Page:Life of Edmond Malone.djvu/26

6 A promising career here carried him to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1756, where in due time he became bachelor of arts. Richard, his elder brother, had been entered in 1754, and in 1758 removed to Christchurch, Oxford. The talents of Edmond were more than respectable; he ran the race of competition among fellow-students with considerable applause, particularly in an Ode on the Marriage of his Majesty George III. This offspring of juvenile loyalty occupies more than one hundred and fifty lines; was published in Dublin in a thin quarto in 1761, with ten others from the University on the same theme; six of which (two in Latin) were by his chosen friends, then, as in after life, Kearney, Hussey, Southwell, and Chetwood. I have in my possession a prize volume of poetry, Somerville’s Chase, given him in 1760. Likewise some of his exercise books, gleaned from among the old book-shops in London. The ode will be found at the end of this volume.

Steady, rather than shining powers, formed his characteristic feature. He had determined to accomplish anything he took in hand—to take a comprehensive view of subjects of study, and not to quit what he had once begun till the details or principles were mastered. This quality, the basis of all solid knowledge, is rarely popular with youth. Light minds are content with light or superficial acquisitions; and the sedate student occasionally found himself open to the jest or the neglect of more volatile companions. He might be considered then as shadowing forth symptoms of the future critic.