NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. m. JAX. ;, iwe.
of the miscellaneous writings of Ralegh for
the eighth volume of the Oxford edition of
the works of the latter (1829), a fact not
mentioned in the bibliographical list of the
former in the 'D.N.B.' Who was Joseph
Harding ?
The P.S. relating to the hindrances experienced by literary men in the prose- cution of their researches during the first half of the last century offers a striking contra-st to the assistance, courtesy, and facilities for pursuing their inquiries which they meet with at the present day in the various public libraries, tkc.
T. N. BKUSHFIELD, M.D.
Salterton, Devon.
ROBERT FARREN CHEETHAM.
THE name of Robert Farren Cheetham
belongs only to the byways of literary history
and bibliography. A brilliant career
appeared to be open to him, but his own
high hopes and the expectations of his
friends were frustrated by an early death.
His literary remains are inconsiderable, but
they will compare favourably in quality with
the productions at the same age of many who
have attained distinction. The notice of him
which appears in Mr. Finch Smith's 'Admis-
sion Register of Manchester School' can be
somewhat amplified. He was the son of Mr.
Jonathan Cheetham, a flour merchant of
.Stockport, and was for five years under the
care of the Rev. William Jackson, M.A.,
master of the Free Grammar School at Stock-
port. Cheetham lavishes high praise on his
first master as one " whose heart was purely
of celestial frame." From Stockport the
.young scholar proceeded to Manchester, and
was admitted to the Grammar School 27 July,
1792. Three years later he published a tiny
pamphlet of ' Poems, by MA9HTH2.' This
was printed by George Nicholson & Co.,
Palace Street, Manchester, and extends to
thirty - seven pages, somewhat curiously
numbered. Nicholson, who was a man of
literary taste and published many excellent
selections, appears to have admired the boy's
talent and included some of his verses
in the ' Literary Miscellany.' The ' Ode
on the Inadrniration of the Grandest
Objects because daily before our Eyes,' 'On
the Superior Felicity of the Humble State,'
and ' On the Mischievous Effec ts of Prosperity '
belong to a form of literature now out of
fashion. In 1796 Cheetham again sought
public favour. Nicholson had now left
Manchester, and the little volume of ' Odes
and Miscellanies' was printed by J. Clarke,
of Stockport, These "juvenile productions"
are dedicated to Charles Lawson, M.A., Head
Master of the Free Grammar School,
Manchester, as "a small but sincere testimony
of gratitude for his care and instruction
during the last four years." The dedication
is followed by a letter. " Many of the pieces
which form the present volume, have already
come before you as school exercises ; not a
few have received yourapprobation : on these,
therefore, whose decision shall I fear ? " asks
the young poet. He mentions that he has
j completed his nineteenth year, and is about
to leave school for "the muse- wreathed banks
of Isis." This is the reason he assigns for "a
strong desire to separate by publication the
efforts of the schoolboy from (I hope) the
maturer productions of the Collegian." In
addition to Mr. Lawson it appears that " the
Tenth Muse, the all-accomplished Seward,"
and The British Critic had told him that he
"can write." His neighbours seem to have
been willing to encourage his talents, as there
is a goodly list of subscribers, in which the
names of Cheshire gentry and Manchester
merchants are pleasantly intermingled. The
poem ' On the Love of Fame ' was spoken at
Manchester School in 1795. An ' Ode for
Her Majesty's Birthday ' was spoken at the
Theatre Royal, Stockport, in the character of
Britannia, 18 January, 1796. From an address
to ' Health ' we learn that the young author,
in spite of temperate living, was daily in
physical anguish :
Yet still the tooth of Pain this temple gnaws, he says.
I know thou tread'st the carpet of the plain, I know thou lov'st the brook-adorned dell, The dark embowering wood and mountain's swell, But now I cannot fly the Town and Learning's chain.
Pass a few loitering years aud by the side Of vallied brook, I '11 woo thee for my bride ; Till then farewell ! a long and sad adieu !
Unless Oxonia's breeze this wasting frame renew. An address to the 'School-Fire' does not
give one the idea that the Manchester boys
were made too comfortable whilst pursuing
their studies:
Thy cheerful blaze, dispersing Winter's cold, Attracts my eyes and lures my frosted feet : In vain it lures, since I can but behold Thy flame, at useless distance, from my seat. My chattering teeth the cold, cold hour bespeak, My stiffly-bending fingers ask thine aid, And deem it hard that rigid rules were made, And oft thro' rigid rules would prompt to break. E'en now, methinks, in tantalizing guise, Thy blaze arises, " smiling as in scorn," And makes me Nature's Sophocles despise, And cease with eye-less (Edipus to mourn. O could I change, Vertumnus-like, my form,
Unken'd by Varro's classic eyes, 1 'd catch thine influence warm.
