6S2 Retrospect of Domestic Literature — Biography. 



Valencia, and on his return to Madrid, 

 tlie deatli of his wife made him cndeiu- 

 voiir to difiipatc his melancholy by em- 

 barkini; in the Spaniih cxped"ition of 

 1588. During this cakniilous voyage, 

 in which he had the good fortune to 

 efcapc, he wrote his ' Ilermofnra de An- 

 frelica,' in continuation of AnoHo. On 

 his return in 1590, he married again, and 

 hecaiue belter known than ever for the 

 eafe and rapithry witli which his verfes 

 vere compofed. 'The lnfs of liis fecond 

 wife, and of his only ion, ab(jnt feveii 

 jears afterwards, appear to have throv\ n 

 » heavy siloom upon his mind ; and having 

 acted for a fliort pniod as under-fecrc- 

 tary to the Tnquifition, li« took orders, 

 and in 1C09 became a brother of St. 

 Francis. IIis ' Jernfalem Conqueftada,* 

 vas his next work of conffiicuous reputa- 

 tion : but the Plays and Epics wliich fuc- 

 cee^ded, form a multitude too numerous 

 for us to notice by their titles. A letter 

 from Pope thbaa the eighth, on the 

 ' Corona Trapica,' (a poem on the Queen 

 of Scots,) with tlic degree of Dottor in 

 Tlicologv, now confirmed his popularity : 

 and to uie Lord Holland's words * liis 

 poetry became as advantageous to his 

 fortune as his fame, lie was courted, 

 received, and rewarded every where ; but 

 his application of the funis he obtained, 

 partook too much of the fpirit of the na- 

 tion which bcftowcd them. Improvident 

 and indilcriminate charity ran away w ith 

 his gains ; and iciidercd his life unprofit- 

 able to his friends and uncomfortable to 

 himfclf. His poetical labours, however, 

 ■were continued to the clofe ot life; when 

 his devotional habits degenerated into me- 

 lancholy, and his cxiftence is fuppofcd to 

 liave been fliortciied in fome degree by 

 the voluntary difciplines to which he 

 made himfclf a victim. He died on the 

 20tli of Auguft, 1635. Such was Lope 

 de Vega ; whofc extraordinary genius 

 vas equalled by his vanity; and his pro- 

 fufion by his fupcrftiiion. Twenty-one 

 million three hundred thoufand of his 

 hnes arc fa d to have been |>riiitcd : and 

 eighteen hundred of his plays to have 

 been aftcd.' The critical examination of 

 Lope's works, is a fuljett too long and 

 interelting to be treated here To afford 

 a clear conception of his manner in dra- 

 matic coi.npolition, Lord Holland has 

 j;'ialv7.ed a play which he conceives to be 

 cue of t!ie btli among the voluminous re- 

 iiiains of his works. Lord Holland'* cri- 

 ticifms on the rell of his comijoiiiions are 

 «(ually impartial: but tliey are perhaps 

 of Icfs conl'ec^ucijce, as de \'cgti is jiovv 



cliiefly remembered in his own country 

 only as a dramatic writer. 



Mr. Wooll's " Biographical Memoirs 

 of Dr. JoJ'epk Wartun," have too much 

 the air of a profeffcd eulogium. A fmall 

 volume of facts, accompanied by a few 

 criticifms on his works, a felcftiim from 

 liis correfj)on(k'iice, and fome of the bell 

 i'pecimciis of his talent for poetry, was all 

 the public could expe(!'t concerning the 

 late mailer of VVincheiler fchool. But 

 we are here prefentcd with a quarto, at 

 the price of one pound feven (hillings. 



The " Mfiiwirs i>f Richard Cumber- 

 land^' compofe a very iiiterefting vo- 

 lume : here and there, perhaps, the 

 thread of the Rory is fpun out too long ; 

 !ind the anecdotes and characters of 

 contemporaries, piomifed in tlie title, 

 are not fo mimeroufly interfpirfed as wo 

 expected ; but tliey are the memoirs of 

 a man who has mixed with mankind, 

 and though he is now in the vale of 

 years, it niuft not be forgotten that lie 

 has written voiuminoully, and written 

 well. 



Mr. Cumberland ftates himfelf to be 

 dcfcended from anceftors ilhillrious for 

 their piety, benevolence, and erudition. 

 His great-grandfather, by the father's 

 fide, was ]3r. Richard Cumberland, 

 bilhop of Peterborough; his maternal 

 grandlalhcr, Dr. Beutley. Tlie latter, 

 he particularly (tates, was neitlier cyni- 

 cal, as fome have reprefented him, nor 

 ovcrbtaiing and faftidioiis in the degree 

 he lias been defcribed by many. JNIr. 

 Cumberland liimi'elf was born in tire 

 Mailer's Lodgings, at Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, on I'cbruary the 19th, \l'6i. 

 During tin- earlieft years of liis life, he 

 confelics himlelf hardly to have repaid 

 the patience of his teachers. The death 

 of Dr. Benfley, howevei-, became an era 

 in the hifiory of his mind and cliaraCler; 

 he was fuddenly diligent, and made his 

 talk liis delight, liis ear and his tal'te 

 for poetry, we find, were firll formed by 

 his mother, during the intervals fn)ni 

 fchool. Fr(mi the fchool at Bury, f.lr. 

 Cumberland was traufplanted to VVeR- 

 minder, and admitted under Dr. Ni- 

 chols ; whence in his fourteenth year he 

 was removed to the college, over which 

 his grandfather liad prefided, and where, 

 after a little loft time and an exhortation 

 from the iiiaftcr, he applied himfelf clofe- 

 ly to his academical fiudics. The exer- 

 cifes of the Cambridge fchools are de- 

 fcribed in a \ery formidable manner. Mr. 

 Cumberland's fludies, it lliould feein, were 

 too firoiig for his conftitutiun ; but he 



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