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 ELIZABETH CARTER,

POET, ETC.

This lady, who has been styled "an ornament of her sex and an honour to her race" was born Dec. 16th, 1717, at Deal, where her father, was a minister. She early displayed a great desire for knowledge, and though naturally slow of apprehension, by unwearied perseverance she conquered all difficulties. She learned Greek and Latin from her father, and was so especially proficient in the former language, that Dr. Johnson said, concerning a celebrated scholar, that "he understood Greek better than anyone he knew except Elizabeth Carter." She also learned Hebrew, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. Her first essays at composition appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine under the signature of "Eliza." In 1738 she published a small volume of poems, and this was followed by translations from the French and Italian, and from the works of Epictetus. These productions, especially the last, made her acquainted with most of the literati of the day, including Johnson, Bishop Butler, Savage, Horace Walpole, Richardson, Reynolds, Burke, Hannah More, and Mrs. Vesey, the hostess of the Bas-Bleus. Miss Carter was never married, and lived to the age of eighty nine. Her memoirs were published by her nephew, the Rev. Montagu Pennington, in 1808, a perusal of which goes to show her as "one of the wisest of women and most devout of Christians."

[See the above, also "Brydges' Censura Literaria,"