Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/189

 thoroughly conversant he was with its early history and what it had done for art, and how this had been retained in his memory through more than fifty years, was shown when, speaking in the House of Lords (4 March 1859) on the proposed removal of the Academy from the National Gallery to Burlington House, he brought forward all the circumstances attending its establishment with as much freshness and fluency as if they were of recent occurrence. His wish in youth was to be an architect, but of this his father would not hear. He had formed a high estimate of his son's abilities; and, as these seemed especially fitted to win distinction at the bar, young Copley was sent to be educated, with a view to the legal profession, to Cambridge, where he was entered as a pensioner at Trinity College on 8 July 1790. He had every motive to make the best use of his time at the university. His father was not rich, and was dependent on a precarious profession. With an intellect so keen and a memory of unusual tenacity, it was comparatively easy for young Copley to cover a wide field of study, not only in literature, but also in mathematics, physics, and mechanical science. In the mathematical tripos of 1794 he took his degree as second wrangler, being beaten by the senior wrangler of the year, George Butler [q. v.], afterwards headmaster of Harrow and dean of Peterborough. A failure in health alone prevented him from coming out as senior wrangler. ‘My health,’ he writes to his father (17 Jan. 1794) in announcing this fact, ‘was my only enemy. I am the more pleased at my place, as this study (mathematics) has only been adopted by me within these nine months, whereas several of my opponents have been labouring for years. As I predicted, I am first in my own college.’ He also took the King William prize in the Michaelmas term 1794. On 19 May of the same year he was admitted a member of the Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn, and kept the Easter term there. Returning to the university, he obtained (10 Aug. 1795) the appointment of travelling bachelor, with a grant of 100l. a year for three years, and in the following month was elected a fellow of his college. At the end of 1795 he sailed for America, where, since the peace of 1784, friendly relations with England had been established. He was warmly welcomed in his native city of Boston, where his father's reputation as an artist stood very high. The chief object of his visit was, if possible, to recover a valuable property on Beacon Hill there which belonged to his father. It had been sold by Mr. Copley's agent in his absence without due authority, and the price never accounted for. Young Copley soon found that the transaction could not be annulled, and he was glad to compromise with the purchasers, who had bought the property in good faith, and who now agreed to pay 4,000l. to Copley to have their title confirmed. Had things turned out otherwise, Copley would undoubtedly have returned to America, and his son would probably have carried out an intention he for some time entertained of settling there as a farmer. Young Copley made a tour through the United States, with Volney, the French author, for a travelling companion during a portion of his travels. In admirable Latin letters, addressed to Dr. Bellward, the vice-chancellor of the university of Cambridge, he recorded the more important details of what he had seen, and so fulfilled his duty as a travelling bachelor. On his return to England he went back to Cambridge for a short period, and took the M.A. degree, 5 July 1796. He then devoted himself to the study of the law. His first practice was as a special pleader, his scanty briefs being mainly supplemented by the allowance attached to his fellowship, which he enjoyed up to 1804. His first chambers were in Essex Court, Temple, where he was installed in 1800, in which year his eldest and favourite sister was married to Mr. Gardiner Greene, a merchant of Boston, U.S. To Mr. Greene young Copley owed the funds which enabled him to be called to the bar. His prospects up to 1804 were so gloomy, that he thought seriously of forsaking the bar for the church. Of this his father would not hear, and wrote to Mr. Greene for assistance. It came promptly, and in acknowledging it (30 May 1804) young Copley writes to Mr. Greene: ‘Assisted by your friendship, I am about to launch my bark into a wider sea; I am not insensible to the dangers with which it abounds. But while to some it proves disastrous and fatal, to others it affords a passage to wealth, or, what is of more value than wealth, to reputation and honours.’ On 18 June 1804 he was called to the bar and joined the midland circuit. His great abilities were by this time recognised by his brethren at the bar. He worked hard, and was assiduous in attendance on the courts. Briefs came in, he continued to rise, but even in 1806, we are told, ‘the profits increase very, very slowly.’ During 1807 the progress grew more rapid—the work harder, and, though he was a brilliant talker, and enjoyed dances, he renounced society, finding it incompatible with the pressure of business. By this time, his mother writes, ‘his prospects are satisfactory, and remove our anxious concern on that score. He has made a great advance,