The foregoing Memoir is chiefly composed of the narrative in Marshall's Royal Naval Biography, and a description of some valuable traits in the noble lord's character with which we have been favoured by a distinguished individual, who enjoyed ample opportunities of observing them. 15 HEN No. II. THE REV. HENRY KETT, B. D. ENRY KETT was born at Norwich, in the year 1761, and received his education at the grammar-school in that city, under the Rev. Mr. Lemon. Although not a professed pupil to the celebrated Dr. Parr, for some time master of that school, he has been often heard to acknowledge his obligations to that gentleman, who furnished him with instructions for the direction of his classical studies; and how well he profited by these, the concurrent testimony of the first scholars in the university to which he belonged will evince. In 1777, at the age of sixteen, he was admitted a commoner of Trinity College, Oxford, and was chosen scholar the following year. About the time that Mr. Kett took his bachelor's degree, Trinity College was distinguished by several young men of talents and learning, among whom may be enumerated Benwell, Headly, Bowles, and Dallaway, all since well known by their publications, particularly Mr. Bowles, one of the most admired poets of his age. Mr. Warton was senior fellow, and with his usual affability and attachment to young men of promise and merit, soon distinguished Mr. Kett, and favoured him with his particular regard, which continued without diminution until the period of his lamented death; and we have some reason for thinking that Mr. Kett was not regardless of the posthumous fame of his friend, but that he contributed a well-written, though brief, life of him, to the Biographical Dictionary. Mr. Kett took the degree of A. M. November 26th, 1783; soon after which he was elected fellow, and appointed one of the college tutors. Among some of his first pupils he numbered the present Duke of Beaufort, and his next brother Lord Charles Somerset, to whom he paid unremitting attention the whole time they were under his care; nor in the discharge of the important duties of his office, have we ever heard of an instance in which he did not unite the character of friend with that of tutor, and make himself as much beloved by his affectionate concern for the interests of those committed to his charge, as he was respected by them for his superior endowments. He very early commenced his theological studies, nor did he give them up on taking orders, as is too commonly the case, but pursued them with increasing ardour; the effect of a real attachment to his profession. In consequence of the fame he had acquired in this respect, he was appointed Bampton lecturer in 1790, we believe at an earlier age than usual; and the University had no reason to be sorry for their choice. "His sermons (to use the words of a respectable critic,) are intended to support the orthodox system of doctrine maintained by our established church, against the insinuations or direct attacks of Dr. Middleton, Mr. Gibbon, and Dr. Priestley. His labours commence with an apology for the fathers of the church, whose characters as historians, as learned men, and as faithful depositaries of the true doctrine of the gospel, he defends with great zeal and animation. In opposition to the animadversions of Mr. Gibbon, he vindicates the apologies of the primitive Christians, and corrects the misrepresentations which Mr. G. had given of the causes which contributed to the propagation of the Christian faith, Mr Kett afterwards undertakes to discuss and refute the leading principles in Dr. Priestley's History of the early opinions concerning Christ. The concluding sermons of the volume are employed in establishing the authenticity and inspiration of the books of the New Testament, and in tracing an analogy between the primitive church and the church of England, on which he bestows a warm and elegant eulogy. From the perusal of these sermons we have received a high degree of pleasure, although we have frequently found ourselves obliged to differ from the learned author in his construction of the sense of ecclesiastical history in his reasonings and deductions. We think him, however, entitled to very respectful attention, from the unquestionable marks of learning and ingenuity which he discovers, which are likewise recommended by great manliness, perspicuity, and elegance of style." "His sermon on the earliest martyrs of the Christian church is written (say the critical reviewers) in a style of eloquence which we have seldom seen surpassed;" and the learned and pious Mr. Jones, well known by his numerous theological and philosophical works, in his Life of Bishop Horne, commends Mr. Kett "for his very useful and learned Bampton Lectures." But it was not only in the defence of the doctrines of Christianity that Mr. Kett distinguished himself; he was equally solicitous to show that their precepts influenced his practice. About the period of his being Bampton Lecturer, he exerted himself, in conjunction with other friends, in rescuing Dr. John Uri, a native of Hungary, one of the best oriental scholars in Europe, from indigence and distress. This gentleman had been sent for from the University of Leyden to Oxford, and had been employed, during the vigour of his faculties, in taking a catalogue of the oriental manuscripts in the Bodleian library; but growing infirm and old, without relations or friends in his own country, he was discharged by the delegates of the press. By the benevolent interference, however, of Mr. Kett, Mr. Agutter, (now Secretary of the Asylum), Mr. Smith, (afterwards Master of Pembroke College), and Dr. Parr, a handsome subscription was raised for his support; and the venerable scholar was placed in a situation of comfort in Oxford, where he passed the remaining part of his life. In the year 1787, we find Mr. Kett engaged with Mr. Munro, formerly of Magdalen College, and Dr. Horne, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, in a periodical publication, under the title of Olla Podrida, to which several other distinguished scholars contributed. Their essays were re-published in a collected form, and are replete with humour, good sense, and acute observation. In 1793 he published a small collection of "Juvenile Poems," stating "most of the verses in this collection have appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine." However meritorious these trifles of his muse appear, the author was afterwards very desirous to suppress them, and so sedulous to effect that intention, as to increase the value of this little volume above the usual proportion of modern publications. When the poems first appeared, the playful muse of Mr. Thomas Warton supplied the following epigram : "Our Kett not a poet! Why how can you say so? I'm sure he's a Naso." * On the 13th of July, 1793, Mr. Kett took the degree of B. D.; and in October he was a candidate for the Poetry Professorship against the Rev. James Hurdis, Fellow of Magdalen, but lost his election by a majority of 20, polling 181 against 201. Alarmed at the rapid progress of infidelity, and wishing to awaken in the minds of the public a due sense of the importance of religious truth, by the most striking arguments, derived from the divine predictions, in the year 1798 Mr. Kett published "History, the Interpreter of Prophecy; or, a View of Scriptural Prophecies, and their Accomplishment in the past and present Occurrences of the World." This work is written in a popular style, displays the most extensive reading and observation, and met with the approbation of persons of the first eminence for piety, judgment, and erudition. Dr. Tomline, the present Bishop of Winchester, in his Elements of Christian Theology, called it "a very interesting work, penned with great judgment, and which he recommends to all who are desirous of becoming acquainted with the prophecies of the Old and New Testament, especially those which relate to the present times." Vol. ii. p. 61. But the See Mr. Kett's characteristic portrait by Dighton, entitled, "A View from Trinity College," which is no unfavorable likeness of this amiable man. |