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346 



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Richard- not appearing at the paper, he escaped the effects 

 son. o f a decision against some of the numbers which he 

 had printed. He was afterwards occupied in print- 

 ing the daily Journal, and subsequently the daily Ga- 

 getteer. His excellent character, and the friendship of 

 Mr. Speaker Onslow, procured him the lucrative em- 

 ployment of printing the Journals of the House of 

 Commons, of which he executed 26 volumes in folio. 

 Having been applied to by two booksellers, Mr. 

 Rivington and Mr. Osborne, to write for them a 

 volume of letters, he composed ibr them his " Fami- 

 liar Letters to and from several persons upon business 

 and other subjects. In drawing up that little work, 

 which appeared in 1741, he conceived the idea of con- 

 veying instructions in writing and acting on occasions 

 of importance, and of composing letters, with the view 

 of teaching young women, when leaving service, how 

 to avoid the snares laid for their chastity. These let- 

 ters he combined with a true story, and he is said to 

 have thus composed in less than three months, his 

 " Pamela," a novel, in 2 vols. which appeared in 1740, 

 and which was received with extraordinary applause. 

 In one year it went through five editions, and was 

 even recommended from the pulpit. Notwithstanding 

 this great popularity, however, it was loudly blamed 

 by many, for the direct indelicacy of many of its 

 scenes, and even for its general immoral tendency ; 

 and Dr. Watts, to whom Richardson had presented 

 the work, did not scruple to inform him that " he 

 understood the ladies complain they cannot read the 

 work without blushing." 



The great success of that novel produced a spurious 

 continuation of it, called " Pamela in High Life," 

 which induced Richardson to give a continuation of 

 his own work in two volumes, but it was in no respect 

 equal to the first, being more a defence of his first work 

 than a continuation of it. 



Encouraged by his great and unexpected success, he 

 brought out in 1 748 the two first volumes of his Cla- 

 rissa Harlow. This work stamped our author's fame 

 ss a novel writer, and excited an interest, during its 

 progressive appearance, which is not often taken in a 

 tale of fictitious sorrow. Rousseau avers, that nothing 

 was ever written either equal or approaching to it in 

 any language. It was translated into French by the 

 Abbe Prevost, and also by Le Tourneur; into Dutch 

 by Mr. Stinstre ; and into German, under the eye of 

 the illustrious Haller. 



Mr. Richardson was now desirous of giving his 

 readers an example of a perfect man, uniting the cha- 

 racter of the fine gentleman with that of a Christian. 

 Hence he was led to compose his " Sir Charles Gran- 

 dison," which appeared in 1753, and which was the 

 best work which he wrote. In this work, the charac- 

 ter of Clementina has been generally admired. Dr. 

 Warton observes, that he " knew not whether ever the 

 madness of Lear is wrought up and expressed by so 

 many little strokes of nature and passion. It is abso- 

 lute pedantry," he continues, " to prefer and compare 

 the madness of Orestes in Euripides, with that of Cle- 

 mentina." Notwithstanding this high praise, however, 

 it is admitted by Mrs. Barbauld that even this charac- 

 ter is over-wrought, and that our author never knew 

 when to stop, and had a tendency to tediousness and 

 prolixity in all his narratives. 



The success of these works, and the profits of-his 

 business, added wealth to our author's feme. In ITO'O, 

 he purchased half of the patent of Law Printer to his 

 Majesty, and carried on that part of the business in 



Richmond. 



conjunction with Miss Lintot, afterwards the wife of Rkhard- 

 Henry Fletcher, Esq. M.P. for Westmoreland. so g 



Richardson was twice married, and had several chil- 

 dren, but only four daughters grew up to comfort him 

 in his old age. His nerves, which were naturally 

 weak, were still farther debilitated by the lo^s of six 

 children, which at last brought on a paralytic disorder* 

 This disease terminated in an apoplexy, which carried 

 him off' on the 4th of July, t.76'l, in the 72d year of his 

 age. 



The character of Richardson seerns to have been 

 nearly as perfect .as any that he ever drew from his 

 imagination. He was plain and simple in his manner, 

 and so modest, that he never attempted to shine in so- 

 ciety. He was pious, virtuous, and benevolent, and 

 delighted in every opportunity of doing good to his 

 fellow creatures. In business he was regular and in- 

 dustrious, and left his family in easy circumstances. 



.Besides several minor productions, which are not 

 worthy of being even mentioned, Richardson wrota 

 No. 97, vol. ii. of the Rambler, which led Dr. John- 

 son to say in the preamble to it, to style him " an au- 

 thor, from whom the age has received greater favours, 

 who has enlarged the knowledge of human nature, and 

 taught the passions to move at the command of vir-. 

 tue." 



The correspondence of Samuel Richardson was pub- 

 lished in 1801, in six octavo volumes, enriched with an 

 excellent life of the author, and a criticism on hig 

 works, by Mrs. Barbauld. The letters seem to have 

 been most improperly published, and are said to sully 

 the reputation of Richardson as a writer. For a fuller 

 account of our author, see Chalmers' General Biogra- 

 phical Dictionary, vol. xxvi. p. 19 



RICHELIEU, ARMAND DU PLESSIS, a celebrated 

 Prime Minister of France, was born at Paris in 1585. 

 He was educated to the church, and was consecrated 

 Bishop of Lu9on at the age of 22.. He died in 16'42 at 

 the age of 58. A full account of his political life we 

 already have given in our article FRANCE, Vol. IX. 

 p- 591, 593, &c. He is said to be the author of th* 

 Testament Politirjrie, a work in favour of the Catholie 

 church. His " Letters," in 2 vols. 12mo., are said to 

 be interesting. 



RICHMAN, GEORGE WILLIAM, a well-known na- 

 tural philosopher, was born at Pernau in 1711. His 

 father was treasurer to the king of Sweden. He studied 

 at Revel, Halle, and Jena, and was elected a member 

 of the academy of St. Petersburgh in 1735. In 1741 

 he was chosen extraordinary professor of experimental 

 philosophy, and in 1745 ordinary professor. The new 

 science of electricity soon drew his particular notice j 

 but when engaged, on the 6th of August, 1753, in 

 drawing electricity from the clouds, he was struck dead 

 by the lightning which had entered his apparatus. 



An account of this interesting event has been fully 

 given in our article ELECTRICITY, Vol. VI II. p. 420. 



RICHMOND, a borough and market town of Eng- 

 land, in Yorkshire, is situated on a lofty eminence on 

 the banks of the river Swale, which winds in a semi- 

 circle round the town. The town, which is built on 

 the southern declivity of the hill, consists of several 

 well-built and well-paved streets, the houses of which 

 are chiefly of freestone. The public buildings are two 

 handsome churches, which are both collegiates, and a 

 good town hall. The market-place is spacious and ele- 

 gant, and surrounded with good houses. 



Richmond Castle, which is grand even in its ruins, 

 stands on the south side of the town overlooking the 

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