360 MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS. quest, and the piece, with the alterations, having | Company." This production obtained him the fabeen inspected by Mr. Warton, was again rejected, vour and protection of many persons of opulence and at which the poet was so incensed that he resolved influence, who were inclined to recommend him to to appeal to the judgment of the public by printing the notice of his majesty as deserving of a pension. it; and as soon as the first sheet came from the press, Dr. Lowth, bishop of London, a prelate eminent for sent it to the manager. The reason he assigns for his learning and candour, from an approbation of his printing the tragedy is given in the preface to it; the talents and general character was inclined to admit motive for the latter is described in a letter to Mr. him into orders, and promise him some provision in Hoole, dated November 15, 1773:— the church; but he declined the clerical profession as not agreeable to his disposition. During the time he was concerting the plan for "I have just received a letter from Mr. Ballantyne wherein he acquaints me, that you seemed sorry that Mr. Garrick had seen a proof sheet of the pre-publishing his works by subscription, from which, face to my play. Mr. B. also expresses his surprise how he should have obtained it, and supposed that some person who wished me ill had sent it, that he might be prepared to prejudice the public against me. "The truth is, I sent it to him in a blank cover. Let him be prepared as he will. Half a year ago I declared my resolution to my friend Mr. Boswell. He wrote me two earnest dissuasive letters, but in vain. I have maturely considered every circumstance; I have passed the Rubicon, and I will proceed. In a letter to Mr. Boswell, sent off only three days ago, I told him that I should look upon any farther dissuasive as thus, in plain English: What, do you think the public will mind such a scribbler as you? No, my friend, take my advice, fold your hands together, submit to the infallibility of Mr. Garrick, and starve.' I have also cited the same sentence in a letter, now on the table, to Governor Johnstone. I have passed the Rubicon I say, but I am not a Kenrick. No friend shall blush for me. I know what I owe to them, and to myself. If I am possessed of any satirical abilities, Mr. G. shall feel them. I have planned a new " Dunciad," of which he is the hero. As soon as I finish The Lusiad,' I will set about it. If you think proper, you may mention this in any company." through the liberality and recommendation of his friends, he entertained sanguine hopes of deriving very considerable emolument, his patron, Governor Johnstone, who was appointed to the command of the Romney man-of-war, as well as commodore of a squadron, offered to make him his secretary, in order that he might be entitled according to rank to share in such prizes as might be taken in the course of an intended cruise; but so scrupulously did he regard the forfeiture of his word pledged to his friends in his proposals for a subscription, that he could not be prevailed upon to accept the offer till it was very pertinently suggested to him that, by a new situation in life, he would enter upon new scenes, form new connexions, and extend his interest, so as to render the publication more acceptable to his subscribers, and profitable to himself. Convinced by these arguments he engaged with the commodore, and on his arrival at Lisbon was appointed joint agent for the prizes that might be taken. The reputation he had acquired by his translation of "The Lusiad" procured him the esteem of the principal people in Lisbon and its environs, by whom he was honoured with every mark of respect and esteem, during a residence of more than six months. He employed his vacant time while he continued in Portugal in the composition of a poem, which he entitled "Almada Hill, an Epistle from Lisbon,” and the collection of some materials for an account of the history, manners, and customs of the Portuguese; but as these materials were never arranged, the account could not be rendered sufficiently correct for publication. Through the interest of his patron, the commodore, and the reputation he had acquired as a man of letters, he had the honour of being admitted a member of the royal academy, under the presidency of one of the most illustrious characters of the age, Prince Don John of Braganza, who presented him with his own portrait as a token of his esteem. The commodore, on his return from Lisbon, was appointed to the command of an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope; but as Mickle, who came with him to England, was from the nature of his office under the necessity of staying in London to attend the proceedings in the courts of law respecting the condemnation of some prizes, he could not accompany his patron. Mickle, thus disappointed in his application to the monarch of Drury, was inclined to try the fate of his piece in the Edinburgh theatre, but was prevailed on by the persuasion of his patron, Governor Johnstone, to lay it aside till his translation was completed, that it might not impede his progress in a work, the result of which was infinitely more important, both with respect to the advancement of his fame and fortune. When "The Lusiad" was finished, approved, and his reputation consequently enhanced, at the instance of a friend, he revised his tragedy, and submitted it to Mr. Harris, proprietor of Covent Garden theatre, but it met with the same fate as on the former occasions. Thus repulsed, he abandoned all hope of emolument from the theatre, though he was afterwards prevailed on to permit a person to present the ill-fated play to Mr. Sheridan, who became one of the proprietors of the theatre on the retirement of Mr. Garrick; but it was rejected by him on the same ground as by the other managers; yet such was the attachment of the author to his favourite though dis- In 1782 he published an ironical pamphlet in decarded child, that he always avowed his resolution of fence of Chatterton. It was called "The Prophecy printing and inserting it in the collection of his works. of Queen Emma, an ancient Ballad, lately discovered, He published in 1779 a pamphlet entitled "A written by Johannes Turgottus, Prior of Darham, in Candid Examination of the Reasons for Depriving the reign of William Rufus; to which is added by the the East India Company of its Charter, contained in Editor, an Account of the Discovery and Hints tothe History and Management of the East India Com-wards a Vindication of the Authenticity of the Poems pany, from its Commencement to the Present Time; of Ossian and Rowley." Having been enabled by together with Strictures on some of the Self-Con- the fortune he acquired in the situation to which he tradictions and Historical Errors of Dr. Adam had been appointed by his patron and steadfast friend, Smith in his Reasons for the Abolition of the said Commodore Johnstone, to retire to literary leisure MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS. 361 with an independence, he married Miss Tomkins, he assigns for that peculiar character which has since daughter of the person with whom he resided at Fo-marked each of the different divisions of Europe, may rest Hill during the time he was engaged in the trans-not be historically true, yet the ideas he has started on lation of "The Lusiad," and took a house at Wheat- this subject are at least poetical and ingenious. The ly, a few miles from Oxford, where he passed his diseased chivalry of romance is contrasted with the vacant time in the revision and correction of his poeti- chivalry of wisdom and honour, as he styles the recal works, and particularly his favourite tragedy, in ligious fury of crusading, which many have imputed order to prepare them for an intended publication by to the influence of his prejudices. The fall of Lissubscription. boa's naval throne occasions some boding thoughts on that of London. The naval glory of the Portuguese, during the time they first established themplace; with the massacre of the Moors at the taking of Lisbon, that of the Jews and Christians in 1505, the revolution that set the duke of Braganza on the throne, a sublime description of the earthquake, &c. The duke of Latoens receives a high eulogium in the conclusion, for his taste in the belles lettres, history, &c. The general poetical merit of the epistle is very considerable. The sentiments may sometimes be thought exceptionable, but the versification is spirited and harmonious; though it would have been more so had he less frequently made one verse run into another. In attempting bold innovations in language, he has, in some instances, violated metaphorical propriety. But a good notion of the general style of the poem may be best acquired by an extract, and for that purpose we select one which partakes of its highest beauties: He continued, during the remainder of his life, his attachment to literary pursuits, and, during the last seven years of it, sent occasional essays to the "Eu-selves in Asia, and the fate of Gama, have their due ropean Magazine," composed a poem called "The Fragments of Leo," and afforded considerable assistance to the reviewers. At the request of a friend he wrote, in 1788, a song called "Eskdale Braes," in honour of the country of his birth, a country most beautifully Arcadian, in the centre of that district on the border of Scotland which is thus described by Dr. Percy, in his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry:"" Most of the finest old Scottish songs have the scene laid within twenty miles of England, which is indeed all poetic ground, green hills, remains of woods, and clear brooks. The pastoral scenes remain; of the rude chivalry of former ages happily nothing remains but the ruins of the castles." This song, in commemoration of a spot in itself of little importance, but dignified by the birth of heroes who have bled in defence of their country, and poets who have given new harmony to the language, was set to music by James Balmain. This was the last composition he lived to finish; for after a short illness he died in Oxfordshire, October 25th, 1789, and was buried at Wheatly. His "Poems," including the pieces formerly printed separately, except "Providence," with the "Sorceress," and other original pieces, and the tragedy of the " Siege of Marseilles," were collected and published by subscription in 1794, with some anecdotes of his life, in which are comprised several letters from the late Lord Lyttleton, with the benevolent purpose of raising a sum to assist the education, and make some additional provision for his son. His poems, reprinted from the edition of 1794, with his verses "On passing through the Parliament Close of Edinburgh at Midnight," and some smaller pieces selected from the "Introduction to the Lusiad," and the anecdotes of his life, were afterwards received into a collection of classical English poetry. poem on "Providence" he himself thought too incorrect for republication. His Of Mickle's original compositions his "Almada Hill" deservedly holds the highest rank. He opens the poem with a well-drawn picture of a joyless winter day in England, contrasted with the genial influence of a warmer clime. After hinting at what will probably be the cause of our political decay, he enters more immediately upon the subject of the poem, which abounds with local picturesque views by land and sea, and historical incidents, from the time of the Romans to the great earthquake in 1755. The descriptive parts are, he tells us, strictly local, and they have every appearance of being truly characteristical and appropriate. After cursorily pointing out the "mighty deeds the lofty hills of Spain of old have witnessed," he notices the change of manners that has prevailed in consequence of the subversion of the Roman empire, by the irruption of the Goths and other northern tribes; and, though the causes "O'er Tago's banks, where'er I roll mine eyes, By Isis' hallowed stream. Oft now the strand In coldest white fair glistening to the skies Of bending hills, along whose high-piled base 362 MIDDLETON, ARTHUR Throws her mast-forest, waving on the gale The vanes of every shore that hoists the sail." MIDDLETON, ARTHUR, a distinguished American patriot in the revolutionary war of America, who was of a highly respectable English lineage. His grandfather Arthur was a man of high standing and great influence in the colony of South Carolina; and his father, Henry, was one of the presidents of the first continental congress. The son was born in the year 1743, on the banks of the Ashley river, South Carolina, and sent, at an early age, to England, to be there educated. He was first placed at Harrow-on-the-Hill, whence, at the age of fourteen, he was transferred to that of Westminster. In both he made great proficiency in the Greek and Latin classics. Having passed regularly through Westminster school, he was entered, between the age of eighteen and nineteen, in Trinity college, Cambridge. He left this institution in his twenty-second year, with the reputation of a sound scholar and moral man. After visiting many parts of England, he passed two years in making the tour of Europe. In 1773 he fixed his residence at his birth-place, and in the following year he engaged warmly on the side of the colonies, in the disputes between them and the mother country. As a member of the first council of safety chosen by the provincial congress of South Carolina, he advocated and suggested the most vigorous and decisive measures. After serving on the committee to prepare and report a constitution for South Carolina, he was elected by the assembly one of the representatives of the state in the congress, then convened at Philadelphia. In this capacity he signed the declaration of independence. He and Hancock formed a joint domestic establishment, and exercised a munificent hospitality, which was deemed salutary in uniting socially the members from the two extremities of the union. Mr. Middleton held his seat until 1777, always strenuous in the cause of independence. The post of governor of South Carolina was offered to him in 1778, but he declined it because he could not approve the new constitution which was that year framed for the state. In 1779 he distinguished himself in the defence of Charleston against the British, who afterwards ravaged his plantation and rifled his mansion. In the following year he became a prisoner of war, in November 1780 was sent to St. Augustine, and in 1781 was included in a general exchange of prisoners, and sailed for Philadelphia. Soon after his arrival in that city he was appointed by the governor of South Carolina a representative in congress. In 1782 the general assembly of the state elected him to the same station. When the revolutionary contest terminated, Mr. Middleton returned to his native state. He afterwards served in the legislature of South Carolina, for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation of parties. The remainder of his life was spent in elegant and philosophical ease. Mr. Middleton incurred an imMense loss of property by his course during the revolution. In November 1786 he was seized with an intermittent fever, which caused his death, January 1787. MIDDLETON, CONYERS, a learned English divine and polemical writer, who was born at York in 1683, and was the son of an episcopal clergyman. He became a student and afterwards a fellow of Trinity college, Cambridge, in which situation he attracted some notice by his quarrel with the celebrated -MIDDLETON, SIR HUGH. Dr. Bentley, the master of his college. In 1724 he visited Italy, and, on his return, published a tract designed to show that the medical profession was held in little esteem by the ancient Romans; and in 1729 appeared his letter from Rome, on the conformity between popery and paganism. Not long after he obtained the Woodwardin professorship of mineralogy, which he held till 1734, when he was chosen librarian to the university. In 1735 he published "A Dissertation respecting the Origin of Printing in England;" but his greatest literary undertaking was "The History of the Life of Cicero," in which he displays an intimate acquaintance with his subject, accompanied with a degree of elegance in his style and language which entitle him to rank among the principal modern historians of England. In 1743 he published "The Epistles of Cicero to Brutus, and of Brutus to Cicero, with the Latin Text and English Notes, a Prefatory Dissertation," &c., and four years later Dr. Middleton published his "Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers which are supposed to have subsisted in the Christian Church from the Earliest Ages through several successive Centuries." This treatise brought on the author the imputation of infidelity, and occasioned a warm controversy, which was continued after his death, in 1750. MIDDLETON, SIR HUGH, a patriotic citizen of London, who was the son of Richard Middleton, governor of Denbigh Castle under Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. Young Middleton came to London and commenced business as a goldsmith, and at the same time worked a mine in Cardiganshire, which was very profitable. As London at that period was very ill supplied with water, three acts of parliament were obtained for the purpose of improving that department of domestic economy; one in Queen Elizabeth's, and two in King James the First's reign; MIDDLETON, THOMAS FANSHAW. 363 choice of two springs, one in the parish of Amwell | Pancras, Middlesex, on the intended Application to near Hertford, the other near Ware, both about | Parliament for a New Church." When government twenty miles from London; and, having united came to the resolution of establishing a resident their streams, conveyed them to the city with very bishop of India, Dr. Middleton was selected for that great labour and expense. The work was begun on eminent situation. He was consecrated at Lambeth the 20th of February, 1608, and carried on through in May 1814, and arrived at Calcutta in the Novemvarious soils. Many bridges in the mean time were ber of the same year. Among the objects to which built over the New River, and drains were made to Dr. Middleton's attention was particularly directed, carry off land-springs and common sewers. Besides we must notice his desire to increase the number and these necessary difficulties, he had, as may easily be efficiency of the chaplains in India, and to provide imagined, many others to struggle with. When he churches for the accommodation of the European had brought the water into the neighbourhood of residents. He recurred to each of these points in his Enfield, almost his whole fortune was spent; upon several charges, and but a short time before his which he applied to the corporation of London; but death he congratulated his brethren upon the partial they refusing to interest themselves in the affair, he success which had attended his efforts and repreapplied next to King James. The king, willing to sentations. Dr. Middleton was mainly instrumental encourage the work, agreed to pay half the expense in founding the mission college at Calcutta, for the of the whole work past and to come. The river was following purposes: 1. For instructing native and now carried on rapidly, and the water was brought other Christian youth in the doctrine and discipline into the cistern at Islington on Michaelmas-day 1613. of the church of England, in order to their becoming Like most other projectors, Sir Hugh greatly injured preachers, catechists, or schoolmasters; 2. For teach his fortune by this stupendous work; for though ing the elements of useful knowledge, and the EngKing James had borne the principal part of the ex- lish language, to Mussulmen and Hindoos, having pense, and afterwards granted his letters patent to no object in such attainments beyond secular advanSir Hugh Middleton and others, incorporating them tage; 3. For translating the Scriptures, the Liturgy, by the name of "The Governors and Company of and moral and religious tracts; 4. For the reception the New River, brought from Chadwell and Amwell of English missionaries on their first arrival in India, to London," and empowered them to select a go- for the purpose of acquiring the languages. vernor, deputy-governor, and treasurer, to grant The illness which led to Dr. Middleton's lamented leases, &c., yet the profits at first were very inconsi- death was short, but severe. On Tuesday, the 2nd derable. There was no dividend made among the of July, 1822, he paid a visit to the college, which proprietors till the year 1630, when 117. 19s. 1d. was is distant about five miles from Calcutta. Here he divided upon each share. The second dividend appeared in the full possession of his usual health amounted only to 3l. 4s. 2d., and instead of a third and spirits. Soon after he felt one of those strokes dividend, a call being expected, Charles I. re-con- of the sun which are so common in an Indian cliveyed it again to Sir Hugh, by a deed under the mate. A violent head-ache came on; but, though great seal, in consideration of Sir Hugh's securing he was persuaded to take some strong medicines, to his majesty and his successors a fee-farm rent of he would not suffer any medical man to be called in. 500l. per annum, out of the profits of the company. He seemed from the first to labour under the irritaIn the mean time, although Sir Hugh was a loser in tion which arose from the weight of business presspoint of profit, yet he was a gainer in point of ho- ing upon him; and, on that very account, he was the for the king made him first a knight, and then more anxious to work night and day to accomplish a baronet, for the services he had done to the city of what he had in hand. Accordingly, the next day, London, in supplying it with that most necessary of he sat at his desk eight hours, answering various all articles-pure water. Sir Hugh died in 1631. papers, during which time the disease was making MIDDLETON, THOMAS FANSHAW, a learned rapid inroads upon his frame. At night he allowed English divine, who was born in 1769, and educated a physician to be sent for, who pronounced him to at Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1792. be in the most imminent danger. On Sunday, by Having entered holy orders he became curate of his own express desire, he was prayed for by his conGainsborough in Lincolnshire, where he carried on a gregation at the cathedral. On the evening of Monperiodical paper called "The Country Spectator." day the physician left him under the impression that he was decidedly better. He had not, however, been long gone, when the bishop was again seized with a violent paroxysm of fever; he walked about in great agitation: soon afterwards, his strength gave way, the final scene came rapidly on, and at eleven o'clock on the night of Monday, the 8th of July, 1822, he ceased to breathe. nour; In 1808 Dr. Middleton established his reputation | as a scholar by the publication of his celebrated "Treatise on the Doctrine of the Greek Article, applied to the Criticism and the Illustration of the New Testament;" a work which will ever be considered as a text-book in that department of Greek literature. The following year appeared "Christ Divided; a Sermon preached at the Visitation of the Lord Bishop of Lincoln." In April 1812 he was collated by the bishop of Lincoln to the archdeaconry of Huntingdon; and in the autumn of the same year he directed his attention to the deplorable condition of the parish of St. Pancras, in which he found a population of upwards of 50,000 persons, with only the ancient very small village church, which could not accommodate a congregation of more than 300. On this occasion he published "An Address to the Parishioners of St. | In no man could there be a more singular union of all those various qualities which were each so essential to the success of the first Indian prelate, than in Dr. Middleton. His mind was naturally ardent and excursive, but it was always under the control of the most disciplined and calculating discretion. He had a masculine and a practical understanding: he rapidly conceived the most extensive plans, and would digest with facility even their most circumstantial details; but he never anticipated their season, or hurried their execution: he waited with 364 MIERIS, FRANCIS--MILLAR, JAMES. patience till in the course of passing events a favourable opportunity should arise, and when at last it presented itself, he marked it with decision, and he seized it with effect. So singular indeed was his judgment, that amidst the various difficulties with which he was daily and hourly doomed to contend, he never made a step which he was afterwards obliged to recall. His talents and attainments were of a superior order he was a sound and accurate scholar, and in the prose department of Greek literature he was perhaps without a rival. His conversation was vigorous, sometimes even playful; his style was luminous and forcible, not abounding in imagery, but rising perpetually into a manly and a chastened eloquence. As a preacher he was powerful and convincing; his mind was theological, and his expression scriptural. The leading points, however, in his character, which threw a clearness and a brilliancy over every other, were the singleness of his views and the simplicity of his heart. In the course of his Indian career he had but one object-the advancement of the cause of Christianity in the east-to that he dedicated his days and his nights, his hopes and his fears, his money and his influence. Labours so disinterested, and services so pure, were not rejected -the blessing of the Almighty was upon them, and the work of the gospel prospered in his hand. he was constantly at war, became chief painter to his majesty. At this time he executed one of the greatest fresco paintings which France possesses-the dome of the Val-de-Grace. It represents the region of the blest: in the centre of a great number of saints, martyrs, prophets, &c., was placed Queen Anne of Austria presenting to the Creator a model of the new church. He also adorned the palace of St. Cloud with numerous mythological paintings, executed several works at Versailles, and painted portraits, &c. Besides the posts already mentioned, the direction of the royal collections of art, of the academy of painting, and of the Gobelin manufactory, was conferred on him. He continued actively engaged in his art until his death in 1695. In respect to invention and composition, Mignard is not entitled to rank among profound and original geniuses; yet the grace and loveliness which characterize his works, particularly his Madonnas, the brilliancy and harmony of his colouring, and the ease of his pencil, atone for many defects. His talent for imitation of other masters was remarkable; he deceived the ablest judges, and, among them, his rival Lebrun, by a Magdalene in the style of Guido. MIGNOT, STEPHEN, a learned French writer, who was born in 1698, and educated for the church. As an author he is best known by his work “On the Rights of the Monarch and the Civil Government over the Revenues of the Church." Mignot died in 1771. MILDMAY, SIR WALTER, an English statesman, who was employed under Henry the Eighth in the court of augmentation. He also sat in parliament during the reign of Mary, and became chancellor of the exchequer on Elizabeth ascending the throne. This able and learned statesman was the founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and died at an advanced age in May 1589. MILL, HENRY, an engineer of considerable ta MIERIS, FRANCIS, a celebrated painter of the Dutch school, who was the son of a jeweller at Leyden, where he was born in 1635. He was the pupil of Vliet, Gerard Douw, and Van den Tempel, and he is generally considered as the principal scholar of the second. His works consist of portraits, and scenes in common life. He possessed the delicate finish of Gerard Douw, with more taste in his designs; his colouring, too, is more clear, and his touch more spirited. He usually worked for a ducat an hour; but, through his intemperance, he always remained in poverty. One of his finest productions was a picture of a young lady fainting, a physician at-lent, who for many years held the post of principal tempting to recover her, and an old woman standing by; and for this 3000 florins were vainly offered by the grand-duke of Tuscany. Mieris died at Leyden in 1681.-He had two sons,-John Mieris the elder, who gave great promise of excellence, but died in 1690 at Rome: the younger, William Mieris, was the pupil of his father, and adopted his style, in which he showed great talent. He died in 1741.His son, Francis Mieris, the younger, was also a painter, but was not very successful. He published several works relating to the history of the Low Countries, and the lives of their sovereigns. MIGNARD, PIERRE, a French painter, who was born at Troyes in 1610. His father, discovering early indications of his talent for painting, placed him, when eleven years old, at Bourges, in the school of Jean Boucher; and the young artist next studied the works of Primaticcio, Rosso, and Nicolò dell' Abbate, in Fontainebleau. He afterwards became a pupil of the celebrated Vouet, and in 1636 went to Rome, where he formed himself by the study of the masterpieces of Raphael and Titian. His historical paintings and portraits, among which were those of Urban VIII. and Alexander VII., soon gained him reputation; and he also painted a great number of portraits in Venice. In 1658 Colbert engaged him to return to France in the service of Lous XIV., and Mignard was placed at the head of the academy of St. Luke, and, after the death of Lebrun, with whom surveyor to the New River Company. He was celebrated for his acquaintance with the science of hydraulics, which knowledge he employed in the erection of several large works. He died in 1770, in the eighty-first year of his age. MILL, JOHN, an English divine, who was born at Shapp, in Westmoreland, in 1645, and educated at Oxford. Having entered holy orders, he was presented to a living in Oxfordshire, and at a later period became chaplain to Charles the Second. Dr. Mill's great work was a valuable edition of the New Testament, which appeared under the title of "Novum Testamentum Græcum, cum Lectionibus Variantibus, ex MSS.," &c. He survived the publication of this work only a fortnight,dying of apoplexy in 1707. MILLAR, JAMES.-This gentleman, who is well known as the author of several important works on the science of botany, was a native of Scotland. His education was obtained chiefly at the university of Glasgow, where he signalized himself by the extent and accuracy of his acquaintance with the classics, and his taste for the varied departments of natural history. Removing thence to Edinburgh, where he took the degree of M. D., he published "Observations on the Advantages and Practicability of Making Tunnels under Navigable Rivers." He also superintended a new edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," and the " Encyclopædia Edinensis;" and in 1819 he published "A Guide to Botany;" |