SONNET TO T. EDWARDS, ESQ.

By Miss Highmore.-1749.

Edwards, to thee my grateful thanks are due ;—
In numbers like thy own I fain would praise
Thy kind indulgence to my humble lays:-
By thee encourag'd and instructed too,
The lure of poesy I now pursue,

But dare not even hope my song to raise

Equal to thine, whose every verse conveys Sense, strength, and harmony, and judgment true. But that thy candour,-modest,-gentle bard, I know is equal to thy power in song,

Or with a muse so weak, so young as mine, I should not on presumptuous wings have dar'd To imitate, with my unhallow'd tongue,

Numbers like Spenser's, Milton's, or like thine.

Translations from the Italian, by Mrs. Duncombe.

Sonnet from Petrarch.

Alone and pensive, through deserted meads,
Slowly, with measur'd steps, I wand'ring go,
My eyes intent to shun each path that leads
Where printed sands the human footstep show.
No other refuge left, but in despair

To shun the world's discernment I retire,
Since now in pleasure's train no part I bear,
My outward mien betrays my inward fire.

Methinks, henceforth the mountains, groves and plains,
And rivers, know my melancholy mind,
But only these, to all beside untold;
And yet what savage track unsought remains,
However rude, but Love my haunt will find,
And he and I alternate converse hold?

Sonnet of Faustina Maratti Zappi, to a Lady, with whom she supposes her husband to have been formerly in love.

O nymph! whose pow'rful charms his heart could gain, Whom I desire with duteous love to please;

Thy praise he still resounds in every strain,

Thy air, thy form, thy wit, and graceful ease.
Tell me, if e'er by thy kind voice address'd
Silent was he, or could unmov'd appear?
Were looks perturb'd and proud to thee address'd,
Such looks as force from me the frequent tear?
Alas! I've heard, in former times his eyes,
Kindled by thine, his ardent flame reveal'd;
And then-but thy averted face I see,

And conscious blushes on thy cheeks arise;-
O speak! Ah! no;-thy lips, by silence seal'd,
Must ne'er confess his heart attach'd to thee!

WILLIAM JACKSON.

BORN 1757.—Died 1789.

"Endowed with a clear apprehension, an accurate discernment, and with a memory uncommonly tenacious; and having enriched the gifts of nature by continued application;—he was distinguished as a polite scholar and a judicious critic. By an exemplary uniformity of conduct, he deserved and possessed the character of a good Man, a good Citizen, and a gool Christian; being both in principle and practice, eminently just and sincere. A most affec tionate and dutiful Son ; a warm, steady, and disinterested Friend; a promoter of every useful work, and of every pious and humane institution; a patron of indigent merit; an adviser and comforter of the distressed. Benevolent in heart, and charitable in practice, to the full extent of that affluence with which Providence had blessed him. A punctual, conscientious, and unaffected performer of his religious duties; and while,-by the discharge of the many beneficent offices which these various characters imposed upon kim, he commanded universal respect-by the sweetness of his temper; the urbanity of his manners, and the unclouded serenity of his mind, the hearts and affections of all who knew him well, were so imperceptibly engaged, that he became the peculiar object of their love and veneration, and the constant theme of their praise ; —the general favourite, and the general friend, of the society in which he lived."

(Monument in St. Mildred's Church, Canterbury.)

Such is the exalted character which the hand of friendship has engraved upon the tomb of this very amiable man; all that we have been able to find relating to him in other sources of information, and the oral testimony of his survivors, warrants us in saying that he deserved it. In his native city, where his short and exemplary life was spent, the name of William Jackson is yet associated with ideas of every grace and virtue that adorns and dignifies human nature.

The events of his life, as far as we are informed, were few, and may be related in the compass of one short paragraph.

He was the son of John Jackson, Esq. Collector of the Excise, and an Alderman of Canterbury, and was educated at the King's School, in that city, under the care of Dr. Beauvoir, an excellent man and an elegant scholar. He left this school at the age of nineteen years, but did not pass any time at either of the universities. Being an only son, and having the prospect of enjoying a respectable fortune, his parents did not consider it necessary for him to devote himself to any regular profession; no doubt he assisted his father in the duties of his office, but his time appears to have been in a great measure at his own disposal, and contrary to the general practice of unemployed young men, he dedicated it to worthy and beneficial purposes. The City of Canterbury has been at all times remarkable for the intelligence and high character of its inhabitants, and for the valuable society it has consequently afforded. For this it is indebted to the circumstance of its being the residence of a large community of dignified clergymen, and to the number of opulent and respectable families which have their mansions in its vicinity. It was the good fortune of William Jackson to be introduced at an early period of his life to this society, and from being the pupil-for he obtained this advantage when a school boy-he lived just long enough to become its most distinguished ornament. But he was in a still greater degree indebted to the intimate friendship he formed with the exemplary subjects of our last article, which undoubtedly tended to confirm him in the love of literature, and the steady practice of social

virtue; in Mr. Duncombe and his amiable and accomplished wife, he found congenial souls, and they were of an age to convey in the purest and most imperceptible manner, the influence of their example to the mind of a ductile and ingenuous youth. Several beautiful specimens of his composition, now before us, serve to prove the direction they gave to his literary pursuits. Following the steps of his friend, Mr. Jackson contributed occasionally to the Gentleman's Magazine, and to the poetical and topographical publications of Mr. Nichols; and after the death of Mr. Duncombe, he for a short time conducted the reviewer's department of that miscellany. With him literature was certainly only an amusement, but there is every reason to presume that had his life been extended, it would eventually have engrossed the greater part of his time, and have placed him in a respectable rank among the writers of his country. William Jackson was, however, not the pedantic sloven so well described by Dr. Hawkesworth, but on the contrary he delighted in the society of women, frequented places of public amusement, and was neat and punctilious in his exterior, perhaps to a fault; whilst his countenance was remarkably prepossessing, and expressive of a mild benignity, which rendered it quite an index to his heart. He died, after a few day's illness, in consequence of a hurt he received in riding, on the 17th of April, 1789, in the 32d year of his age.

The following characters of Mr. Jackson are extracted from the 8th volume of "Literary Anecdotes,"

*See page 227.