"with equal indifference.-Time, who is impa- Dr. Hawkesworth was, if not a man of deep learning, sufficiently acquainted with the classical and modern languages to maintain the character of an elegant scholar. His writings, with the exception of his last ill-fated work, have a tendency uniformly conducive to the interests of virtue and religion; and we may add, that the errors of that unfortunate production must be attributed rather to a defect of judgment, than to a dereliction of principle. His imagination was fertile and brilliant, his diction pure, elegant, and unaffected; he possessed a sensibility which too often wounded himself, but which rendered him peculiarly susceptible of the emotions of pity, of friendship, and of love. He was in a high degree charitable, humane, and benevolent; his manners were polished and affable, and his conversation has been described as uncommonly fascinating; as combining instruction and entertainment with a flow of words, which, though unstudied, was yet concisely and appropriately eloquent. His passions were strong, and his command over them was not such as to prevent their occasional interference with his health and peace of mind; but to the heart-withering sensations of long-cherished resentment, of revenge or hatred, his breast was a perfect stranger. He died, it is said, tranquil and resigned, and, we trust, deriving hope and comfort from a firm belief in that religion which his best writings had been employed to defend.* *The following little poem, composed but a month before his death, and dictated to Mrs. H-, before he rose in the morning, will prove how vividly he felt, at that period, the consolations arising from dependence on the mercy of his God. HYMN. 1. IN Sleep's serene oblivion laid, 2. New-born-I bless the waking hour, 3.. O, guide me through the various maze My doubtful feet are doom'd to tread; And spread thy shield's protecting blaze, When dangers press around my head. 4. A deeper shade will soon impend, 5. That deeper shade shall fade away, PART III. ESSAY I. SKETCHES BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL OF THE OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THE RAMBLER, ADVENTURER, AND IDLER. T HE assistance which Dr. Johnson received in the composition of his Rambler amounted (with the exception of four billets written by Mrs. Chapone, who will be afterwards noticed as a contributor to the Adventurer, and the second letter in No 107,) only to four numbers, the productions of Miss Talbot, Mr. Richardson, and Mrs. Carter. CATHERINE TALBOT, the only daughter of the Rev. Edward Talbot, Archdeacon of Berks, was born in the year 1720, five months after the de, cease of her father. Mrs. Talbot, thus left a widow, and her infant daughter, were soon after taken under the protection of Dr. Secker, Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards Archbishop of Canter bury. To Mr. Edward Talbot's influence with his father, the Bishop of Durham, Dr. Secker had been indebted for his first preferment; an obligation which he endeavoured to return by the most kind and parental attention to the widow and child of his friend. The connection was still further cemented, in the year 1725, by Dr. Secker's marriage with Mrs. Catherine Benson, sister of Bishop Benson, and the chosen friend and domestic companion of Mrs. Talbot. The immediate consequence of this union was the coalescence of the two families; and until the death of the Bishop, which took place in 1768, Mrs. and Miss Talbot resided under his hospitable roof. To Miss Talbot nature had been more than commonly liberal; for she early exhibited strong marks of a feeling heart, a warm imagination, and a powerful understanding. To these natural talents, were added all the advantages of the most accomplished education, with all the virtues arising from a well-grounded belief in christianity, and from a constant habit of devotional piety. Thus gifted, little more was wanting to the completion of her happiness than an interchange of friendship with an individual of her own sex, as amiable and as intellectual as herself; an |