THE POETICAL WORKS OF CRABBE, HEBER, AND POLLOK, COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. PHILADELPHIA: LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO., SUCCESSORS ΤΟ GRIGG, ELLIOT & CO., No. 14, NORTH FOURTH STREET. Memoir of the Rev. George Crabbe. Ir the humorous observation of Addison were founded in fact, that a reader seldom peruses a book with pleasure "till he knows whether the writer of it be a black or fair man-of a mild or choleric disposition,-with other particulars of the like nature,"-we should be in a state of some apprehension, since the Rev. George Crabbe, the celebrated author of the poems a new edition of which we here present to the public, has, from the modesty and retiredness of his life, furnished but few biographical particulars to be developed to an admiring world. Unlike so many others of his genus, he never intermeddled in the turmoils of politics, or mingled in the intrigues of fashion. He was, in his manners and feelings, a child of nature; though a savant in her dispositions and her laws. Contented with keeping the "noiseless tenor of his way," with the approbation of his conscience and the approval of his God,-he was willing to allow some to be the idol of the factious, and others to fawn at the footstool of power;— satisfied himself with being admired as a poetrevered as a divine,-and respected as a man. Our poet was born at Aldborough, on the coast of Suffolk, England, on the Christmas eve of 1754. His father held the station of salt-master, or collector of the salt duties, and was a man of strong intellect, vigorous habits of business, and a remarkable faculty of calculation. Early in his boyhood, as soon, indeed, as he had learned to read, young Crabbe manifested a strong inclination towards books of all kinds; and he perused with eagerness every thing that came within his reach, especially if it were a work of fiction and romance, or treated of witches, fairies, and ghosts. But he particularly delighted in verse, and began at a very early period to imitate the humble specimens of poetry which were then accessible to him. His father observed this bookish disposition, and although he had no higher views for the boy than that of following his own example, and being employed in some inferior department of the revcnue service, he resolved to send George to a school at Bungay, on the borders of Norfolk.Here he remained for a short time, and was then removed to a school at Stowmarket, kept by a skilful mathematician named Haddon. The boy 1 * himself had a predilection, as well as his father for mathematics; and he made considerable proficiency in the pursuit. After leaving this latter school, George was placed as a surgeon's apprentice at WickhamBrook; but as this situation was not a very desirable one, he left it, and concluded his apprenticeship with a Mr. Page, surgeon at Woodbridge, a market-town about seventeen miles from Aldborough. Here he met with society congenial to his own disposition, and was by this means introduced to Miss Sarah Elmy, who afterwards became his wife. Notwithstanding that he here applied himself with energy to the studies necessary to a knowledge of his intended profession, he was often beguiled into the more flowery fields of poesy, and contributed numerous pieces to the Lady's Magazine, a periodical of some repute at that period. About the end of the year 1775, Mr. Crabbe's term of apprenticeship expired, and he returned to his native village, with the hope of finding means of finishing his professional education in London. But his father's circumstances did not permit the necessary expenditure, and the youthful aspirant was compelled to labour in the drudgery of the public warehouse wherein his parent's duties were performed. This was in the highest degree unpleasant to young Crabbe; and the irksomeness of his situation was increased by an unhappy change in the habits of his father, who had become a politician, a tavern-haunter, and a domestic tyrant. Mr. Crabbe, at this period, devoted such leisure time as was at his disposal, to the study of botany, and the advancement of his professional knowledge; and if he still dallied with the muses, it was with the persuasion that this was not his main pursuit in the progress of life. At length, however, his father was able to afford some slight assistance, and the son journeyed to London with the view of walking the hospitals and profiting by the medical lectures. He remained in the metropolis about eight or ten months; but his means were inadequate to an effectual participa tion in the advantages which such a residence ordinarily affords to the student of medicine; and |