THE LIFE OF GRAINGER. JAMES GRAINGER was born at Dunfe in Berwickshire, in 1724. He was the fon of John Grainger, Efq. of Houghton-Hall, in the county of Cumberland; who, in confequence of fome unfuccefsful fpeculations in mining, was obliged to fell his eftate; and having obtained an appointment in the Excife, fettled at Dunse. His father dying while he was young, the care of his education was kindly undertaken by his elder brother, by a former marriage, Mr. William Grainger of Wariston, a writing-master in Edinburgh, and afterwards a clerk in the office of the Comptroller of Excife, who placed him at the school of North Berwick, under the tuition of Mr James Rae, formerly one of the masters of the High School in Edinburgh, a teacher of eminent learning and abilities. In a copy of his tranflation of Tibullus, now lying before the prefent writer, by the favour of Mrs. Grainger, his brother's relict, is the following acknowledgment of his gratis de, in his own handwriting: "To Mr. Grainger of Wariston (to whom the public is chiefly indebted for aught that can be found praife-worthy in the following tranflation of libullus), from his affectionate brother, and humble fervant, &c." After the ordinary course of education, he was put apprentice to Mr. George Lauder, furgeon in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the medical claffes in the University. He then went into the army, and was furgeon in Pulteney's Regiment, at the battle of Falkirk, in 1745, and afterwards ferved on the continent. A military man, even in the most active campaign, has many hours of leifure; and as these cannot be spent more rationally than in fome literary purfuit, he employed that part of his time, which was not devoted to his profeffion, in perusing the claffics. Upon his quitting the army, after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Phylic and fettled as a Physician in London; where his tafte for polite literature procured him the acquaintance of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Percy, Shepstone, Dodsley, Armstrong, and other men of wit and learning. His first publication was his fine Ode on Solitude, printed in the 4th volume of DodЛley's " Collec tion." 1755, which completely established his poetical reputation. Some time afterwards, he became tutor to John Bourryau, Efq. with a falary of 2001. a year. In 1759, he published his Poetical translation of the Elegies of Tibullus, and of the Poems of Sulpicia, with the original text, and notes critical and e planatory, in 2 vols. 12mo, which was begun and come. pleted, feveral years before, when he was in the army. In the Dedication to his pupil, he obferves, "that it ferved to make many of his hours pafs agreeably, which otherwife would have been extremely irkfome, amid the din of arms and hurry of a camp life." "A pleasing employment," he observes in the Advertisement, " is feldom neglected. Those elegies which particularly touched him, were first rendered into English; and as thefe make the greater part of Tibullus's Poems, ha was contented afterwards to complete the work, by finishing as a task "A favourite author," he adds, " on whom fome labour has been bestowed, is not easily forgotten; the version therefore was retouched as often as opportunity ferved. All this while, indeed, the translator had no intention of making the public acquainted with his poetical amusements; he knew his poet too well, and admired him too much, to think he had done him juftice; yet when Mr. Dart's tranflation of Tibullus was fent him, he was refolved to publish his own, that those who did not understand the original, might not form an idea of the most exact, elegant, and harmonious of the Roman elegiac poets, from the most inaccurate, har fh, and inelegant verfion of the prefent century." In the beginning of the year following, he published A Letter to Tobias Smollet, M. D. occafioned by bis criticism upon a late tranflation of Tibullus, by Dr. Grainger, 8vo. The criticism imputed by his letter to Smollet, is in the “ Critical Review" for December 1758 He obferves, that the Editors of the "Critical Review," in the plan of their work, folemnly promised the public," that they would revive the true spirit of criticism; that they would never condemn or extol without having first carefully perufed the performance; that they would never act under the influence of connection or prejudice; that they would not venture to criticise a tranflation without understanding the original; that they would never invidiously wrest the sense, or mifinterpret the meaning of any author; that they would never, without reluctance, difapprove even of a bad writer, who had the leaft title to indulgence; and they would not exhibit a partial and unfair assemblage of the blemishes of any production" Thefe promises he proves to have been broken in every particular, by feveral examples, principally taken from the criticism on his version of Tibullus. The fame year, according to the information of Mrs, Grainger, he accompanied his pupil to the Weft-Indies, and fettled at Baffeterre in the island of St. Chriftopher, where he married Miss Burt, fifter of William Matthew Burt, Efq. governor of that island, and practifed phyfic with great reputation and fuccefs. Here he began and finished his poem on the culture of the Sugar Cane, which he published in four books, with notes, 4to. 1764. Sometime before the publication of his Poem, he revisited England, and submitted the manufcript to the correction of his literary friends Dr. Johnson, Dr. Percy, &c. whofe names are affectionately commemorated in the work. Mr. Bofwell, the biographer of Dr. Johnfon, relates, that the Sugar Cane, when read in manufcript at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, made all the affembled wits burst into a laugh, when, after much blank verfe pomp, the poet began a new paragraph thus: Now, mufe, let's sing of rats. And what increased the ridicule was, that one of the company, who flily overlooked the reader, perceived that the word had been originally mice, and had been altered to rats as more dignified. Of this little laughable incident, which has been often related, and for which there is no founda tion in the printed poem, Dr. Percy, the present bishop of Dromore, who was his intimate friend, and has a particular regard to his memory, communicated to Mr. Bofwell the following explanation. "The passage in queftion was originally not liable to fuch a perverfion; for the author having occafion in that part of his work to mention the havock made by rats and mice, had introduced the fubject in a kind of mock heroic, and a parody of Homer's battle of the Frogs and Mice, invoking the mufe of the old Grecian bard, in an elegant and well turned manner. In that state, I had seen it; but afterwards, unknown to me and other friends, he had been perfuaded, contrary to his own better judgment, to alter it, fo as to produce the unlucky effect abovementioned." To the friendship of Grainger, Dr. Percy acknowledges that he owed the beautiful ballad of Bryan and Pereene, founded on a real fact that happened in the island of St. Chriftopher, printed in the first volume of his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," 1764. He did not long furvive the publication of The Sugar Cane; but died at Baffeterre in the island of St. Chriftopher, much honoured and lamented, December 16. 1767, in the 434 year of his age. By his wife, who, it is believed, is yet living, he left two daughters, Agues and Helen, one of whom is fince dead. His Translation of Tibullus and The Sugar Cane, have not been reprinted, though highly deferving of republication, The Sugar Cane, Ode on Solitude, and Bryan and Pereene, are now, for the first time, received into a Collection of Claffical English Poetry. Dr. Percy gives this character of Grainger : " He was not only a man of genius and learning, but had many excellent virtues, being one of the moft generous, friendly, and benevolent inen I ever knew." According to Mr. Bofwell," Dr. Johnson faid, that Grainger was an agreeable man; a man who would do any good that was in his power. His Tranflation of Tibullus he thought was very well done; but the Sugar Cane did not please him; for he said, what could he make of a sugar cane? one might as well write the "Parfley Bed," a poem, or the Cabbage-Garden," a poem." As a poet, his Sugar Cane, notwithstanding the ridicule thrown upon the subject of it by Dr. Johnson, entitles him to rank with Philips, Dyer, and other distinguished writers of didactic poetry in our language. In this useful and entertaining poem, the most languid reader will find his paffions excited, and the imagination indulged to the highest pitch of luxury. A new creation is offered, of which a European has fcarce any conception; the hurricane, the burning winds, a ripe cane-piece on fire at midnight, an Indian profpect after a finished crop, and nature in all the extremes of tropic exuberance. The firft book of this original performance treats of the cultivation of the sugar cane, and of the genus and qualities of the different foils in which the plant will generally grow. In propofing the fubject, and throughout the whole poem, he keeps Virgil in his eye; nor fhould this be objected to him as a fault, fince it was not an easy task to reconcile the wild imagery of an Indian picture to the trict rules of critical exactness. This, notwithstanding the difficulty of the undertaking, he has happily effected; and though he treads upon unclaffic ground, yet maintains a claffical regularity. After describing the foils proper for the cultivation of the canes, he finds an easy opportunity of introducing a description of St. Christopher, the place of his refidence; which, in Shakspeare's words, may be justly styled "A precious ftone fet in the filver fea." On mentioning Jamaica, he naturally falls into a panegyric on Columbus-beast of Science, boast of man! The description of a Caribbean shower is extremely poetical; excepting an image at the beginning, which is rather low. The character of a good planter is beautifully described, and reminds us of Virgil's defeription of the pleasures of an husbandman, O felices nimium bona fi fua norint agricola. The Second book treats of thofe external evils to which the cane is subject, fuch as the depredadations of monkies, rats, and other vermin; of weeds, of the different fpecies of flies that infest it; of blafts and hurricanes. The last are dreadful even in imagination. The description of an earthquake is no less dreadfully juft. The book concludes with a very tender story of two lovers, which may be more acceptable to the generality of readers, than any precepts of cultivation contained in the poem. The cane-harvest, and the procefs of fugar-boiling, make the subject of the third book. Every poetical circumftance that attends thefe is artfully introduced; and much philosophical, chemical, and medical knowledge is displayed. The lovers of good liquor will not be displeased with the digreffion in praise of beart-recruiting Rum, which is formed of the skimmings of fugar. The WestIndian profpect, after the crop is finished, is perfectly poetical and picturesque. The whole passage is delightfully melodious, and not a little recommended by the novelty of the scenery. The fubject of the fourth book is the management of negroes; in treating of which, he gives no lefs agreeable proofs of his humanity than his poetry. In the paffage beginning Yet, planter, let bumanity prevail, he pathetically pleads in favour of thefe poor wretches, and the LIBERTIES OF MAN KIND. Oh, did the tender mufe poffefs the power |