[1]. Her works are “Dinarbas,” a sort of supplement to Johnson’s “Rasselas,” published in 1790; “Marcus Flaminius: a View of the Military, Political, and Social Life of the Romans,”—a classical novel in two volumes, which, originally published in 1792, reached a second edition in 1808; and “A Description of Latium, or La Campagna di Roma, with Etchings by the Author,” which appeared in 1805.
[2]. Sir Joseph, then Lieut. Knight, obtained his first ship, the Ruby, 50, on the 31st July, 1746, and in the following year he sailed with Admiral Boscawen’s fleet to the East Indies, whence he returned with Commodore Lisle’s squadron, of which he took the command, as senior captain, on that officer’s death at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1758, Captain Knight was appointed to the Fougueux, 64, and greatly distinguished himself under Admiral Keppel at the attack on the French settlement of Goree on the African coast. He afterwards commanded the Belleisle, and, in 1770, took out troops to Gibraltar in the Ramilies, 74. On his return he was appointed to the Ocean, 90, stationed at Portsmouth. At the grand naval review on the 24th June, 1773, he was knighted by his Majesty on board the Barfleur, under the royal standard of England. On the 31st of March, 1775, Sir Joseph Knight was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white, but died on the 8th of September following, after spending fifty-two years of his life in the service of his king and country.
[3]. Wortley Montagu, son of the famous Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and the first Englishman ever inoculated. He showed early symptoms of an unsettled character, impatient of control, by three times running away from Westminster School. Later in life he turned Roman Catholic, and subsequently embraced Mahomedanism. He was the author of “Reflections on the Rise and Fall of the Ancient Republics.”
[4]. Sir Anthony Dean was great-grandson of Mr. William Dean, a Lancashire gentleman, who united the three manors of Hosedens, Caxtons, and Dynes, about the year 1575. Sir Anthony, says Holman, “being very much addicted to the Parliamentary cause, and presuming the structure then raised would have stood for ever, exchanged his fair estate here with Colonel Sparrow for Hide Park, which that colonel had obtained in consideration of his zeal for the same prevailing cause. Thus he lost the substance for the shadow.” The crest of the Dean family was: On a torse ermine, and sable, a boar’s head couped or, muzzled gules.
[5]. Miss Palmer, frequently mentioned in Madame D’Arblay’s Memoirs. After Sir Joshua’s death she married Lord Inchiquin.
[6]. Bennet Langton, who succeeded Dr. Johnson as Professor of Ancient History in the Royal Academy.
[7]. The well-known Topham Beauclerk, son of Lord Sydney Beauclerk, of whom Dr. Johnson said: “Beauclerk’s talents were those which he had felt himself more disposed to envy than those of any he had known.”
[8]. Joseph Baretti was a native of Piedmont. He published an Italian and English dictionary, and several other works of less importance. Miss Burney says of him in 1779: “Baretti worries me about writing—asks a million of questions of how much I have written, and so forth, and when I say ‘Nothing,’ he raves and rants and says he could beat me.” He was for some years Foreign Secretary to the Royal Academy.
[9]. Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, author of an “Essay on the Genius and Learning of Shakspeare.” She also wrote three “Dialogues of the Dead,” which were printed with Lord Lyttleton’s.