, third sister of the preceding, was born in 1714, lived unmarried, and died at Bath, where she had
, third sister of the preceding, was
born in 1714, lived unmarried, and died at Bath, where
she had long resided, in April 1768. She made some
figure among the literary ladies of her age, and possessed
a well cultivated mind. Soon after the appearance of her
brother’s “Joseph Andrews,
” she published a novel in 2
vols. 12mo, entitled “The Adventures of David Simple,
in search of a faithful friend,
” which had a considerable
share of popularity, and is not yet forgotten. In 1752
she produced a third volume, which did not excite so much
attention. Her next production, which appeared in 1753,
was “The Cry, a new Dramatic Fable,
” 3 vols. but this,
although far from being destitute of merit, was not well
adapted to the taste of romance-readers. Her last performance was “Xenophon’s Memoirs of Socrates, with the
Defence of Socrates before his Judges,
” translated from
the original Greek, Familiar letters between the characters in
David Simple,
” 2 vols.; “The Governess, or Little Female Academy
” “The Lives of Cleopatra and Octavia;
”
“The History of the Countess of Delwyn,
” 2 vols. and
“The Hjstory of Ophelia,
” 2 vols. Dr. John Hoadly, who was
her particular friend, erected a monument to her memory,
with a handsome compliment to her virtues and talents.
Bishop Milles left his fortune to his nephew, Jeremiah, who was born in 1714, and educated at Eton school, when he entered of
Bishop Milles left his fortune to his nephew, Jeremiah,
who was born in 1714, and educated at Eton school, when
he entered of Queen’s college, Oxford, as a gentleman
commoner, and took his degrees of M. A. in 1735, and B.
and D. D. in 1747, on which occasion he went out grand
compounder. He was collated by his uncle to a prebend
in the cathedral of Waterford, and to a living near that
city, which he held but a short time, choosing to reside in
England. Here he married Edith, a daughter of archbishop
Potter, by whose interest he obtained the united rectories
of St. Edmund the King and St. Nicholas Aeon in Lombard-street, with that of Merstham, Surrey, and the sinecure rectory of West Terring, in Sussex. To Merstham
he was inducted in 1745. From the chantorship of Exeter
he was promoted to the deanery of that cathedral, in 1762,
on the advancement of Dr. Lyttelton to the see of Carlisle,
whom he also succeeded as president of the society of
antiquaries in 176.5. He had been chosen a fellow of this
society in 1741, and of the Royal Society in 1742. His
speech, on taking upon him the office of president of the
Society of Antiquaries, was prefixed to the first volume of
the Archoeologia. In other volumes of that work are some
papers communicated by him, one of which, “Observations on the Wardrobe Account for the year 1483, wherein are contained the deliveries made for the coronation of
king Richard III. and some other particulars relative to the
history,
” was answered by Mr. Walpole, afterwards lord
Orford, in a paper or essay, very characteristic of his lordship’s ingenuity and haughty petulance. In the early part
of his life, Dr. Milles had made ample collections for a
history of Devonshire, v*hich are noticed by Mr. Gough in
his Topography. Ha was also engaged in illustrating the
Da ish coinage, and the Domesday Survey, on both which
subjects, it is thought, he left much valuable matter. His
worst attempt was to vindicate the authenticity of Rowley’s
poems, in an edition which he printed in 1782, 4to. After
what Tyrwhitt and Warton had advanced on this subject, a
grave answer to this was not necessary; but it was the
writer’s misiortune to draw upon himself the wicked wit
of the author of “An Archaeological Epistle,
” and the more
wicked irony of George Steevens in the St. James’s Chronicle. The dean died Feb. 13, 1784, and was buried in
the church of St. Edmund, which, as well as his other preferments, he retained until his death, with the exception
of the rectory of West Terring, which he resigned to his
son Richard. His character is very justly recorded on his
monument, as one conspicuous for the variety and extent
of his knowledge, and for un remitted zeal and activity in
those stations to which his merit had raised him; nor was
he in private life less distinguished for sweetness of disposition, piety, and integrity.
, a German satirist, was born in 1714, at Wachau, an estate and manor near Leipsic, of
, a German satirist,
was born in 1714, at Wachau, an estate and manor near
Leipsic, of which his father was lord. As he was educated
for the law, and was employed for the greatest part of his
life in public 'business, his literary performances must
have been the amusement of his leisure hours. He appeared first in print, in 1741, as an associate in a periodical work jentitled “Amusements of Wit and Reason,
”
to which some of the most eminent men of his age were
contributors, and among these Gellert, with whom he had
a lasting friendship. About this time, he was made comptroller of the taxes in the district of Leipsic, an office
which required constant attention, and obliged him to be
frequently riding from place to place; and on these journeys, as a relaxation from business of a very different kind,
he says, in one of his letters, all his satires were written.
He published four volumes of them, and in his preface to
the last, which is dated 1755, he professes his resolution
to publish no more during his life. This determination,
he says, is extorted from him by the multiplicity of business in which he is involved, by the impression which the
loss of his best friends had made on his mind, and by his
disgust at the impertinence of some of his readers; who,
though he had avoided every thing personal, were continually applying his general characters to individuals. He
had then been made secretary to the board of taxes at
Dresden, and was afterwards involved in the calamities
which that city suffered when besieged by the king of Prussia. During this siege, his house, his manuscripts, and alf
his property, were destroyed; which misfortune he bore
with a temper of mind truly philosophical and his letters
on this occasion, which were afterwards published without
his knowledge, show that it did not deprive him of his
usual cheerfulness nor did this disposition deject him even
in his last illness. He died of an apoplexy in March 1771.
He is represented by his biographer Weiss, as an amiable
and virtuous man, strict in his own conduct, but indulgent
to that of others. He had a deep sense of religion, which
he could not bear to hear ridiculed: and whenever any
thing of this kind was attempted in his presence, he generally punished the scoffer with such sarcastic raillery as
rendered him an object of contempt. He was remarkably
temperate, though very fond of lively and cheerful conversation, in which he excelled; but he never would accept
of any invitation which he thought was given with a view
to exhibit him as a man of wit, and he was averse to all
compliments paid to him as such; he knew how to preserve
the respect due to him even while he promoted mirth and
conviviality, for he never suffered these qualities to exceed
the bounds of virtue and decency.
, of Ch'uhester, the second, but most known, of three brothers, all distinguished as painters, was born in 1714. George is celebrated as a painter of landscape,
, of Ch'uhester, the second, but most known, of three brothers, all distinguished as painters, was born in 1714. George is celebrated as a painter of landscape, but it was expected by the connoisseurs of the time, that his younger brother John would have surpassed him in that syle of painting. In the contests for prizes, at the society for the encouragement of arts, John’s landscapes were frequently preferred to those of George; but he died at an earlier period, and all memory of his works, as well as of the artist himself, has been nearly obliterated. William, the eldest brother, was a painter of portraits, but produced also some good landscapes. He is said, however, by some who remember him, to have been more remarkable for painting fruit and flowers, than for the other branches of his art. William was deformed, and his countenance was thought by many to resemble that of the celebrated John Locke. John died July 29, 1764, at the age of forty- seven, William on the 27th of the ensuing September, at the age of fifty -seven. George survived till Sept. 7, 1776, when he died, at the age of sixty-two. Their remains are deposited in the church-yard of St. Paneras at Chichester, and distinguished only by a plain stone, containing their names and the profession of each, with the dates above recited. Mr. W. Pether, an ingenious painter and engraver in mezzotinto, who was intimate with these brothers, published several years ago an admirable print, with fine likenesses of the three, represented in a groupe; the eldest is reading a lecture upon landscape to the two younger, who are listening with great attention.
, son of the preceding, and also an antiquary, was born in 1714, and educated at Ludsdown in Kent, whence he removed
, son of the preceding, and also an
antiquary, was born in 1714, and educated at Ludsdown in
Kent, whence he removed to University-college, Oxford,
where he took his masters degree iii 1738, and had an intention to have studied physic, but was diverted from the
pursuit, and seems to have devoted his Life to the study of
antiquities. He was elected F. S. A. in 1755, and published from his father’s Mss. and indeed what his father
had in a great measure prepared, the “Registrum Roffense,
or a collection of ancient records, &c. necessary for illustrating the ecclesiastical history and antiquities of the
diocese and cathedral church of Rochester, &c. by John
Thorpe, late of Rochester, M. D, F. R. S. and published
by his son John Thorpe, esq. A. M. F. S. A.
” Lond. Custumale Koffense, from
the original Mss. in the archives of the dean and chapter
of Rochester.
”
, a worthy English divine, and botanical writer, was born in 1714, in or near the parish of Ireby, in Cumberland.
, a worthy English divine, and botanical writer, was born in 1714, in or near the parish of Ireby,
in Cumberland. He was of Queen’s college, Oxford,
where he took his degree of M. A. in 1740, and acquired
some reputation as a sound scholar. Though possessed of
good natural abilities, and no small share of acquired
knowledge, he lived and died in an humble station. His
disposition was so mild, and his sense of duty so proper,
that he passed through life without a murmur at his lot.
Early in life he married a lady near Portsmouth, where he
at that time resided on a curacy. For fifty-six years they
enjoyed the happiness of their'matrimonial connexion an
happiness that became almost proverbial in their neighbourhood. After spending a few years in the south of England, he became curate of Simonburn, in Northumberland; and while here, indulged his taste for the study of
botany, and filled his little garden with curious plants.
This amusement led him gradually into deeper researches
into natural history; and, in 1769, he published a “History of Northumberland,
” 2 vols. 4to, the first of which,
containing an account of minerals, fossils, &c. found in that
country, is reckoned the most valuable. In other respects,
as to antiquities, &c. it is rather imperfect, and unconnected. His fortune, however, did not improve with the
reputation which this work brought him, and a dispute with
his rector occasioned him to leave his situation, when he
and his wife were received into the family of a clergyman
who had formerly been his friend at college. He was curate for a short time at Haughton, near Darlington, in
1775, and soon afterwards removed to Billingham, near
Stockton, where he continued until increasing infirmities
obliged him to resign. He then removed to the village of
Norton, where he died July 23, 1793, in the seventyninth year of his age. About two years before his death a
small estate fell to him by the death of a brother; and to
the honour of the present bishop of Durham (but certainly not to the surprize of any one that knows that munificent prelate), when the circumstances and situation of Mr. Wallis were represented to him, he allowed him an annual pension from the time of his resigning his curacy. From a
sense of gratitude, Mr. Wallis, just at the close of life, was
employed in packing up an ancient statue of Apollo, found
at Carvoran, a Roman station on the wall, on the confines
of Northumberland, as a present to the learned Daines
Barrington, brother to the bishop. In the earlier part of
his life Mr. Wallis published a volume of letters to a pupil,
on entering into holy orders.
, a very distinguished artist of the last century, was born in 1714, and was the son of the rector of Pineges, in
, a very distinguished artist of the
last century, was born in 1714, and was the son of the
rector of Pineges, in Montgomeryshire, who was afterwards collated to the living of Mould in Flintshire. Edwards says, that “his connections were highly respectable,
being maternally related to the late lord chancellor Camden, who was pleased to acknowledge him as his cousin.
”
His father gave him a good education, and as he early discovered a taste for painting, sent him to London, and
placed him under the tuition of one Thomas Wright, a
portrait-painter of very slender abilities. Wilson, therefore, began his career as a portrait-painter but with a mediocrity that afforded no luminous hopes of excellence;
yet he must have acquired some rank in his profession, for
we find, that in 1749, he painted a large picture of his
present majesty, and of his brother the late duke of York.
After having practised some years at London, he went to
Italy, and continued the study of portrait-painting, until
a small landscape of his, executed with a considerable
share of freedom and spirit, casually meeting the eye of
Zuccarelli, so pleased the Italian, that he strenuously advised him to follow that mode of painting, as most congenial to his powers, and therefore most likely to obtain for
him fame as well as profit.