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106

No. V.

MR. ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.

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IF

ever there was an instance of poetical genius triumphing over every possible disadvantage and difficulty, it was in the case of the amiable, but eventually unfortunate subject of the present memoir. We are not aware that our annals afford any precedent of a writer doing so much, with so little assistance from art or accident. Dodsley, though once in a menial capacity, had subsequently an opportunity of cultivating his talents by an association with the wits of his age; Bruce, the son of a poor weaver, and Burns, himself a ploughman, were born and lived in a country, in which poverty is little or no bar to the acquisition of learning; the education of Chatterton was not wholly neglected; and Falconer, who, as it is believed, was bred a common sailor, must evidently have had friends who attended to his earlier years. But of Robert Bloomfield, whose name posterity will rank with some of those we have mentioned, the following is the simple and concise history:—

He was born the third of December, 1766, and was the youngest child of George Bloomfield, a taylor, at Honington, a village between Euston and Troston, about eight miles N.E. of Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk. Robert lost his father when he was about six months old. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Manby, was a pious and exemplary woman. She was the village schoolmistress, and instructed her own children with the others. Little Robert thus learned to read as soon as he learned to speak. As his mother, though left a widow with six small children, was desirous, with the assistance of friends, to give each of them some edu

cation beyond what she herself was capable of imparting, Robert was sent to a very worthy man, a Mr. Rodwell, of Ixworth, a neighbouring village, to be improved in writing. At Mr. Rodwell's school, however, he did not attend for more than two or three months; nor was he ever at any other; his mother, when he was about seven years old, marrying a second husband, John Glover, by whom she had another family.

When Robert was not above eleven years of age, his uncle by marriage, in other words, his mother's sister's husband, a farmer of Sapiston, (a village adjoining Honington,) of the name of William Austin, took him into his house; by which means Robert's mother was relieved of any other expence than that of finding him a few things to wear. Even that,

however, was more than she well knew how to accomplish. She wrote therefore to her sons, George and Nathaniel, then journeymen shoemakers, in London, to assist her; mentioning that their brother Robert was so small of his age, that Mr. Austin said it was not likely he would ever be able to earn his living by hard labour. George, the elder of the brothers, replied, that if his mother would let him take the boy, he would give him board and lodging, and teach him to make shoes; and Nathaniel promised to clothe him. Upon this offer, the mother removed him from Mr. Austin's on the 29th of June, 1781, and accompanied him to London; observing, that she should never be happy if she did not herself put him into his brother's hands. She charged her son George, as he valued a mother's blessing, to watch over his little brother, to set him a good example, and never to forget that he had lost his father; a solemn and pathetic adjuration, which seems to have been most religiously attended to. The personal appearance of Robert at this time, is thus pleasingly and affectionately described by his brother:

"I have him in my mind's eye, a little boy, not bigger than boys generally are at twelve years old. When I met

him and his mother at the inn (in Bishopsgate Street), he strutted before us, dressed just as he came from keeping sheep, hogs, &c.; his shoes filled full of stumps in the heels. He, looking about him, slipped up: his nails were unused to a flat pavement. I remember viewing him as he scampered up, — how small he was! Little I thought that that fatherless boy would be one day known and esteemed by the most learned, the most respected, the wisest, and the best men of the kingdom.”

Mr. George Bloomfield then lived at Mr. Simm's, No. 7, Pitcher's Court, Bell Alley, Coleman Street. It is customary in such houses as are let to poor people in London, to have light garrets, fit for mechanics to work in. In the garret of the house just described, in which there were two turn-up beds, and in which five journeymen shoemakers worked, Mr. George Bloomfield received his young brother.

Being all single men, lodgers at a shilling a week each, their beds were coarse, and their accommodation of every kind far from being clean and snug, like what Robert had left at Sapiston. Robert was their little messenger, and was employed to procure every thing they required. At noon, he fetched their dinners from the cook's shop; and if any of the workmen wanted some particular article, he would send Robert for it, and then assist him in his jobs, and teach him, as a recompence for his trouble. Every day, the boy who came from the public house for the pewter pots, and to know what porter was needed, brought the newspaper of yesterday with him. The journeymen had been accustomed to take the reading of the paper by turns; but after Robert arrived, he generally read to them; because his time was of least value. In the execution of this task he frequently met with words that he was unacquainted with ; of which he always complained. One day, his brother George happening to see at a book-stall a small dictionary, which had been very ill-used, bought it for Robert for four-pence. Thus aided, he was able in a short time to read the Parliamentary debates with ease; and

to comprehend the speeches of Burke, Fox, North, and the other statesmen of that day.

One Sunday, after strolling the whole day in the country, the brothers went by accident into a meeting-house in the Old Jewry, where a dissenting minister was lecturing. This preacher, whose name was Fawcett, and whose language and action were very rhetorical, although his discourse was sound and rational, filled Robert with astonishment. He was so delighted, indeed, that he thenceforward attended the lecture whenever he could; and, although the meeting-house was sp crowded with the most respectable persons that Robert was compelled to stand in the aisle, he always quickened his pace, in order to reach town on a Sunday evening in time to be present. Of this gentleman, Robert soon learned to accent what he called "hard words;" and in other respects greatly to improve himself. Sometimes, but not frequently, he accompanied his brother George to the Debating Society then held at Coachmaker's Hall; and on a few occasions they went to Covent Garden Theatre. Those were the only opportunities he ever enjoyed of hearing public speakers. As to books, he had to wade through two or three folios: a History of England, The British Traveller, a Book of Geography, &c. These, however, he read as a task, and merely to oblige such of the journeymen as bought them; and as they came in weekly, in sixpenny numbers, he spent about as many hours in reading as other boys spent in play.

At that time his brother George took in the London Magazine, in which publication about two sheets were appropriated to a review. Robert was always eager to read this review. Here he could see what literary men were doing, and could learn to judge in some measure of the merits of various works as they appeared. The poetry, too, always commanded his attention. Observing this circumstance, and hearing him with some surprise one day repeat a song which he had composed to an old tune, his brother George persuaded him to try if the editor of their paper would give his verses a place. He did so: and thus was kindled the flame

of ambition in the youthful poet's breast. This, the first offspring of Robert Bloomfield's muse that appeared in print, was called "The Milk Maid, or the First of May." Emboldened by his success, he soon produced another little piece, to which he gave the name of "The Sailor's Return;" which was also published in the same newspaper. Indeed, he had so generally and diligently improved himself, that although only sixteen or seventeen years of age, his brother George and his fellow-workmen began to be instructed by his conversation.

About this period a man came to lodge in the same house, who was troubled with fits. Robert was so much shocked to see this poor creature drawn into frightful forms, and to hear his horrid screams, that his brother was forced to remove. They went to Blue-Hart Court, Bell Alley; and in their new garret found a singular character of the name of James Kay, a native of Dundee. He was a middle-aged man, of a good understanding, but a furious Calvinist. He had many books, some of which he did not value, such as Thomson's Seasons, Paradise Lost, and a few novels. These he lent to Robert, who spent all his leisure hours in reading the Seasons, which he was now capable of understanding. His brother says, that he never heard him praise any book so highly as that.

In the year 1784 a question was agitated among the journeymen shoemakers, whether those who had learned without serving an apprenticeship could follow the trade, as journeymen; that they could not, as masters, had long been decided. The person by whom George and Robert Bloomfield were employed, a Mr. Chamberlayne, of Cheapside, took an active part against the lawful journeymen, and even went so far as to pay off every man that worked for him who had joined their clubs. This so exasperated the journeymen, that their acting committee soon looked for "unlawful men," as they called them, among Chamberlayne's workmen. They found out little Robert, and threatened to prosecute Chamberlayne for employing him, and to prosecute his brother George for teaching him. Chamberlayne requested of the brother to

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