540 
This beautiful part of Europe is 
separated from France by an extended 
chain of inaccessible mountains, and sur- 
rounded by the ocean on all sides. It 
owes to nature this doubie wall of water 
aud Jand; a strong defence against the 
covetous irruption of foreign nations. 
Spain, happy and rich in itself, nei- 
ther envies nor desires the aid of 
other countries. ‘Its situation is in a 
temperate climate, and its fields are 
beautifully fertilized. Divided. into 
mountains, valleys, and extensive plains, 
it appears to be thus distributed, in order 
to vary its productions. Watered by 
Memoirs of the late Richard Cumberland, esq. [July 1, 
mighty rivers, and many lesser ones 
they soften labour, enrich the soil, and 
correspond to the wishes of its inhabi- 
tants, providing them with abundance of 
necessaries. Neither the finest grain, 
the richest vines, nor the most delicate 
fruits are scarce ; 
establish reciprocal society, or the com- 
munication between the provinces, what« 
ever is wanting in one, is happily sup- 
plied by the other, The air is generally 
healthy, and breathed under a sky at most 
times serene and pure ; and disorders are 
seldom known in‘Spain unless they arise 
from excess.” 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS, 
Sa 
meEMoIRS of the tiFE of RICHARD 
CUMBERLAND, Esa. B.A. of cam- 
prince, L.L.D. of the uNtveRsiTy of 
puBLin, &c. &c. &c. 
T is no Jess true than melancholy, that 
the harvest of literature is rather se- 
ductive than profitable, and that the lives 
of men of letters generally exbibit either 
a sad series of great disasters, or an ill- 
omened catalogue of petty evils. Every 
other profession repays most of its vota- 
ries with bread, if not with affluence. 
All the liberal, and not a few even of the 
mechanical arts, hold out a prospect of 
successful exertion and advantageous in- 
dustry, The pursuits of divinity, law, 
and physic, enable multitudes not only 
to pass away their time in the sun-shine 
of prosperity, but also afford sufficient 
wealth to lay the foundations of family 
greatness, and either procure or trans- 
mit riches and honours on the part of 
themselves or posterity. But it is far 
otherwise with literature. Not to men- 
tion the fate of many ancient poets and 
philosophers, it cannot be recollected 
without emotion, that Dryden lived in 
indigence, and that Otway died in want, 
Advancing nearer to our own times, it 
must not be forgotton, that the earlier 
part of Johnson’s progress was spent in 
poverty, while the Jatter portion of Mur- 
phy’s did not remain unvisited by do- 
mestic calamities. It is melancholy also 
‘to reflect, that the name of the indivi- 
dual, who is the subject of the present 
article, will perhaps be added hereafter 
‘to the list of those who have deserved 
well of their country, without sharing its 
favours; that ‘he has contributed to, 
‘amuse, enlighten, and instruct the age 
in whieh he lived, without any adequate 
remuneration ; and that he is one of those 
whose fate ought to reflect a blush on the 
cheeks of theircontemporaries. 
While treating of the life of Mr. Cum- 
berland, it happens luckily for his biogra- 
phers, that they cannot justly complain 
of penury, in respect to materials: it is 
selection rather than abundance that is 
wanting. He passed upwards of half a 
century in public life, while his conversa- 
tion and person were familiar to many 
hundreds of those who passed the spring 
season at Tunbridge Wells, or spent the 
winter in the metropolis. For many 
years his merits were annually discussed 
by the public, either as a writer of a play, 
a novel, or a farce; he was known and 
distinguished as a man of taste;-the ear- 
lier portionofhis existence called forth and 
exhibited all the stores of profound liter- 
ature; during the latter, he attempted 
to excel in the more difficult station of a 
critic, and either in one shape or another, 
his name was constantly in the mouths of 
all those who possessed or affected a 
knowledge of the classical pursuits of the 
present age. Nor was he himself for- 
getful of his own fame. His life and 
adventures are consigned to posterity, in 
memoirs written by bis own pen, and he 
will live long in the memory of his friends 
and his family, who, although perhaps 
not best able on account of their par- 
tiality to estimate his merits, are assuredly 
the most competent judges of his private 
virtues, his domestic habits, and his so« 
cial converse. 
Richard Cumberland was born on the 
5th of February, O.S. 1752. He origi- 
nally sprung from a citizen of ape 
an 
and the better -to | 
1 
