The Humourous Poetry of the English Language

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WILLIAMS, SIR CHARLES HANBURY--A noted wit of George the Second's time;
born in 1709; died, 1759. He was a friend of Walpole, sat in parliament
for Monmouth, and rose to some distinction in the diplomatic service.
An edition of his writings in three volumes was published in London in
1822. Time has robbed his satires of their point, by burying in
oblivion the circumstances that gave rise to them. A single specimen of
his writings is all that was deemed worthy of place in this volume.
WILLIS, N. P.--The well-known American poet and journalist, Mr. Willis
has written many humorous poems, but only a few have escaped the usual
fate of newspaper verses. Born at Portland, Maine, 1807.
WOLCOTT, JOHN (Peter Pindar), the most voluminous, and one of the best
of the humorous poets who have written in the English language. He was
born in Devonshire, England, and flourished in the reign of George III,
whose peculiarities it was his delight to ridicule. No king was ever so
mercilessly and so successfully lampooned by a poet as George III by
Peter Pindar. Wolcott was by profession a Doctor of Medicine. In 1766,
we find him accompanying his relative, Sir William Trelawney, to
Jamaica, of which island Sir William had been appointed governor. While
there, the rector of a valuable living died, and Dr. Wolcott conceived
the idea of entering the church and applying for the vacant rectorship.
To this end he began actually to perform the duties of the parish,
reading prayers and preaching, and soon after returned to England to
take orders, provideed with powerful recommendations. To his great
disappointment, the Bishop of London refused him ordination, and the
reader of Peter Pindar will not be at a loss to guess the reason of the
refusal. Wolcott now established himself in Truro, and continued in the
successful practice of medicine there for several years.
At Truro, he met the youthful Opie. "It is much to his honor," says one
who wrote in Wolcott's own lifetime, "that during his residence in
Cornwall, he discovered, and encouraged, the fine talents of the late
Opie, the artist; a man of such modesty, simplicity of manners, and
ignorance of the world, that it is probable his genius would have lain
obscure and useless, had he not met, in Dr. Wolcott, with a judicious
friend, who knew how to appreciate his worth, and to recommend it tothe
admiration of the world. The Doctor's taste in painting has already
been noticed; and it may now be added, that perhaps few men have
attained more correct notions on the subject, and the fluency with
which he expatiates on the beauties or defects of the productions of