, a gentleman of considerable fortune at Gopsal, in Leicestershire,
, a gentleman of considerable fortune at Gopsal, in Leicestershire, and a nonjuror, was descended from a family which was one among
the many who have acquired ample fortunes at Birmingham, where they were equally famous for industry and
generosity. In his youth he was so remarkable for the
jiumber of his servants, the splendor of his equipages, and
the profusion of his table, that he acquired the title of
“Solyman the magnificent.
” He is said to have composed
the words for some of Handel’s oratorios, and particularly
those for “the Messiah;
” an easy task, as it is only a selection of verses from scripture. Not long before his death,
he imprudently exposed himself to criticism by attempting
an edition of Shakspeare, which he began by publishing
“King Lear,
” in 8vo; and printed afterwards, on the
same model, the tragedies of “Hamlet,
” Othello
”
and “Macbeth,
” Julius Csesar,
” which in his life had been put
to the press, was published in 1774. He had a numerous
library, and a large collection of pictures, both in Great
Ormond-street, and at Gopsal. Mr. Jennens’s character
appears, by some curious documents in our authority, to
have been a strange compound of vanity, "conceit, obstinacy, ignorance, and want of taste, joined to extensive
benevolence. As an editor of Shakspeare, he can no
longer be remembered but as the first suggester of oratorios in this country, he seems entitled to some notice.