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BROOM E.

ILLIAM BROOME was born
IAM

WILLI

in Cheshire, as is faid, of very mean parents. Of the place of his birth, or the first part of his life, I have not been able to gain any intelligence. He was educated upon the foundation at Eaton, and was captain of the fchool a whole year, without any vacancy, by which he might have obtained a scholarship at King's College. Being by this delay, fuch as is faid to have happened very rarely, fuperannua

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ted, he was fent to St. John's College by the contributions of his friends, where he obtained a small exhibition.

At his College he lived for fome time in the fame chamber with the wellknown Ford, by whom I have formerly heard him defcribed. as a contracted fcholar and a mere verfifyer, unacquainted with life, and unfkilful in converfation. His addiction to metre was then fuch, that his companions familiarly called him Poet. When he had opportunities of mingling with mankind, he cleared himself, as Ford likewife owned, from great part of his fcholaftick ruft.

He appeared early in the world as a tranflator of the Iliads into profe, in

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conjunction with Ozel and Oldifworth. How their feveral parts were diftributed is not known. This is the translation of which Ozel boafted as fuperior, in Toland's opinion, to that of Pope it has long fince vanifhed, and is now in no danger from the criticks.

He was introduced to Mr. Pope, who was then vifiting Sir John Cotton at Madingly near Cambridge, and gained fo much of his esteem that he was employed, I believe, to make extracts from Euftathius for the notes to the tranflation of the Iliad; and in the volumes of poetry published by Lintot, commonly called Pope's Mifcellanies, many of his early pieces were inferted.

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given in the note a lie; but that he was not able to ascertain the feveral fhares. The intelligence which Dr. Warburton could not afford me, I obtained from Mr. Langton, to whom Mr. Spence had imparted it.

The price at which Pope purchased this affiftance was three hundred pounds paid to Fenton, and five hundred to Broome, with as many copies as he wanted for his friends, which ainounted to one hundred more. The payment made to Fenton I know but by hearsay; Broome's is very diftinctly told by Pope, in the notes to the Dunciad.

It is evident, that, according to Pope's own eftimate, Broome was unkindly treated. If four books could

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merit

merit three hundred pounds, eight and all the notes, equivalent at leaft to four, had certainly a right to more than fix.

Broome probably confidered himself as injured, and there was for fome time more than coldnefs between him and his employer. He always fpoke of Pope as too much a lover of money, and Pope purfued him with avowed hoftility; for he not only named him difrefpectfully in the Dunciad, but quoted him more than once in the Bathos, as a proficient in the Art of Sinking; and in his enumeration of the different kinds of poets diftinguished for the profound, he reckons Broome

among

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