The poem, which comprises ten stanzas, at once became generally popular; it was his first production in verse, and gained the admiration of Chalmers and the praise of Bishop Monk, the latter pronouncing it “one of the most exquisite specimens in existence.” It is commonly supposed that the Phœbe of the pastoral was Bentley’s witty and accomplished daughter, “Jug,” who, Bishop Monk says, “from her earliest youth captivated the hearts of the young collegians,” and for whom Byrom is said, though without any evidence, to have conceived a passion. It is more than likely that he wished to attract the attention of Bentley, who was an ardent admirer of the Spectator, and who, finding in its columns a poem of such merit from one of his own college might be induced to use his influence in obtaining for the author the fellowship which Byrom so much desired. Certain it is that he got the fellowship he had previously despaired of, and did not gain the hand of Bentley’s daughter, that young lady a few years afterwards becoming the wife of Dr. Dennison Cumberland, afterwards Bishop of Clonfert and Killaloe, the issue of the marriage being Richard Cumberland, the well-known dramatic writer.
The year following his election to a fellowship of his college (1714) Byrom proceeded to his master’s degree. The ardent aspirations of his father that he should enter the Church were not, however, to be realised, for in 1716 he was obliged by the statutes of his college to vacate his fellowship in consequence of his declining to be admitted to holy orders. The reason of this is not very clear, but it is evident from his correspondence that he had then become strongly imbued with Jacobitism, and, in the unsettled state of society consequent upon the Hanoverian succession and the determined efforts that were made to restore the crown to the exiled Stuarts, he may have felt a desire to be free from the obligations his ordination vows would impose. Be that as it may, he visited the continent in 1717, and remained for some time in seclusion. There was some mystery about his movements at the time, and it has been surmised that his retirement was not altogether unconnected with politics, if, indeed, it was not for the actual purpose of fomenting another Jacobite insurrection. During his stay he met with Malebranche’s “Search after Truth,” and some pieces of Mademoiselle Bourignon, the consequence of which was that he became strongly impressed with the visionary philosophy of the former, and the enthusiastic extravagance of the latter. He resided for a while at Montpelier, where he applied himself to the study of medicine. His brother Edward, writing to him on the 17th August, 1717, says:—
I hope you have improved yourself in physic since your being there (Montpelier). I would gladly have you employ yourself that way, and you need not doubt of encouragement here. Not one person but ourselves knows where you are, but we think now to let our friends know that you are studying physic at Montpelier.... You may save yourself any trouble of inquiring after Mr. Roberts, for he is in these parts, but thinks himself excepted out of the act of grace, as are all persons who have gone beyond seas, or all who have been with the Pretender.
While away there was a probability of the librarianship of the Chetham Library falling vacant, a post which Byrom was rather anxious to obtain, though the emoluments were very small. In a letter to his brother, written from Montpelier, January 3, 1718, he writes:—
My wife (his youngest sister Phœbe, whom he playfully spoke of by that name) writes me word that Mr. Lesley, your library keeper, is going to die; that the feoffees ask if I will have the place. I could like it very well, but I suppose it tied to certain engagements which I do not like so well; I suppose the feoffees (are) at liberty to give it to one in or out of orders, but whether he must take the oaths or no depends not upon them. If I may be as I am, I shall be glad to visit the skeleton. You all invite me home very kindly, and in spring I think to come to you by way of Paris, if you know of no other by any of the ports. I have nothing should tempt me from your company at present but the occasion of a little insight into physic in this place.
The “insight” having apparently been obtained, he returned to England, and on the 3rd May he writes a hurried note to his brother from Cambridge.
The post is this moment going out, so I run to the coffee-house to return you an answer in haste to yours, and let you know that I should be very willing to have the library, and am very much obliged to you for your pains in engaging the feoffees; if you can be sure of it, let me know further; it will be better worth while than staying for a doubtful chance of a fellowship whose profit will be slow in coming; besides, ’tis in Manchester, which place I love entirely.
Whether admission to orders was a condition, or the taking the oaths an obstacle, is not clear, but, though Byrom returned to Manchester, he did not succeed to the office.
The prospect of the librarianship of Chetham’s Library was not the only inducement for Byrom to settle in his native town. His uncle, Joseph Byrom, had a pretty daughter, then blooming into womanhood, who had made an impression on his susceptible heart, and, in short, the ardent young Jacobite, who awhile before had penned verses in praise of Bentley’s fascinating daughter—