It was his good fortune to have for a pupil Mr. William Pitt, whom he instructed in mathematics, and whose proficiency did honour to the tutor as well as to himself. When that gentleman came into the zenith of power, he did not prove forgetful of his college instructor; but knowing his aptitude for business and skill in calculation, took him to be his private secretary. Church preferments were not long from pouring in upon one who had the choicest within his reach. The valuable rectory of Sudbury, with the chapel of Orford in Suffolk, were first obtained, and then a prebendal stall in the church of St. Peter, Westminster, to which on the translation of Dr. Thurlow to the see of Durham in 1787, were added the bishopric of Lincoln, and the deanry of St. Paul's. While his lordship was private secretary to the exminister, he was exposed to the attacks of several satyrists, none of which were so severe as those of the author of the work entitled "Probationary Odes for the vacant Laureatship." In them the doctor is handled most unmercifully, being represented as a man destitute of all regard for truth. This description we cannot reprobate too strongly, for the character of the bishop has ever been most irreproachable for integrity. There is likewise an urbanity in his manner, very different from the courtly stiffness of ministerial se cretaries. As a bishop he governs his diocese in a most exemplary manner, being vigilant, impartial, and compassionate. The inferior clergy have received abun dant dant and substantial instances of his attention and benevolence. The beneficed clergy have been called on and encouraged to residence. A minute inspection has been taken of the whole see; and, stimulated by their diocesan, the clergy have exerted themselves with effect in discountenancing vice and profaneness, in promoting charity-schools, and in counteracting avhat is termed the intrusive zeal of enthusiasts. This, however, has occasioned some clamour, and the cry of persecution has been raised, because the associated clergy of the diocese of Lincoln have reported the designs and progress of the sectaries, and their own endeavours to repress them. No prosecutions have been adopted, nor any attempt made, we believe, to arm the secular power against itinerants; but the clergy have taken upon them to watch their proceedings, to caution their own flocks against deceivers, to encourage them in an adherence to the church, and to advance all this the more effectually, they have resolved to labour with zeal in the discharge of their parochial duties. Thus that which once was alleged as a cause of the increase of methodism, the indolence of the established clergy, would now it seems be more acceptable to the partizans of that sect, than a diligent discharge of the clerical office. The Bishop of Lincoln has published some single sermons preached on public occasions, the most remarkable of which is that delivered at St. Paul's before the King and both Houses of Parliament, in the year 1796, on the day of thanksgiving for the success of his Majesty's flects. That discourse is animated and even pathetic. There is a glow of devotion running through it which is calculated to warm the heart, and the style is simple and perspicuous. But as an author, Dr. Prettyman will derive credit chiefly from his Elements of Christian Theology, in two volumes 8vo. printed first in 1799. This work is professedly coinpiled for the use of students in divinity, but it is also well calculated for the benefit of private Christians and families. In the first volume is given a clear and well-arranged view of the books of the Old and New Testament, with the proofs of their divine authority. It is observable, that though this work exhibits a strong vein of orthodoxy, yet the right reverend Author speaks unfavourably of the Athanasian Creed, not on account of the doctrine it contains, but for the damnatory clauses of that celebrated confession. The Bishop's clementary book has been keenly attacked by Mr. William Frend, in a series of letters to the author. Mr. Frend, however, it ought to be observed, treats his lordship with great respect, and passes many encomiums upon his learning, integrity, and piety. The Elements of Christian Theology" have been received with just approbation by the public, and we believe that the work is become a kind of textbook in one of our universities at least. An abridgment of it has also appeared in one volume duodecimo. MRS. MRS. COWLEY. THERE needed not the charming epic poem of "The Siege of Acre" to entitle the subject of this sketch to a distinguished station in the temple of Fame; neither did it require additional evidence to evince that proud pre-eminence which, in all the varieties of excellence produced by the pen, the pencil, or the lyre, the ladies of Great Britain have attained over their contemporaries in almost every other country in Europe. Mrs. Cowley is the daughter of the late Mr. Parkhouse, of Tiverton in Devonshire, a gentleman universally respected and esteemed, and equally caressed for his learning and probity, as well as a peculiar flow of humour with which his conversation was enlivened. In addition to these qualifications he possessed all that classical literature which entitled him to the reputation of being an excellent scholar., With such a parent, it will neither appear extraordinary that this lady should be enriched with those talents by which she is distinguished, nor that such talents should have been highly cultivated and improved. The cares of the father were not improperly bestowed; it was his paternal kindness that ⚫ Mrs. Cowley's genius may be said in some respects to have been hereditary. Mr. Parkhouse's mother was a lady of Barnstaple, and first cousin to the poet Gay, with whom she was so great a favourite, that this celebrated bard passed much of his time at her house. first awakened the lyre of the daughter's Muse, and the following dedication to the poem, entitled "The Maid of Arragon," deserves to be recorded as breathing at once the artless strains of filial gratitude and sensibility, and the warm effusions of youthful genius: "Accept, dear parent! from a filial pen, The humble offering of my pensive Muse; The rightful patron of th' eventful tale, My soul she search'd to find Osmeda's thoughts, Yours then the meed-if meed kind Fame will grant ; You gave my youthful fancy wings to soar, Its music in your ear will sweetly sound; Its page with fond delight you'll traverse o'er: With half your pleasure may the world peruse! My Muse, my vanity can ask no more. Dear other parent! guiltless hold my heart, Though unadorn'd my numbers with your name: And these shall perish only with my frame." The fame of his daughter's mental excellence did indeed in his ears "sweetly sound:" it was the constant theme of his discourse, the joy and pride of his heart to the last hour of his life. 1 Mrs. Cowley's first dramatic coup d'essai was the comedy |