WARBURTON with the "Literature and Literati" of Bath, when some of his works were written within the sound of our Abbey bells? Married to the favorite niece of Allen, he resided at Prior Park till his rapid church preferment called him away; but, at Mr. Allen's death, he took possession of the property in right of his wife, and there devoted himself to literary pursuits.* . The DAVID HARTLEYS, father and son, were alike conspicuous men in their day; the former, born in 1705, was not only a physician, but a metaphysician, and was held in high esteem as a philosophical writer; he was the author of an excellent and much admired work, entitled "Observations on Man," &c. Whether he built, or only gave his name to the house wherein he resided in Belvedere, I am not certain, but there he died (1757). He had become so enamoured of a nostrum, composed of soap and lime water, for dysuria calculosa, with which complaint he himself was afflicted, that it is said he swallowed no less than 200lbs. weight of soap! but this, alas! by no means proved the virtue of the specific, for which he had obtained a parliamentary grant of £5000, for the female empiric Mrs. STEPHENS!! since he at length fell a sacrifice to the disease. He was succeeded by his son, who became M.P. for Hull, * Born, 1698; died, 1779. Among his most important works may be classed, "The divine Legation of Moses demonstrated." He was, moreover, the Editor both of the works of Shakespeare and of Pope; and he wrote a defence of Pope's "Essay on Man.” D and was remarkable for his strenuous opposition to the American War, and also as being one of the early promoters of the abolition of the slave trade. He was a man of an ingenious and inventive mind; in his person and appearance, I can recollect, he was somewhat eccentric; he wore a hat of peculiar shape, and no cravat, but his shirt collar was turned down, and simply confined by a black ribbon tied in a bow, which, at the time I speak of, was by no means an usual style of costume; now-a-days, when men wear anything and everything, he might perhaps have passed unobserved.* HENRY FIELDING, we all know, found a warm friend in RALPH ALLEN, of Prior Park, the doors of whose noble mansion ever flew open at the approach of worth or genius, and here most of the learned and the wise of the age met with a hospitable reception.† Pope had the highest opi * He died in 1813, at his house in Belvedere. † Mr. ALLEN was originally a clerk in the Bath Post Office; and it is a curious fact, that to this city England is indebted for two such important improvements in its postal system, as Palmer's invention of the mail coach, and Allen's ingenious plan for the advantageous multiplication of cross posts, whereby even small towns, out of the great metropolitan line, were secured a constant and punctual delivery of letters, advantaging the Government to an immediate amount of £6000 per annum. Mr. ALLEN afterwards farmed this branch of the revenue at £20,000 a-year! and during this term it was that he set about the building of Prior Park. nion of the virtues of this good man, whether civil, social, domestic, or religious, and he considered him in all these views as an ornament to human nature : Let humble ALLEN, with ingenuous shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. We have the happiness to number among our members one of his descendants. FIELDING, it is well known, took his friend and patron as the model of his Mr. Alworthy, in "TOM JONES," and many of the scenes in this highly-wrought "History," are identified with Bath and its neighbourhood. A gentleman of the name of BAYLY, I have ascertained, then lived at the house close to the Church at Widcombe, the supposed residence of Squire Western; but I am not here going to descant on the scenes, the incidents, or the characters in "Tom Jones;" I shall content myself with remarking that while admirers of wit, humour, correct delineation of character, and knowledge of the human heart are to be found, "The Foundling" must ever live. No author has contributed more than FIELDING, "by cheerful wit and graphic tale, to refresh the harassed spirit."* A descendant of the noble family of FIELDING, he was born at Sharpham Park, in this county, near to Glastonbury, and his whereabout in this vicinage may yet be seen in the village of Twerton. The house, though now a poor man's dwelling, is distinguished by the crest which surmounts the door porch, and points out to the inquirer where lived and wrote "The English Cervantes."* Mrs. SARAH FIELDING, the maiden sister of the above, also lived and died in Bath; she possessed much of her brother's talent, and it is recorded on her monument in the Abbey, that her "Writings will be known, As incentives to virtue, and honour to her sex, The great lexicographer, and one of the most distinguished writers of the 18th century, SAMUEL JOHNSON,† was wont to take his ease at his inn, "The Pelican," in Walcot street, and there the house still stands, but no longer is this emblem of maternal affection to be seen; no longer is she represented as giving her life-blood to sustain her young, but in lieu thereof is displayed the less poetical, but truly pothouse, sign of "The Three Cups." The powers of this giant of literature are duly estimated by the learned in every quarter of the civilized world. Dr. CHANNING, a transatlantic critic of no mean eminence, after having expressed himself with much freedom on his life of Milton, thus writes: "The comparison which we have instituted has compelled us to notice JOHNSON'S defects, but we trust we are not blind to his merits. His stately march, his pomp and power of language, his strength of thought, his reverence for virtue and religion, Born, 1709; died, 1784. * Born, 1707; died, 1755. his vigorous logic, his practical wisdom, his insight into the springs of human action, and the solemn pathos which occasionally pervades his descriptions of life, and his references to his own history, command our willing admiration." At the Pelican, his friend and "faithful chronicler,” BOSWELL, sometimes visited him; and all who are familiar with that gentleman's biographical anecdotes, and his charming literary gossip, cannot fail to associate with the name of Dr. JOHNSON, that of Madame Piozzi—I should rather say, Mrs. THRALE, as it is by that name she therein principally figures; and after her husband's death, truth to tell, she does not cut a very amiable figure;* but whatever may be said of the caprice, the injustice,† or the peculiarities of this lady, none, I think, will deny her claim to be ranked as a woman of talent and literary acquirement. Well-for many years did she reside in this city; her house in Gay street is easily to be distinguished by the architectural ornaments and floral festoons with which it is decorated; not that these were designed by, or for her,‡ but here she dwelt, and here, I think, she would not have dwelt, if Bath had then been peopled with dolts, and she had not been able to enjoy the society of some Beaux * On one occasion, JOHNSON said to BosWELL, "Sir, she has done everything wrong since Thrale's bridle was off her neck." See her distorted "Anecdotes." It was one of Wood's designs for the residence of Mr. GAY, the proprietor of the land. |