CHARLES CHURCHILL 
 Vagabond Poet
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 Charles Churchill
 
 CHARLES CHURCHILL 
 
 Vagabond Poet 
 
 BY 
 
 William Harvey Miner 
 
 THE TORCH PRESS 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 MDCCCCVII
 
 Of this volume two hundred copies oftly 
 have been prittted in the Dionth of Dece?n- 
 be?', jgo6, by the Torch Press which is i?i 
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The type has been 
 distributed.
 
 MiN, 
 "PR 
 
 S Charles Churchill 
 cv. Vagabond Poet 

 
 To 
 
 Her who has been a 
 constemt inspiration
 
 "Churchill no more ! O, cruel Death ! 
 
 'twas hard 
 So soon to rob us of our favourite bard ; 
 We should not thus bewail the fatal doom. 
 Hadst thou but plac'd an equal in his 
 
 room." 
 
 II. 
 
 "He's gone 1 great Churchill's gone ! 'tis 
 true, 
 
 Yet cease the fates to blame ; 
 Years they allowed him but a few, 
 
 But gave eternal fame." 
 
 III. 
 
 "Prose-driving dunces, waddling fools in 
 rhyme ; 
 Scoundrels of every kind, by vengeance 
 led, 
 Spit forth your venom, poison all your 
 clime ; 
 Churchill, who scourg'd you to your 
 holes, is dead." 
 
 —William Cole (1714-1782).
 
 Charles Churchill 
 
 ^^HERE can be but little doubt that 
 it\ the character of Charles Churchill 
 ^^ was moulded to a great extent by 
 the age in which he lived. In the study 
 of any classic work of art or literature 
 which may have proceeded from a man 
 or from a period peculiarly fitted for its 
 production, it is essential that the en- 
 vironment be given due consideration, and 
 if an unpleasant view of the subject has 
 to be discussed, we are often able to gain 
 a rightful understanding, because of the 
 circumstances which may have surrounded 
 the persons or events under scrutiny. 
 
 Such a statement seems to be especially 
 true with reference to this poet, naturally 
 endowed with power and talent, which, 
 if they could have been used under more 
 agreeable circumstances, would have plac- 
 ed him in greater favor today. He be- 
 came, not entirely through fault of his 
 own, an unfortunate politician and profli-
 
 Charles Churchill 
 
 gate, and satirized that which at its best 
 was none too good in an unscrupulous 
 age, both from a literary and human 
 standpoint. 
 
 In glancing back upon his career we 
 can but be reminded of two later poets, 
 Burns and Byron, and there comes to us 
 a mingled feeling of sorrow, admiration, 
 wonder and blame blended into a some- 
 what complex yet not unnatural emotion. 
 Like both of these his life was unhappy 
 and death occurred at an early age. His 
 short career, while in a way triumphant, 
 was checkered and his passions in no 
 wise curbed. Power he possessed though 
 in an uncultivated state, and his poetry 
 may be looked upon as only a partial 
 discovery of his genius ; not unlike the 
 others, his end was sudden and melan- 
 choly and today his reputation as well 
 as future position in the history of Eng- 
 lish literature must be deemed uncertain. 
 Yet again, as with the later poets, the 
 very faults which were his, have been 
 as so many marking places and kept him 
 to a certain degree sure of his standing 
 among that coterie of writers who helped
 
 Charles Churchill it 
 
 to form, what we may term for want of 
 better expression, the "age of satirists." 
 
 Exactly one hundred years after the 
 birth of Dryden, Charles Churchill was 
 born, in February, 1731. As to a more 
 exact date little seems to be known. Vine 
 Street, Westminster, however, is the lo- 
 cation in which the event took place ; his 
 father, after whom he was named, being 
 at that time rector in Essex, as well as 
 curate and lecturer of St. John the Evan- 
 gelist, 'Westminster. 
 
 While in no way a remarkable man, 
 the elder Churchill superintended the edu- 
 cation of his son until, at the age of eight, 
 he was entered at Westminster School, 
 where, we are credibly informed, he gave 
 no promise of that talent which was at a 
 later date, to make him distinguished. 
 Successful in gaining admission to West- 
 minster at fifteen, there seems to have 
 been but one event of any moment which 
 marked his early career at this place. As 
 a punishment for some misdeed he was 
 compelled to recite in the school room 
 a poetical declamation in Latin. This, to 
 the astonishment of his masters and to 
 the infinite delight of his associates, was
 
 12 Charles Churchill 
 
 accomplished with an extraordinary 
 amount of ability, gaining for the author 
 a complete pardon for the misdemeanor 
 as well as a certain standing with his 
 fellows among whom ought to be men- 
 tioned the tremulous and bashful Cowper, 
 the waggish Coleman and that brilliant 
 light of a later daj% Warren Hastings. 
 
 Churchill never entered the University. 
 At the age of eighteen he tried for a fel- 
 lowship at Merton College, but was de- 
 feated. Later he made efforts to matricu- 
 late at Oxford and failing here, he at 
 length entered Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 but becoming disgusted with all Univer- 
 sity life, returned once more to London, 
 vowing vengeance, and later keeping the 
 vow. For instance, he thus ridiculed 
 those forms of admission in his "Ghost" — 
 
 "i;\Tiich Balaam's ass 
 As well as Balaam's self might pass. 
 And with his master take degrees. 
 Could he contrive to pay the fees." 
 
 Soured by disappointment, Churchill at 
 this time again returned to his father's 
 house. Whether an actual want of learn- 
 ing, an early indulgence in satire, or some 
 faults for which he may have been un-
 
 Charles Churchill i^ 
 
 justly accused combined in keeping the 
 young man from entering upon a further 
 academical course, we are not fully able 
 to judge. Without doubt the real cause 
 of his failure to gain admission either at 
 Oxford or Cambridge was the fact that 
 he had at an earlier date contracted an 
 imprudent marriage with a young woman 
 of Westminster, named iScott, which had 
 been accomplished within the rules of the 
 Fleet. 
 
 (Needless to say the union was an un- 
 happy one. It not only disqualified him 
 as a student but introduced into his early 
 manhood many responsibilities which were 
 beyond his power to discharge or, indeed, 
 comprehend. The parents on both sides 
 were opposed to the marriage though the 
 elder Churchill was later reconciled. For 
 a year the youth remained under the pa- 
 rental roof but his stay terminated 
 abruptly for reasons which are not known 
 and he retired for some time to Sunder- 
 land, in the north of England, where he 
 began a course of theological readings 
 with a view to the Church, together with 
 an enthusiastic study of poetry. At this 
 place he remained till 1753, returning
 
 Charles Churchill 
 
 then to London to take possession of a 
 small patrimony which accrued to him 
 through his wife. 
 
 •Here we find him at the age of twenty- 
 two, having been three years married. 
 At this period the throne was occupied by 
 George II, and the literature of the age 
 was in a somewhat chaotic condition. 
 From 1740 until 1760 the influence of 
 Thomson and Gray seemed to predomi- 
 nate, and for the moment the sombre and 
 solemn romantic school seemed utterly 
 out of existence, though to glance ahead 
 slightly, we might add that the popularity 
 of such savage couplets which were being 
 done by Pope, and later by Churchill, 
 were of brief duration. 
 
 (Among the remarkable scholars who 
 had been at Westminster during the per- 
 iod of which we write, and who later 
 became famous, were Bonnell Thornton 
 and Richard Cumberland, as well as those 
 previously mentioned, but possibly from 
 the literary view-point, that one mild, 
 shrinking, delicate lad, Cowper, entered 
 more into the heart of Churchill than did 
 the rest. In their earlier days they were
 
 Charles Churchill 75 
 
 close companions, and the author of "The 
 Task" repaid him in sore need. 
 
 Moreover it is certain that Cowper al- 
 ways upheld his friendship for the lesser 
 poet, though the latter was profane in 
 both literature and life ; indeed he seemed 
 to believe Churchill the leader of his 
 time, though Goldsmith had then done 
 "The Deserted Village" and "The Vicar." 
 The two were of exactly the same age, 
 and it is possibly because of their dis- 
 similarity of character that they were 
 drawn closer one to the other, and their 
 friendship continued through life. 
 
 iWhile not penniless at this period, we 
 cannot find it stated that Churchill was 
 well supplied with this world's goods. It 
 was during this sojourn in the metropolis 
 that he began to frequent the theatres 
 and thereby came in contact with those 
 woi'ldly surroundings from which he was 
 to obtain his earliest, and without doubt, 
 most important laurels. We come upon 
 results of his several months' close and 
 careful observation of the actors of that 
 age, collected as it were, and afterward 
 sown broadcast as his genius might sug- 
 gest in his later writings and "The Ros-
 
 i6 Charles Churchill 
 
 ciad," which aside from the "MacFleck- 
 noe" of Dryden, "The Dunciad" of Pope 
 and "The English Bards" of Byron, 
 stands pre-eminent as the greatest of 
 English satires. 
 
 Thus may we think of the big, awk- 
 ward, clumsy, eighteenth century bohe- 
 mian, seated in the pit at Drury Lane, or 
 raised to the one shilling gallery of Co- 
 vent Garden, silently shaping himself into 
 what Gilfillan has termed "the greatest 
 poet of the stage that, perhaps, ever 
 lived." 
 
 It has been said that John Skelton 
 (1450-1529) might be regarded as a 
 rough prototype of our somewhat Inde- 
 corous clergyman with, however, a rath- 
 er more picturesque personification de- 
 nied the latter and Dr. Gosse says that 
 at a later period George Crabbe followed 
 Churchill's versification, but be this as it 
 may we know that during the second stay 
 in London, the author of "The Rosciad" 
 gradually developed for himself a style 
 which was to be used to wonderful ad- 
 vantage and which became the envy as 
 well as terror of many of his contem- 
 poraries.
 
 Charles Churchill 17 
 
 Not yet however was he to be seduced 
 entirely by the stage. Through the influ- 
 ence of friends he obtained the curacy 
 of Cadbury in Somersetshire, and although 
 without degrees, was ordained Bishop of 
 the Bath and Wells, entering upon a ca- 
 reer of ministerial work which, in the 
 light of after days, seemed somewhat un- 
 usual. 
 
 'Had circumstances been different there 
 is little doubt but that his life would have 
 been consecrated to the church and that 
 he would have followed a calling which, 
 though not greatly to his taste, would have 
 been on the whole satisfactory. Because 
 of his untimely marriage, increasing re- 
 sponsibilities and pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments he early turned against the pro- 
 fession which he had adopted and to as- 
 sist in the support of himself and family, 
 opened a school which at first met with 
 considerable encouragement, yet there is 
 reason to suspect that not a few of his 
 scholars imbibed some of the spirit of 
 the future satiriet, stirred possibly by his 
 rod, with which, in a different form, he 
 lashed his century and his fellow-men. 
 During 1758 the death of his father oc-
 
 i8 Charles Churchill 
 
 curred and the son was chosen successor 
 both in the curacy and lectureship and it 
 is to be suspected that sermons carefully- 
 prepared by the elder clergyman were 
 used to no small advantage by the new 
 incumbent. According to some statements 
 Churchill in later life, after establishing 
 his own reputation, sold ten of these dis- 
 courses for £250. Doubt has been ex- 
 pressed by those who have had the temer- 
 ity to look through these, as to whether 
 they were not taken bodily from some 
 earlier divine ; in any event they were of 
 little value. Like William Godwin, who 
 also succeeded his father in pastoral 
 charges this accumulation of already used 
 material was seized upon by Churchill 
 and made to do duty a second time. 
 Though dry and valueless, it was ortho- 
 dox, and as such, appreciated by his par- 
 ishioners ; while this stock lasted his po- 
 sition was secure. As in the case of 
 Godwin, however, his true personality was 
 not relished by his audiences, and whether 
 because of the lack of real piety or zeal, 
 it was evident that his hearers preferred 
 something which was beyond his power 
 to produce.
 
 Charles Churchill ig 
 
 While he speaks slightingly of himself 
 and his ministerial labors in one of his 
 later poems, he seems to have at least 
 played the part with outward decorum. 
 His greatest objection to the position that 
 he held was the salary which he com- 
 manded, scarcely £100 per annum, and 
 this compelled him to resume the occupa- 
 tion of private tutor, at one time in a 
 school for young ladies in Bloomsbury, 
 and at intei'vals assisting v/homsoever he 
 might in a study of the classics. 
 
 So much for the life of drudgery, of 
 hopeless struggle and misplaced ambition. 
 From his advent at Westminster School 
 until the age of twenty-seven this man 
 had made efforts to gain for himself, if 
 not a name, at least a competence, and his 
 work to this period had been fruitless. 
 While not naturally given to indolence, 
 it can hardly be said that he had made 
 the best of his opportunities and though 
 willing to strive for himself he seemed 
 to believe that the world was his debtor 
 and that thus far he had not procured his 
 share. The difficulties, real or fancied 
 which had constantly loomed before him 
 in whatsoever he may have attempted,
 
 20 Charles Churchill 
 
 now seemed to culminate and become un- 
 bearable. His straightened circumstances 
 had in many ways caused him to be not 
 only morose and unhappy, but the mere 
 contemplation of passing events seemed 
 to spur him toward actions which were 
 in no way fitting the life which he was 
 supposed to lead. In referring to this 
 interval in one of his after poems, he 
 describes himself as a man without credit, 
 his pride humbled, his virtue undermined 
 and with a constant feeling that he was 
 gradually sinking beneath an adverse 
 storm which it was utterly impossible to 
 quell. Another incentive toward an un- 
 clerical life may be based upon the re- 
 newal of an acquaintance, which shortly 
 ripened into friendship, with one Robert 
 Lloj-d, a former classmate and son of Dr. 
 Lloyd, one of the masters of Westminster 
 School. Though brilliant and accomplish- 
 ed both at this place and at Cambridge, 
 and later appointed an usher in his fath- 
 er's seminary, this young man had de- 
 liberately thrown aside what he termed 
 drudgery, and with a thirst both for fame 
 and pleasure threw himself into the lit- 
 erary world of that day. Possessed of
 
 Charles Churchill 
 
 no real skill and with none of the genius 
 of Churchill, he was little more than a 
 clever copyist in such work as he did, and 
 exerted from the beginning an influence 
 upon his friend always for the worst. 
 What small success he attained as an 
 author he borrowed from his pseudo-cler- 
 ical companion, though he invariably 
 seemed to return infamy for good. 
 
 Gradually the work which was being 
 carried on by Churchill in connection with 
 the church, ceased. The two friends be- 
 came inseparable and were nightly fre- 
 quenters of the theatres, taverns and 
 worse haunts, and each seemed to enter 
 upon a wild career of dissipation. Unfor- 
 tunately his wife, with whom he seems 
 never to have been happy, made no ef- 
 forts to check his rapid fall ; indeed from 
 such meagre accounts as can be gathered, 
 she outran her husband in imprudence 
 and extravagance and in this manner 
 their affairs continued for some time go- 
 ing from bad to worse. On several oc- 
 casions the debtor's prison loomed up be- 
 fore them both and in one instance relief 
 was to be found only in the elder Lloyd 
 who persuaded the creditors to accept
 
 22 Charles Churchill 
 
 five shillings on the pound, he himself 
 lending the required sum. It is said, 
 however, that at a later date the whole 
 amount of the original debt was paid by 
 Churchill when in affluent circumstances. 
 
 Together with the newly formed love of 
 indulgence there had also arisen the old 
 love of verse. Coming in contact as he 
 did with the wits of the day and being 
 urged by Thornton, Coleman and others 
 to attempt something of his own, he 
 composed a poem in Hudibrastic verse 
 entitled "The Bard," which was offered 
 to Waller, a bookseller in the Strand, who 
 rejected it without hesitancy. In no wise 
 discouraged, he immediately began "The 
 Conclave," a stinging satire against Dean 
 Pearce of Westminster, a bitter enemj% 
 and but for the intervention of friends 
 who feared legal proceedings, this would 
 have been issued. With his third effort 
 and unquestionably finest work, he met 
 with a success, far exceeding his own ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 This was "The Rosciad," written, it is 
 said, after two months close attendance 
 upon the play-houses. It was a time of 
 considerable activity in theatrical life.
 
 Charles Churchill 2j 
 
 Drury Lane was at its best with Foote, 
 Garrick, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Clive, 
 Palmer, Woodward and Yates. Even 
 Covent Garden could boast of Mrs. Vin- 
 cent, Macklin, Mrs. Gibber, Barry and 
 Smith, and at times Quinn ; with these 
 and many others, the caustic wit of 
 Churchill played relentlessly, though it is 
 Garrick who must be looked upon as the 
 principal victim. 
 
 We do not know to whom this was first 
 offered but there is little doubt that it 
 was refused by more than one of the 
 booksellers. His price for the manu- 
 script, Southey informs us, was five 
 pounds, yet this sum seemed to strike 
 terror to the hearts of all who were ap- 
 proached, until at length, unwilling to be 
 baffled, the work was published at the 
 expense of the author and printed and 
 sold by W. Flexney, near Grays-Inn Gate, 
 Holborn, in March, 1761. It appeared 
 without the author's name and was her- 
 alded by two obscure advertisements. A 
 few days only served to show that it had 
 at least made itself felt, and literary 
 London of that date was treated to a sen-
 
 24 Charles Churchill 
 
 sation such as it always appreciates and 
 revels in even at the present day. 
 
 But little time was necessary to con- 
 vince the public that a new and power- 
 ful satirist had arisen and the effect of 
 his work was extraordinary. The identity 
 of the author was sought for in vain. 
 The critics admired, though the victims 
 raved, and the first issue w^as soon ex- 
 hausted. With the exception of the Crit- 
 ical Review, directed by Smollett, every- 
 one lauded the work. This periodical 
 alone opposed general opinion and accused 
 Lloyd and Coleman of having done "The 
 Rosciad" for the purpose of self advance- 
 ment, which fact in itself compelled 
 Churchill to reveal his connection. This 
 he did and at the same time prepared an- 
 other and somewhat similar treatise. "Tlie 
 Apology," addressed to "The Critical Re- 
 viewers," which appeared during the fol- 
 lowing month. In its turn this acted as 
 a new Incentive to an already frenzied 
 public, and Smollett was forced to write 
 to the now famous author through Gar- 
 rick, telling him that the savage critique 
 was by another hand. Even Garrick him- 
 self, the hero of the first poem, was warn-
 
 Charles Churchill 2^ 
 
 ed by Churchill that "men are mortal 
 and that Kings may be dethroned" and 
 had to make humiliating concessions to 
 the heartless satirist. 'Strong and with- 
 out fear he had to be, for many of his 
 erstwhile victims had vowed vengeance 
 and bodily harm. Invariably armed with 
 a huge bludgeon, however, he continually 
 went abroad and returned to his lodging 
 unharmed. 
 
 In other ways his enemies were aveng- 
 ed. iHe had gained more than one thou- 
 sand pounds by his two poems, which 
 amount allowed him unlimited indulgence. 
 'He cast aside all restraint and wore 
 instead of his clerical vestments a blue 
 coat and gold-laced waistcoat. At this 
 point "Anti-Rosciads," "Triumvirats," "iEx- 
 aminers," and "'Churchilliads" were issued 
 from all sides, yet they disturbed him but 
 slightly. He separated from his wife, but 
 arranged for her an ample allowance ; 
 his midnight potations became deeper, 
 and more habitual — and the Bishop of 
 (Rochester in vain remonstrated. At length 
 however, his parishioners took up the 
 matter and with such vehemence that he 
 was forced to resign his curacy and be-
 
 26 Charles Churchill 
 
 come for the rest of his life a dissipated, 
 man-about-town. a vagabond roet. 
 
 Though Lloyd was still a close friend, 
 be Jiow formed an alliance with that aban- 
 doned debauche and notorious profligate, 
 John Wilkes, a proper mate for such an 
 apostate. Churchill helped him at vari- 
 ous times on the Noi'tli Briton according 
 to correspondence now in the British 
 Museum, and there is little doubt but 
 that this intimacy was the most unfor- 
 tunate of any that were formed by the 
 poet. He at one time narrowly escaped 
 imprisonment because of this connection, 
 and then only through rare presence of 
 mind. His popularity as a poet, or more 
 properly as a satirist, was now at its 
 height. LfOwell, in his 'TEssay on Car- 
 lyle," IS 6 6, speaks of the methods by 
 which an author may make himself great 
 and even justly so, by appealing to the 
 persons of the moment, without having 
 anything in him that shall outlast the 
 public whim which he satisfies. Churchill 
 is a remarkable example of this. He had 
 a surprising extemporary strength of 
 mind, or as Cowper said, "he undoubtedly 
 surprised all contemporaries in a certain
 
 Charles Churchill 2y 
 
 rude and earthborn vigor," but no English 
 poet seems to have enjoyed such an ex- 
 cessive and short lived popularity. To 
 Wilkes he said that nothing came until 
 he began to be pleased with liimself; 
 but to the public he boasted of the haste 
 and carelessness with which his versea 
 were poured forth under any condition. 
 
 "When the mad fit comes on I seize the 
 
 pen 
 Rough as they run, the rapid thoughts 
 
 set down, 
 Rough as they run, discharge them on 
 
 the to-wTi." 
 
 Much could be written of his wild 
 thoughtleses life at this time, of his sa- 
 tires directed upon Hogarth which caused 
 a disturbance in the life of the caricatur- 
 ist ; and of the dissolute existence which 
 he led with his mistress, Miss Carr, the 
 daughter of a respectable sculptor in 
 Westminster. One anecdote may be suffi- 
 cient and this in itself throws some light 
 on his unfortunate career. 
 
 Charles Johnson, a contemporary author 
 and dramatist of some note, who by the 
 bye, had been satirized in the "Dunciad" 
 of Pope, wrote at about this period, a tale
 
 28 Charts Churchill 
 
 fanciful in itself, and even today sought 
 by lovers of the unusual. This was 
 •*Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea" 
 and in it he uses Churchill as the most 
 prominent character, which at the best 
 can but be considered a doubtful compli- 
 ment. We quote here at some length from 
 the book in question and also from Mr. 
 Forster's essay on the poet, which will 
 serve as an introduction. 
 
 "Whilst he was one night 'staggering* 
 home, as the narrative tells us, after a 
 supper in which spirited wit and liveliness 
 of conversation, as well as rectitude and 
 sublimity of sentiment, had gilded gross 
 debauchery, a girl of the street addressed 
 him. Her figure was elegant ; and her 
 features regular ; but want had sicklied 
 over their beauty ; and all the horrors of 
 despair gloomed through the languid 
 smile she forced, when she addressed him. 
 
 "The sigh of distress which never struck 
 his ear without affecting his heart, came 
 with double force from such an object. 
 He viewed her with silent compassion for 
 some moments ; and reaching her a piece 
 of gold, bade her go home, and shelter 
 herself from the inclemencies of the night, 
 at so late an hour. Her surprise and 
 joy at such unexpected charity overpow- 
 ered her. She dropped upon her knees, in 
 the wet and dirt of the street and raising 
 her hands and eyes toward heaven, re-
 
 Charles Churchill 2g 
 
 mained in that posture for some moments, 
 unable to give utterance to the gratitude 
 that filled her heart. 
 
 "Such a sight was more expressive than 
 all the powers of eloquence. He raised 
 her tenderly from the ground, and sooth- 
 ing her with words of comfort, offered 
 to conduct her to some place, where she 
 might get that refreshment of which she 
 appeared to he in too great want. 
 
 " 'Oh, sir,' said she, pressing the hand 
 that had raised her with her cold trem- 
 bling lips, 'my deliverer sent you from 
 heaven to save me from despair, let me 
 not think of taking refreshment myself, 
 till I have first procured it for those, 
 whose greater wants I feel ten thousand 
 times more severely than my own.' 'Who 
 can they be?' interrupted he, with anxious 
 impatience. 'Can humanity feel greater 
 wants than those under which you are 
 sinking?' 'My father,' exclaimed she, 
 bursting into tears, 'languishing under in- 
 firmities, acquired in the service of his 
 country ; my mother worn out with attend- 
 ing on him, and both perishing of want, 
 (heaven grant they are not already dead !) 
 together with two infant brothers, insen- 
 sible of the cause of their distress, and 
 crying to them for a morsel of bread, 
 which it is not in their power to give !' 
 'Where can such a scene of wretchedness 
 be hidden from relief? I will go with you 
 directly : but stop ; let us first secure some 
 comfortable nourishment from some of. 
 the houses which are kept open at this
 
 JO Charles Churchill 
 
 late hour for a very different purpose. 
 Come with me, we have no time to lose.' 
 
 "Witli these words, he went directly lo 
 a tavern, and inquiring what victuals were 
 dressed in the house, loaded her with as 
 much as she could carry of the best, and 
 putting a couple of bottles of wine in his 
 own pocket, walked with her to her habi- 
 tation, which was in a blind alley, happily 
 for her not very far distant, as weakness 
 together with the conflict of passions 
 struggling in her heart, made her scarce 
 able to go. 
 
 "\\Tien they came to the door, she would 
 have gone up first for a light, but he was 
 resolved to accompany her, that he might 
 see the whole scene in its genuine colors. 
 'He, therefore, followed her up to the top- 
 of the house, where opening the door of 
 the garret, she discovered to hhn such a 
 scene of misery, as struck him with astoh- 
 ishment. By the light of a lamp, that 
 glimmered in the tireless chimney, he saw 
 lying on a bare bedstead, without any 
 covering than the relics of their own rags, 
 a man, a woman, and two children shud- 
 dering with cold, though huddled together, 
 to share the little warmth which exhaust- 
 ed nature still supplied them with. 
 
 "While he stood gazing in horror at 
 such complicated wretchedness, his con- 
 ductress ran to the bedside, and falling 
 on her knees, 'O ! Sir I Madam !' exclaimed 
 she, in rapture, 'Arise ! I have got relief 
 from an angel of Heaven.' 'Take care!' ' 
 answered a voice, the hollow trembling
 
 Charles Churchill ji 
 
 of which was: sharpened by indignation, 
 'take care it is not from a fiend of hell, 
 who has taken advantage of your distress 
 to tempt you to ruin ! for with whom else 
 could you be till this time of night? But 
 know, wretched girl, that T will never eat 
 the earnings of vice and infamy. A few 
 hours will put an end to my miseries, 
 which have received the only possible ad- 
 dition by this your folly.' 'He must be 
 such, indeed,' interrupted my master, still 
 more struck with sentiments so uncom- 
 mon in such a situation, 'who could think 
 of tempting her in such circumstance to 
 any folly. I will withdraw, while you 
 arise, and then we will consult what can 
 be soonest done to alleviate a distress, of 
 which you appear so undeserving.' While 
 he said this, he took the wine out of his 
 pocket,- and giving it to the daughter, went 
 directly down stairs, without waiting for 
 a reply, and walking backward and for- 
 ward in the street for some time, enjoying 
 the sublimest pleasure the human heart 
 Is capable of, in considering how he had 
 relieved, and should further relieve, the 
 sufferings of objects so worthy of relief. 
 "iBy the time he thought they might 
 have learned from their daughter the cir- 
 cumstances of her meeting with him, and 
 taking some nourishment, he returned to 
 them, when the moment he entered the 
 "room the whole family fell on their knees 
 to thank him. Such humiliation was more 
 than he could bear. He raised them one 
 by one, as fast as he could, and taking
 
 32 Charles Churchill 
 
 the father's hand, 'Gracious God!' said 
 he. 'can a sense of humanity be such an 
 uncommon thing among creatures who call 
 themselves human, that so poor an exer- 
 tion of it should be thought deserving 
 of a return proper to be made only to 
 heaven ! Oppress me not, sir, I conjure 
 you, with the mention of what it would 
 have been a crime I could never forgive 
 mj'self to have known I had not done. It 
 is too late to think of leaving this place 
 before tomorrow, when I will provide a 
 better, if there is not any to which you 
 choose particularly to go. I am not rich ; 
 but I thank heaven that it has blest me 
 with ability and inclination to afford such 
 assistance as may be immediately neces- 
 sary' to you, till means may be thought 
 of for doing more.' 'O, sir,' answered the 
 mother, 'well might my daughter call you 
 an angel of heaven ! You know not from 
 what misery you have already relieved.' 
 'Nor will I know more of it at this time,' 
 interrupted my master, 'than that which 
 I too plainly see. I will leave you now 
 to your rest, and return as soon as it is 
 day.' 
 
 " 'Speak not of leaving us, sir,' exclaim- 
 ed the daughter, who was afraid that if 
 he should go away, he might not return. 
 'What rest can we take, in so short a 
 time? Leave us not, I beseech you: leave 
 us not in this place!' 'Cease, my child!' 
 interposed the father, 'nor press your ben- 
 efactor to continue in a scene of misery, 
 that must give pain to his humane heart.'
 
 Charles Churchill jj 
 
 'If my staying will not give you pain,' 
 answered my master, 'I will most willingly 
 stay ; but it must be on condition that 
 our conversation points entirely forward 
 to happier days. There will be time 
 enough hereafter to look back.' 
 
 "Saying this, he sat down on the bed- 
 side, (for other seat the apartment af- 
 forded not) between the husband and 
 wife, with whom he spent the little re- 
 mainder of the night in such discourse 
 as he thought most likely to divert their 
 attention from their present misery, and 
 inspire their minds with better hopes, 
 while the children, all but the daughter, 
 who hung upon his words, comforted at 
 heart with a better meal than they had 
 long tasted, fell fast asleep, as they leaned 
 their heads upon their mother's lap. As 
 soon as it was day, 'Now, madam,' said 
 my master, addressing himself to the 
 mother, 'I will go and provide a place for 
 your reception, as you say all places are 
 alike to you. In the meantime, accept of 
 this trifle,' giving her ten guineas, 'to 
 provide such necessaries as you may in- 
 dispensibly want before you remove. 
 When you are settled, we will see what 
 further can be done. I shall be back with 
 you within these three hours at most.' 
 
 "For such beneficence there was no pos- 
 sibility of returning thanks ; but their 
 hearts spoke through their eyes, in a 
 language sufficiently intelligible to his. 
 Departing directly, to save both himself 
 and them the pain of pursuing a conver-
 
 ^4 Charles Churchill 
 
 sation that grew too distressful, he went, 
 ■without regard to change of dress, or 
 appearance, to look for a proper lodging 
 for them ; where he laid in such provisions 
 of every kind, as he knew they must im- 
 mediately want. This care employed him 
 till the time he had promised to return, 
 when he found such an alteration in the 
 looks and appearance of them all as gave 
 his heart delight. 
 
 " 'You see, sir,' said the mother, as soon 
 as he entered, 'the effects of your bounty,' 
 but do not think that vanity has made us 
 abuse it. These clothes, what we could 
 raise on which has, for some time, been 
 our sole support, were the purchase of 
 happier times ; and were now redeemed 
 for much less than we must have given 
 for the worst we could buy.' 'Dear 
 madam,' interrupted my master, taking 
 her hand respectfully, 'mention not any- 
 thing of the kind to me, I beseech you. 
 You will soon see such times again.' Then 
 turning to her husband, 'I have taken a 
 lodging, sir,' continued he ; 'it is conven- 
 ient, but not large, as I imagined would 
 be your choice. I will call a coach, to 
 take us to it directly. If there are any 
 demands here, let the people of the house 
 be called up, and they shall be paid. I 
 will be your purse-bearer for the present.' 
 'No, sir,* replied the husband, 'there are 
 not any. You have enabled us to dis- 
 charge all demands upon us. People in 
 our circumstances cannot find credit, be- 
 cause they want it.'
 
 Charles Churchill 35 
 
 "My master would have then gone for a 
 coach, but the daughter insisted on saving 
 him the trouble ; upon which he put the 
 whole family into it, and walked away 
 before them to their new lodging. It is 
 impossible to describe what these poor 
 people felt, when they saw the provision 
 he had made for their reception. The 
 father, in particular, could not bear it, 
 but sinking into a chair, This is too 
 much ! This is too much !' said he, as soon 
 as a flood of tears had given vent to the 
 fullness of his heart. 'Support me, grac- 
 ious Heaven, who has sent this best of 
 men to my relief ; support me under the 
 weight of obligations, which the preserva- 
 tion of these alone,' looking round upon 
 his wife and children, 'could induce me 
 to accept.' Then addressing himself to 
 my master, 'My heart is not unthankful,' 
 continued he, 'but gratitude in such excess 
 as mine, where there is no prospect of 
 ever making a return, is the severest 
 pain.' " 
 
 As we have stated elsewhere, it is our 
 firm belief that the age in which Churchill 
 lived did much toward moulding the char- 
 acter of the man. As at a somewhat 
 later date London begot Richard Savage 
 whose mode of life reminds one of his 
 predecessor, so might others be named 
 who were more or less influenced by the 
 period during which they existed. Great
 
 36 Charles Churchill 
 
 names there were, but also many which 
 were vile. Outcasts such as Wilkes ; 
 pamphleteers like Tutchin, and even paid 
 plagiarists abounded and the pages of 
 Hogarth are but to be consulted for justi- 
 fication of any statement of this kind. 
 All this, and more, was in evidence, and 
 even while he may have donned the cas- 
 sock, it is to be feared that Churchill did 
 but little to add to the goodness of life. 
 TVTiile he lived "he lived right merrily" 
 and for his errors we make no plea of 
 palliation, unless it be that restraining 
 himself as a youth because of the lack 
 of funds, he in after life gave full vent 
 to the passions which made themselves 
 evident at a time of greater affluence. At 
 the worst he never seems to have been 
 seduced into sin through vivid imagin- 
 ation. Naked sensuality he appeared to 
 worship and his evils were perpetrated 
 with the fullness of self knowledge. Moral 
 sense he had, though surely blunted and 
 many generous and good traits seem to 
 have mingled with his excesses. Deliber- 
 ately choosing Satire, usually personal, as 
 his special forte, he won recognition where 
 others failed, though in this we do not
 
 Charles Churcnill ^7 
 
 contend that all satirists must needs be 
 either very good or very bad men. Cow- 
 per and Crabbe are above criticism as to 
 their modes of life ; Swift, Dryden, and 
 Byron might well be classed with 
 Churchill. With a hatred of pretense, a 
 robust and manly honesty, this poet lived 
 and died. Morality and a true love of 
 humanity he seems to have lacked as well 
 as being destitute of a fear of God. The 
 learned Dr. Johnson pronounced him "a 
 prolific blockhead — a huge and fertile 
 crabtree" and Christopher North in Black- 
 xoood's for 1828 gives vent at greater 
 length to further calumny in this same 
 strain. As the dead cannot retort, their 
 statements must remain unchallenged 
 though a formidable opponent would have 
 greeted both had such remarks been pro- 
 pounded while he was yet in the flesh. 
 
 Churchill died on the 4th of November, 
 1764. Warburton says that he perished 
 of a drunken debauch, a statement wholly 
 unfounded. 'Best authorities tell us that 
 he was taken with fever while on a visit 
 to his exiled friend Wilkes, then at Bou- 
 logne, and in a rash attempt to return to 
 
 rvioi^iio /
 
 S8 Charles Churchill 
 
 (England, added to the disease which 
 brought the end. 
 
 "What a fool I have been" were his last 
 words, according to Davies, though this 
 is contradicted by Wilkes. Garriclc who 
 was in Paris at the time, gave the news to 
 •Coleman, then mutual friends. Lloyd, at 
 that moment ill, upon hearing of the 
 death of his truest friend, never recovered 
 from the shock and taking to his bed arose 
 no more. Wilkes, while professing an 
 unbearable grief, did not fulfil certain 
 obligations, though he later caused to be 
 erected a column to the poet's memory, 
 and there is at the present time a tablet, 
 inscribed in the church of St. Martin at 
 Dover where the remains now lie. Thus 
 while yet in early manhood he passed 
 beyond the pale. Whether or not his life 
 was justified, is for a higher court to 
 decide. 
 
 Thus far we have sketched in outline 
 the salient features of a career not wholly 
 righteous. Anecdotes, apocryphal in them- 
 selves, might be added, as for example 
 the account of his journey to Wales, and 
 his setting up as a cider merchant, et
 
 Charles Churchill JQ 
 
 cetera. For articles dealing with those 
 events and others of a like nature we 
 would refer the reader to the Edinburgh 
 Reviexo of January, 1845, and to Black- 
 wood's before mentioned. John Forster 
 has g-iven an appreciative account of 
 Churchill and his work in his essay under 
 that title, and there are several sketches 
 included in the various editions of his 
 poems, all of which are of interest, as are 
 the numerous and in some instances 
 lengthy recitals, in the several histories 
 of England's literature hy different hands, 
 but it is evident that the subject has not 
 been deemed worthy of serious attention, 
 hence it is difficult to expand at great 
 length. 
 
 A word as to the poetry and we are 
 finished. 
 
 We have seen that he possessed a keen 
 perception of character, especially its 
 weaknesses, and beyond doubt a lively 
 imagination and strong understanding of 
 human nature. Wit and humor were also 
 his to a certain extent together with an 
 unlimited command of loose, careless 
 though energetic diction, to which might 
 be added self assertion and absolute in-
 
 40 Charles Churchill 
 
 dependence. One thinks more of the pugil- 
 ist than the poet, when he looks upon the 
 literary arena of that day and realizes 
 what strong blows were being dealt by 
 this savage satirist. As compared with 
 Pope his invective is less polished and 
 without the point and sting of the delicate 
 cripple, yet it reaches home and in many 
 instances is as deadly. Churchill pours 
 forth a torrent of blasting ridicule. Pope 
 whispers a word in the ear of his enemy 
 which withers the heart ; Pope stabbed — 
 the other used the broadsword — and both 
 aimed to kill. Dryden was admittedly the 
 favorite model of the lesser poet, and his 
 versification is decidedly of the Drydenic 
 type. 
 
 As Lowell has said, however, Churchill's 
 poetry clung more especially to subjects 
 of contemporary interest. The awful in- 
 trigues of Newcastle and Bute, the 
 wretched squabbles of councillors and al- 
 dermen of that day, the petty quarrels of 
 forgotten players, formed themes which, 
 while feverish then, are forgotten now, 
 hence the somewhat transient character 
 of his verse.
 
 Charles Churchill 
 
 Of "The Rosciad," his most finished 
 production, we have no room for lengthy- 
 criticism or review. Many of its lines 
 are memorable, many are not. "The 
 Prophecy of Famine" on the other hand 
 contains : 
 
 "No birds except as birds of passage flew" 
 
 and the famous line : 
 
 "Where half starved spiders prey on half 
 starved flies," 
 
 but on the whole, this is inferior to other 
 and less pretentious pieces of a later 
 date. In "The Ghost" there is a picture 
 of Dr. Johnson, well and carefully drawn, 
 and we have no doubt but that the ad- 
 mirable lexicographer resented this with 
 his most mighty heart and soul. Again 
 in the "Dedication to Bishop Warburton" 
 we feel a strain of terrible irony and 
 sarcasm, the like of which could only be 
 incited by that bitter enmity, which truly 
 existed. His last production of note, "The 
 Journey," is interesting not only in this 
 sense but also hecause it contains some 
 affecting personal allusions, and some
 
 4-2 Charles Churchill 
 
 stinging scorn — moralizing we might 
 term it at tliis day, showing that in spite 
 of what had been done, good could be 
 found in his breast, if but searched for. 
 
 Two other poems "The Author" and 
 "Gotham" are usually included in the 
 anthologies, and the former had the rare 
 good fortune to please the critics. Less 
 successful was the other, though there 
 are some good lines, and indeed we might 
 add to the list until the full catalog of 
 titles (and there are not a great number) 
 would appear. In this connection, how- 
 ever, we can but refer those who wish to 
 make a close study of the man and his 
 work, to some collected edition, and only 
 ask that they look upon the poet and his 
 defects with a kindly eye and "give praise 
 where praise is due." 
 
 "Churchill the poet is dead," wrote Wal- 
 pole to Mann on the 15th of November. 
 "The meteor blazed scarce four years. 
 He is dead, to the great joy of the Minis- 
 try and the Scotch, and to the grief of 
 very few indeed, I believe ; for such a 
 friend is not only dangerous but a ticklish 
 possession."
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF 
 THE TORCH PRESS 
 CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA 
 
 Smith, Alexander. A Shelf in My Book Case. 
 (Out of print). 
 
 Savage^ the 'Roke—Chattertott, the Precocious 
 Youth. By William Harvey Miner. (Out 
 of print). 
 
 Suckling, Sir John. Selected Poems, with an 
 introduction by Luther A. Brewer. 
 
 Wilde, Oscar. A Sketch of the Man and Notices 
 of some of his Books. By Willis Vickery. 
 
 Herrick, Robert, Pagan Priest. By Clarence 
 LaRue Madden. 
 
 Churchill, Charles, Vagabond Poet. By William 
 Har^'ey Miner. 
 
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