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 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

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is no where mentioned,) was born in the connty of Kilkenny, of parents poor and illite- rate. Nothing is recorded of her until her ei^teenth year, when we are told br Mrs. Pil- kington that she was bronght to her father to be instructed in midwifery, and that then she was a perfect mistress of the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French languages, and was far advanced in the study of the mathematics. Mis. Filkington having inquired of her where she gained this prodigious knowledge, she modestly replied, that when she could spare time from her needle work, to which she was closely kept by her mother, she had received some little instruction from the minister of the parish. She wrote elegantly, says Mrs. P. both in veise and prose; but the turn of her mind was chiefly to philo- sophical or divine subjects ; nor was her piety inferior to her learning. The most delightful hours, this lady declares, that she had ever passed, were in the society and conversation of this pupil, and gave her a general invitation to his table, by which means we were rarely asunder." Whether it was owing to her own design, or to her envy of those who survived her, I know not, but of her various and beautiful writings I have never seen any published, excepting one poem of hers, in the works of Mr. Barber. Her turn, it is true, was principally to philosophical or rdigious subjects, which might not be agree- able to the present taste; yet could her heavenly mind descend from its sublimest heights to the easy and epistolary style, and suit itself to my then gay dic^sition. Mrs. Barber, likewise, gives her testimonv to the merit of Constantia, of whom she declares " that she was not only happy in a fine imagination, a great memory, an excellent understanding, and an exact judg- ment, but had all these crowned by virtue and piety. She was too learned to be vain, too wise to be conceited, and too clear-sighted to be ir- religious. As her learning and abilities raised her above her own sex, so they left her no room to envy any ; on the contrary, tier delight was tu see others excel. She was always ready to direct and advise those who applied to her, and was herself willing to be advised. So litUe did she value herself upon her uncommon excellencies, that she has often recalled to my mind a fine reflection of a French author, 'That great geniuses should be superior to their own abili- ties.' " Constantia married Mr. George Grier- 8on, a printer, in Dublin, for whom lord Carteret, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, obtained a patent appointing him printer to the king, in which, to distinguish and reward the merit of his wife, her life was inserted. Mrs. Grierson died at the premature age of twenty-seven, admired and respected as an excellent scholar in Greek and Roman literature, in histw, theology, philoso-
 * • female philosopher." " My father," adds she,
 * ^ readily consented to accept of Constantia as a

eiy, and mathematics. The dedication of the ubiin edition of Tacittu to Lord Carteret, afibrds a convincing proof of her knowledge in the Latin tongue ; and by that of Terence to

his son, to whom she wrote a Greek epigram. Dr. Hayward esteems her Tacitia one of* the best edited books ever published. She wrote many fine poems in English, but esteeme<l them so slightly, that very few copies of them were to be found after her decease. What makes her character more remarkable is, that she rose to this extraordinary eminence entirely by the force of natural genius and uninterrupted application. She was in the early part of her life an excellent compositor, and an admirable adept in the art of printing. The following lines were annually printed from a press fixed upon a car, and d^- tributed in the street procession of printers, on the lord mayor's day, in DuUin:

Hall, mystie art I which men like angels tanght. To apeak to eyes, and paint embodied thoutrht ! The deaf and dumb, blest skill, relieved by thee. We make one sense perform the task of three. We see— we hear — we tonch the head and heart. And take or give what each but yidds In part i With the hard laws of distance we dispense. And, without sound, apart, commnne in sense j View, though confln'd,— nay, rule this earthly bell, And travel o'er the wide expanded all. Dead letters thus with liring uotioos fraught, Prove tn the soul the telescope of thought ; To mortal life immortal honour give, And bid all deeds and titles last and live. In scanty Ufe, Eternity we taste. View the first ages, and inform the last; Alts, History, Laws, we purchase wlUt a look, And keep like Fate, all nature in a Book.

The following epigram was written by Mrs. Grierson, to the bon. Mr. PerciTal,with Hutchin- son's Trtatite on Beauty and Order :

Th' internal senses painted here we see, They're born in others, but they live in thee : Oh ! were our author with thy converse blest. Could he behold thy virtues tn thy breast. His needless labours with contempt he'd view, And bid the world not read — but copy you.

Mrs. Grierson had a son, whom she instructed herself, and who was likewise king's printer in Dublin.* He is mentioned by Dr. Johnson with great respect, and was a man of great learning, wit, and vivacity. He died in Germany, at the age of twenty-seven years.

P. Ovidii Natontii Melamorpkoeeon Libri XV. Interpretalione, 4rc. Notit, ad Utum $erenunmi Delpkini. London, 1708, 8vo. Reprinted, 1719, 1730, &c. &c. Cttm AnnoUUionibus Variorum. Dublin, 1729, 4to. A correct and splendid edition, printed by Mr. Grierson. Large paper.

1733. J)ied,JoHS Dunton, bookseller, printer, and miscellaneous writer, who resided at the sign of the Black Raven, in Princess-street, London. This eccentric bookseller was born May 14, 1659, at Grafi'ham, in Huntingdonshire, where his father was then rector. When nearly fifteen, he was apprenticed to Mr. Parkhurst, bookseller, and before the expiration of his ap- prenticeship Dunton made himself conspicuous m the great political dispute between the tones and whigs, he being a prime mover on the part

by the seme family, under the firm of G. J. <c T. Grierson.
 * The office of kbig*! printer for Ireland is still enjoyed

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