produced at the San Carlos, and at once created his reputation. Within the following year he brought out Pirata' at the Scala at Milan; and from this period established a style peculiarly his own, and became the idol of the Milanese. This opera was succeeded by the Straniera,' at the same theatre. The opera of Zaira' followed next, and was first represented at Parma. His succeeding works were written as follow:La Sonnambula,' for Naples; 'I Capuletti e I Montecchi,' for Venice; Norma,' for Milan; Beatrice Tenda,' for Venice; and I Puritani,' for the Italian Opera at Paris. • The loss of this highly-gifted composer thus in the noon, or rather morning, of his renown, will be severely felt by the musical world, and scarcely less by a very large circle in society, both at Paris and throughout the greater part of Italy; to which, independently of the admiration felt for his genius, he had endeared himself by the kind and modest amiability of his manners and character. He had promised to write an opera for the Academie de Musique in Paris, and 4 B The Rev. Francis Nicoll, D. D. Principal of the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard in the University of St. Andrew's. OBITUARY.-Clergy Deceased. 554 had retired to Puteaux for the purpose of pursuing his musical labours, and making new efforts to reach that first-rate eminence as a composer to which his distinguished talents entitled him to aspire. His illness lasted only a fortnight, but he had been once before attacked in Italy with the same disorder (dysentery). Bellini was in person of very agreeable aspect; his manners were refined and elegant, and his disposition highly amiable. He had received the decoration of the Order of St. Francis from the King of Naples, and the Cross of the Legion of Honour. His funeral took place at the Cherubini's Rechurch des Invalides. quiem was executed by two hundred instrumental performers and singers; after which the body was removed to the cemetery of Père la Chaise. Aged 75, the Rev. W. Porteus, Rector The Rev. Hugh Stowell, Rector of CLERGY DECEASED. At Demerara, in his 24th year, the Rev. William Henry Brown, Rector of St. Peter's, Island of Leynan, Demerara, only surviving son of Mr. John Brown, woolstapler, Alnwick. In his 82d year, the Rev. Thomas Thompson, Vicar of Adlingfleet, Yorkshire, to which church he was presented in 1822 by Lord Chancellor Eldon. Aged 75, the Rev. Charles Western, for fifty years Rector of Kingham, Oxfordshire, and one of the oldest magistrates for that county. He was presented to his living by Mrs. Foley, in 1785. April 20. At Lopen, near Crewkerne, aged 85, the Rev. John Templeman, Rector of Crickett St. Thomas. He was of King's college, Cambridge, M. A. 1792; and was presented to his living by Lord Bridport. Sept. 7. Aged 82, the Rev. John Rudall, Vicar of Crediton, Devonshire, to which he was elected by the Governors of the Church trust in 1793. At Kingstown, the Rev. Joseph Druett, M.A. many years Rector of Dean, co. Cavan, and Surrogate of the diocese of Dromore. Sept. 13. At Fulmodeston, Norfolk, in his 85th year, the Rev. Peter Sandiford, D.D. Rector of Fulmodeston cum Croxton, of Newton in the Isle of Ely, and of He was a son Ashbury, Berkshire. of the Rev. Rowland Sandiford, Vicar of Christ Church, London, and brother to the late Ven. Charles Sandiford, Archdeacon of Wells, memoirs of whom will be found in Gent. Mag. vol. xcvi. i. 474, 563. He was educated with his brother at St. Paul's school, and removed thence to Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, where he graduated B. A. in 1771, as fourth Senior Optime, M.A. 177k; and was presented to the rectory of Newton by that society. He was collated to Fulmodeston in 1810 by Dr. Dampier, then Bp. of Ely; and to Ashbury in 1820 by Dr. Beadon, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was for many years Chaplain to Archbishop Moore; was a friend of the Antiquaries Gough and Tyson; and a correspondent of the late Mr. Nichols (see the Literary Anecdotes of the Eigli. teenth Century, vol. vii. p. 670.) At Bodmin, the Rev. L. J. Sept. 19. Boor, Master of the Grammar School, and Chaplain to the County Prisons and Lunatic Asylum. At Tillington Court, Herefordshire, aged 76, the Rev. Edward Eckley, Rector of Credenhill, in that county, to which church he was presented in 1785 by E. Eckley, esq. He has bequeathed 10007 to the Hereford Infirmary, 2001. to the Blue Coat School in that city, and 1007. to the Herefordshire Society in London. He is succeeded at Credenhill by the Rev. John Edmund Eckley. The Rev. Thomas Philip Foley, Rector At an advanced age, the Rev. Thomas Sept. 21. At Eskdalemuir, in the 69th year of his age and the 44th of his ministry, the Rev. William Brown, D.D. minister of that parish, and author of the Antiquities of the Jews." Sept. 21. At Eye, aged 85, the Rev. Thomas Wythe, Vicar of Eye, and Rector of Great Bradley, Suffolk, and a Prebendary of Lichfield. He was of Caius coll. Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. 1771 as eighth Junior Optime, M.A. 1774, and was afterwards for many years a Fellow of that Society. He was instituted to Great Bradley in 1786, to Eye a few years ago; and was collated to the prebend of Tachbrook, in the cathedral church of Lichfield, by the late Bishop Cornwallis, in 1797. This prebend was, by the consent of the same prelate, on the first vacancy, attached to the Perpetual Curacy of Christ Church, Birmingham, and now devolves upon the Rev. John George Breay. Sept. 25. At Chelsworth house, the seat of Sir Robert Pocklington, aged 81, the Rev. James Cullum, Prebendary of Lincoln, and Rector of Great Thurlow, Nacton, and Levington, Suffolk; uncle to the Rev. Sir Thomas Cullum, Bart. He was the eighth and youngest son of Sir John the fifth Baronet, by his second wife Susannah, daughter of Sir Thomas Gery, knt. He was of Christ's college, Cambridge, B.A 1777, M.A. 1780; was presented to Great Thurlow by Lord Chancellor Thurlow in 1786, instituted to Nacton with Levington in 1787, and collated to the prebend of Carlton cum Thurlow by Bp. Tomline in 1810. He married in 1786, Anne, daughter and coheir of Anthony Blagrave, esq. of Calcot, Berks, by whom he had two daughters. Oct. 15. At Reading, on his return from London to Penzance, aged 40, the Rev. Edward Cariton Comberbatch, M. A. of Trinity college, Cambridge. DEATHS. LONDON AND ITS VICINITY. July 27. In Norton-street, James Gilbert Burnett, esq. F.L.S. Professor of Botany in King's College, London, and Demonstrator to the Society of Apothecaries; author of Outlines of Botany," in 2 vols. 8vo, and other elementary works. His disposition was amiable and exceedingly obliging to the scientific student. " Sept. 24. At Keppel House, Chelsea, aged 70, Lieut.-Col. Thomas Vincent Reynolds, formerly Major of the 30th Foot, and Inspector-general of Military Surveys. Sept. 25. Drowned near Hammersmith bridge (after visiting his grandfather at Hammersmith) aged 34, Mr. William De Ville, only surviving son of Mr. De Ville of the Strand. He had been twice married, and has left a widow and four children. Sept. 4. At Highbury-grange, aged 83, John Bentley, esq. author of The Divine Logos, 1803, and other theological and controversial works. Sept. 17. In Piccadilly, Harriet, wife of Kedgwin Hoskins, esq. M.P. for co. Hereford. Sept. 20. Edwyn Evans Leach, esq. of Canterbury Place, Lambeth, son of the Rev. John Leach, Rector of Wouldam and Vicar of Halling, co. Kent, aged 55. (The decease of his wife was noticed at p. 330 of the present vol. where he is erroneously named Edward L. Leach.) Sept. 27. The lady of Dr. C. Rogers of Dorset-square. At Denmark Hill, in her 88th yoSusanna, relict of John Symes, esq. late of Richmond, and formerly of Bridg water. Sept. 28. At Serjeant's Inn, Samuel Comyn, esq. of the Middle Temple, Special Pleader, late Recorder of Rochester. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, Feb. 7, 1800. Sept. 29. In her 55th year, Sarah, wife of Dr. Bunting. Lately. Commander Ambrose Crofton, R.N. He was introduced in the Navy by Admiral Lord Shuldham, in 1771; became Lieut. 1778, served in the Royal George, Beinfaisant, and Ocean, and as first of the Monarch. He was promoted to the rank of Commander in 1794, and was afterwards appointed to the Lutin and Pluto sloops, on the Newfoundland station. |
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