GILPIN, REV. WILLIAM, was born in 1724. Having taken orders, he lived for some time on a curacy in the north, among his relations; but having only a small fortune, and marrying a young lady, his cousin, whose fortune also was small, and having but little hope of patronage in the church, he removed into the neighbourhood of London, and took a school at Chcam, in Surrey, which he conducted skilfully and successfully for many years. Some of his pupils acquired distinction, among them were Viscount Sidmouth, Lord Bexley, and 5litford, the author of the 'History of Greece.' Mr. Gilpin is said, by the friend who has drawn a very pleasing picture of his life and manners, to have resolved to retire from the duties of a schoolmaster whenever he had realised 10,0001.; and having at length succeeded in this, it fortunately happened for him that about the same time his former pupil, Colonel Mitford, presented him to the living of Boldre, on the borders of the New Forest, Hamp shire. To this village Mr. Gilpin retired, and there be spent the remainder of his life, scarcely ever leaving it, in the active discharge of the duties 9f a village pastor, and being, like his venerable ancestor, a blessing to the place. He died at Boldre, April 5, 1804.
Mr. Gilpin however is not to be regarded only in his private character of a good schoolmaster and an excellent parish pastor; ho has enriched the literature of his country with several valuable writings in various departments. His first work was a 'Life of Bernard Gilpin,' and it was soon succeeded by a 'Life of Latimer,' who bore some resemblance to Gilpin. At a later period of life he published lives of Cranmer, Wicliff, Huss, Jerome of Prague, and Zisca. Ho was the author also of a body of Lectures on the Church Catechism,' an 'Exposition on the New Testament,' a 'Treatise on the Amusements of Clergymen,' and 'Sermons for Country Congre gations.' These works are all written in a style of simplicity which is
singularly engaging.
But Mr. Gilpin was a person of a remarkably refined taste, as is evinced by writings of his of a class entirely 'distinct from those we have enumerated. These are his volumes in which he has illus trated, both by his pencil and his pen, the picturesque beauty of some parts of England, and, generally, the principles of beauty in laud:cape. The first of these works was published in 1790, In two volumes, Eve; It was entitled ' Observations relative chiefly to Pictu resque Beauty, made in the year 1774, in several parts of Great Britain, particularly the Highlands of Scotland.' This was followed by two other volumes of the same character, the greater part of them relating to the lake country of Cumberland and Westmoreland. Two volumes more, on 'Forget Scenery,' succeeded. Besides these, there are his ' Essays on Picturesque Beauty;' Picturesque Travels and the Art of Sketching Landscapes;' Observations on the River Wye;' 'Picturesque Remarks on the Western parts of England,' and an 'Essay on Prints.' There form a body of works which were well received by the public at the times of their appearance, and which are now gathered into the libraries of the tasteful and the curious. Some ' Observations on the Coasts of Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent,' were published after his decease.
For the principal part of this article we have been indebted to a memoir on his life, with extracts from his correspondence, inserted in a periodical work published at Bath, and intitled ' The Omnium Ostlierum: The writer is understood to be the Rev. Richard Warner, who was sometime curate to Mr. Oilpin.