of the most spirited and valuable in our language. . The celebrity which Dr. Hawkesworth had now attained, as a literary character, was aided by the friendship of Garrick, who recommended our author to Lord Sandwich; the mean of procuring for him one of the most honourable and lucrative engagements that has been recorded in the annals of literature. The anxiety of the public to be acquainted with the events which had befallen the navigators of the Southern Hemisphere, at the commencement of the present reign, was greatly increased by the return of Lieutenant Cook from his first voyage round the globe, in May, 1771; and Government in the following year entrusted to Hawkesworth the task of gratifying the general curiosity. A few attempts, in the mean time, had been made, though with little success, to anticipate the authenticated narrative, which came forth so early as 1773 under the following title: "An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the Order of his present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, &c. Drawn up from the Journals which were kept by the several Commanders, and from the Papers of Joseph Banks, Esq. By John Hawkesworth, LL. D. Illustrated with Cuts, and a great variety of Charts and Maps relative to Countries now first discovered, or hitherto but imperfectly known." 4to. 3 vols. In order that a work which might properly be termed national should appear with every requisite illustration, Government withheld no necessary expence. Dr. Hawkesworth had the princely remuneration of six thousand pounds; and the charts, engravings, and maps, were executed in a very splendid, and, with a few excep tions, in a very correct, manner. The first volume includes the journals of Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, and the second and third are occupied by the still more interesting voyage of Cook. The merits and defects of Hawkesworth in the execution of this work are very prominent. his fidelity, as to matter of fact, there can be no doubt, since the manuscript of each voyage was submitted to the perusal of the respective commanders, and received their correction and approbation; the literary texture too is elegant, animated, and graceful. Of Of the faults which have disfigured this publication, one may be deemed venial, and was to be apprehended from the previous studies and character of the man; though the narrative is given in the first person, the colouring of the style, and many of the observations, reflections, and descriptions, are such as clearly indicate their origin, and betray the disciple of the portico with all his professional acquirements. Incongruities arising from this source, though they break in upon the verisimilitude which was meant to be supported, were readily forgiven; but who could have expected from the director of female education, from the author of the Adventurer, from the dignified defender of morality and religion, the metaphysical reveries, the licentious paintings, of the sceptic and the voluptuary! To the charge of inaccuracy, of nautical mistake, or defective science, he was ready and willing to reply; but against the strong and numerous accusations of impiety and indecency, against the flagrant proofs, as taken from his preface and his journals, of his denial of a special providence, and of his wanton pictures of sensuality, he was unable to defend himself. To the vexations which he hourly experienced from these attacks, many of which took their source rather from a spirit of malignity than a love of virtue and moral order, was added the extreme mortification of being rendered accessory to the purposes of the most abandoned depravity; for shortly after the publication of his Voyages, notice was given by the infamous editors of a certain magazine, that "All the amorous passages and descriptions in Dr. Hawk-th's Collection of Voyages should be selected, and illustrated by a suitable plate," a threat which was immediately after carried into execution; and thus was the Doctor condemned, after a life hitherto spent in the support of piety and mo rality, to subserve the iniquitous designs of the ministers of lewdness and debauchery. That Hawkesworth ever meant, by his doubts, his queries, and descriptions, to shock belief, or inflame the passions, cannot be admitted. His practice was correct, but his theory, both in philosophy and theology, was often inconsistent and unsettled; and he was apt to indulge himself in speculations, the ultimate tendency and bearings of which, could he have accurately appreciated them, he would have shrunk from with abhorrence. His descriptions of sensual indulgence too, though probably correct representations, were, he should have reflected, not calculated for a popular work; there was no necessity for their introduction; and the language in which they were clothed, by veiling, in a great measure, the grossness of the imagery, rendered the poison more subtle and pernicious. The sensibility of Hawkesworth was keen, and easily wounded; he felt through every nerve the envenomed weapons of his accusers, and his peace of mind was destroyed for ever. No addition to his income or his consequence could now soothe his feelings; for though his circumstances were comparatively affluent, and he had the unprecedented honour of being chosen, on account of his literary talents, a director of the East-India Company, in April, 1773, he died, exhausted by chagrin and disappointment, on the 16th of the November following. He was buried in the Church of Bromley, in Kent, where, on an elegant marble, is the subsequent inscription, part of which, as the reader will immediately perceive, is taken from the last number of the Adventurer. To the Memory of John Hawkesworth, LL. D. Who died the 16th of November, 1773, aged 58 years. That he lived ornamental and useful To society in an eminent degree, That he laboured for the benefit of Society, *The hour is hasting, in which whatever praise |