MEMOIR OF HENRY KIRKE WHITE. Thine, HENRY, is a deathless name on earth, Could more be ask'd, to whom might more be given? TOWNSEND. IT has been said that the contrasts of light and shade are as necessary to biography as to painting, and that the character which is radiant with genius and virtue requires to be relieved by more common and opposite qualities. Though this may be true as a principle, there are many exceptions; and the life of HENRY KIRKE WHITE, whose merits were unalloyed by a single vice, is one of the most memorable. The history of his short and melancholy career, by Mr. Southey, is extremely popular; and when it is remembered that the author is one of the most distinguished of living writers, that as a biographer he is almost unrivalled, and that he had access to all the materials which exist, it would be vain to expect that the present Memoir will contain any new facts, and absurd to hope that it will be more b. worthy of attention than the imperishable monument which his generous friend has erected to his memory. There is, however, nothing inconsistent with that admission, in presuming that a life of the poet may be written which will be almost as interesting as the one alluded to; and this without the writer of it assuming to himself extraordinary sagacity. Mr. Southey's Memoir is prefixed to a collection of all Kirke White's remains in prose as well as in verse: his letters are consequently inserted as part of his works, and though several passages are illustrative of his character, it would have been mere repetition, had extracts from many of them been introduced. This volume will, on the contrary, be confined to his poems; and those parts of his letters which describe his situation and feelings at particular periods may with propriety and effect be introduced into the narrative of his life. Indeed, so frequent are the allusions to himself in those letters and in his poems, that he may be almost considered an autobiographer; and the writer who omits to avail himself of such delightful materials, and substitutes his own cold and lifeless sketch for the glowing and animated portrait which these memorials of genius present, must either be deficient in skill, or be under the dominion of preposterous conceit. Few who have risen to eminence were, on the paternal side at least, of humbler origin than HENRY KIRKE WHITE, his father, John White, being a butcher at Nottingham; but his mother, who bore the illustrious name of Neville, is said to have belonged to a respectable family in Staffordshire. He was born at Nottingham on the 21st of March, 1785; and in his earliest years indications were observed of the genius for which he was afterwards distinguished. In his poem "Childhood," he has graphically described the little school where, between the age of three and five, he enter'd, though with toil and pain, The low vestibule of learning's fane ; The venerable dame by whom he was "inured to alphabetic toils," and whose worth he gratefully commemorates, had the discernment to perceive her charge's unusual capacity, and even foretold his future celebrity: "And as she gave my diligence its praise, Talk'd of the honours of my future days." If he did not deceive himself, it was at this very early period of life when his imagination became susceptible of poetic associations. Speaking of the eagerness with which he left the usual sports of children to listen to tales of imaginary woe, and of the effect which they produced, he says, "Beloved moment! then 'twas first I caught Soon stored with much of legendary lore, To realms of light, and pierce the radiance there." The peculiar disposition of his mind having thus early developed itself, every succeeding day added to its force. Study and abstraction soon possessed greater charms for him than society or even food. His love of reading became the predominant passion; and the following anecdote shows how completely all others were mastered by it. "I could fancy," said his eldest sister, " I see him in his little chair with a large book upon his knee, and my mother calling, Henry, my love, come to dinner,' which was repeated so often without being regarded, that she was obliged to change the tone of her voice before she could rouse him." At the age of six he was placed under the care of the Rev. John Blanchard, who kept the best school in Nottingham, where he learnt writing, arithmetic, and French, and where he continued for several years. During that time two facts are recorded of him which prove the precocity of his talents. When about seven, he was accustomed to go secretly into his father's kitchen and teach the servant to read and write, and composed a tale of a Swiss emigrant, which he gave to her, being too diffident to show it to his mother. In his eleventh year he wrote a separate theme for each of the twelve or fourteen boys in his class; and the excellence of the various pieces obtained his master's particular applause. Henry was destined for his father's trade, and the efforts of his mother to change that intention were for some time fruitless. Whilst at school, one day in the week, and his leisure hours on the others, were employed in carrying meat to his father's customers. A dispute between his father and his master having caused him to be removed from school, one of the ushers, from malice or ignorance, told his mother that it was impossible to make her son do any thing. This information had nearly a fatal influence on his fortunes, for as might be expected, it weakened the arguments which his mother had urged to induce her husband to place Henry in a liberal profession. He who thus unfavourably reported on his qualifications, little knew that he had then given ample evidence of his talents in the shape of some poetical satires which his treatment at school provoked, but which in later years he destroyed. Soon after he quitted Mr. Blanchard's school he was entrusted to Mr. Shipley, who discovered his pupil's abilities, and relieved his friends' uneasiness on the subject. His earliest production which has been preserved was written in his |