010-17-29 Cross Gratton BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. It has happened to VINCENT BOURNE, in common with many other writers, that he is known chiefly by his works. Neither his birthplace nor his parentage is recorded in any notice of him by his contemporaries: an attempt to ascertain them from other sources would, at this distance of time, have little chance of being attended with success. It scarcely need be mentioned, that he received his education at Westminster. We find, from the list of the king's scholars, that he was admitted on the foundation in the year 1710, at the age of fifteen; and that he was, four years afterwards, elected a scholar to Trinity college, Cambridge, where, in due course of time, he succeeded to a fellowship. He took the degree of bachelor of arts in 1717, and that of master of arts in 1721. He afterwards became one of the ushers of Westminster school, in which situation he continued till the time of his death: this event took place on the 2nd of December, 1747. a vi BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Preferment in the church was offered him; but he declined, from scruples of conscience, taking upon himself the care of a parish. What his feelings were on this subject may be seen in a letter to his wife, which, with another to a young lady, is subjoined to this memoir. His merits as a Latin poet have never been called in question. To a natural flow of ideas, he adds a felicity and purity of diction almost unrivalled. His style is forcible without harshness, and graceful without affectation. By one who wishes to learn the art of expressing common subjects with propriety, perhaps no author can be studied with equal advantage. Cowper, whose disposition was, in many respects, congenial with that of Bourne, seems to have regarded him with no common affection. He has translated more than one of his Latin poems; and, in a letter addressed to a friend, bears ample testimony to his genius, while he throws some light on his character and habits. "I love," says he, "the memory of Vinny Bourne. I think him a better Latin poet than Tibullus, Propertius, Ausonius, or any of the writers in his way, except Ovid, and not at all inferior to him. I love him, too, with a love of partiality, because he was usher of the fifth form at Westminster, when I passed through it. He was so good-natured and so indolent, that I lost more than I got by him; for he made me as idle as himself. He was such a sloven, as if he had trusted to his genius as a cloak for every thing that could disgust you in his person; and, indeed, in his writings he has almost made amends for all. His humour is entirely original; he can speak of a magpie, or a cat, in terms so exquisitely appropriated to the character he draws, that one would suppose him animated by the spirit of the creature he describes. And with all his drollery, there is a mixture of rational, and even religious reflection, at times, and always an air of pleasantry, good-nature, and humanity, that makes him, in my mind, one of the most amiable writers in the world. It is not common to meet with an author who can make you smile, and yet at nobody's expense; who is always entertaining, and always harmless; and who, though always elegant and classical, to a degree not always found in the classics themselves, charms more by the simplicity and playfulness of his ideas, than by the neatness and purity of his verse." Dr. Beattie, after noticing that Boileau did not know that there were any good poets in England, till Addison made him a present of the Musæ Anglicanæ, remarks, that "those foreigners must entertain a high opinion of our pastoral poetry, who have seen the Latin translations of Vincent Bourne, particularly those of the ballads of Tweed-side, William and Margaret, and Rowe's Despairing beside a clear Stream, of which it is no compliment to say, that in sweetness of numbers, and elegant expression, they are at least equal to the originals, and scarce inferior to any thing in Ovid or Tibullus." Of the present edition it is sufficient to say, that it was undertaken from a conviction that it would be acceptable, as being the first that has been executed with any suitable degree of elegance. It is printed from the quarto, published in 1772, and has been carefully collated with the other editions, of which there are nine in number: the first, the only one that appeared in the lifetime of the author, was published in 1734. |