"H—d—y, with headstrong zeal inspired,
Vows he'll complete the work,
Whilst G—b—n tugs and boils in vain,
T' o'ertake the furious Y—r—k."
Which would lead one to infer that Hoadley was a competitor with Herring and Gibson.
J. F.
Kennington.
"The Birch: a Poem" (Vol. vii., p. 158.).—The poem entitled "The Birch," which you have printed at length in a recent Number, has long been familiar to me, though I believe it has never before been printed; and was written by the late Rev. Thomas Wilson, B.D., head master of the Free Grammar School of Clitheroe, Lancashire. He was author of An Archæological Dictionary, or Classical Antiquities of the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, dedicated to Dr. Johnson; which was highly esteemed, and passed through two editions: the first in 1782, the second, "with considerable additions," in 1793.
Mr. Wilson was a most amiable man, of great learning, taste, and humour; and universally respected and beloved by all his scholars, by all his townsmen, and by all the first families throughout the north of Lancashire. During his time, the school of Clitheroe was in the highest repute; and the annual return of the speech-day was the great local festival of the year—the occasion of general conviviality and good neighbourhood among the gentry of the district. On these occasions Mr. Wilson generally wrote a copy of verses, to be recited by some of the scholars: and I have no doubt that the statement in your correspondent's copy ought to be "recited by a boy of thirteen," for it was certainly written by Mr. Wilson, the head master.