226] A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



his death, insomuch that it might be said he could scarcely per- 

 ceive the lapse of time except by the succession of the seasons: 



Far from the mad'ning crowd's ignoble strife, 



His sober wishes never learn'd to stray ; 

 Along the cool sequester'd vale of life 



He kept the noiseless tenor of his way. 



This quiescence of character and life may be thought enviable ; 

 but without greater activity than that of Fenton, we should never 

 have made those discoveries in arts and sciences, nor have arrived at 

 that high degree of refinement as a civilized community, which we 

 now possess. Yet in the solitary instance of Elijah Fenton, little 

 blame is imputable to the individual, for as he was in no ostensible 

 public capacity, his indolence could only be injurious to himself. 



His character as a friend and companion was highly praised by 

 Pope, his pupil the Earl of Orrery, and several other individuals 

 who were fully competent to form a just estimation of his merit. 



In his public character of poet, he must rank among the minor 

 bards. He has produced no original piece which entitles him to 

 stand in the same rank with such men as Milton, Shakspeare, 

 Dryden, Pope, Young, Otway, Rowe, Akenside, Gray, or Cowper; 

 but may be fairly classed with Gay, Prior, Collins, and many other 

 bards who have contributed to the amusement if not to the edifi- 

 cation of the reader. 



After the masterly critique of Dr. Johnson, that greatest of Eng- 

 lish critics and biographers, it would be ridiculous to enter into an 

 analysis of Fenton's original poems. " To examine his performances 

 one by one," says that energetic writer, " would be tedious. His 

 translation from Homer into blank verse will find few readers 

 while another can be had in rhyme. The piece addressed to Lam- 

 barde is no disagreeable specimen of epistolary poetry ; and his 

 Ode to Lord Gower was pronounced by Pope the next ode in the 

 English language to Dryden's Cecilia. Fenton may be justly 

 styled an excellent versifier and a good poet." 



JOHN ROBYNS. 



This learned mathematician seems to have been one of those writ- 

 ers, whose works are preserved rather as curiosities of literature than 

 for their intrinsic value. He was born in Staffordshire about the 

 close of the fifteenth century, and entered a student at Oxford in 



