JOHN BENNET OF WOODSTOCK, PARISH CLERK AND POET.
The name of Bennet occurs once more in our list, and in this instance, if classed at all, it should be classed with the poets, although it must be confessed that the claim of John Bennet to that honorable title would hardly be allowed in some quarters. This little local celebrity inherited the office of parish clerk from his father, and with it some degree of musical taste, for his father’s psalm-singing is said to have charmed the ear of Thomas Warton, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and sometime curate of Woodstock. John Bennet, junior, succeeded to the clerkship in Warton’s time, and thus came under the notice of the kindly clergyman, who was a generous patron of men of this class. When Bennet took to writing poetry and thought of publishing, Warton gave him every assistance in his power. A poor uneducated poet could scarcely have fallen into better hands, for the young curate was geniality itself, if we may judge from the estimate of him formed by Southey, who speaks of his “thorough good nature and the boyish hilarity which he retained through life,“ and furthermore adds, ”The Woodstock shoemaker was chiefly indebted for the patronage which he received to Thomas Warton’s good-nature, for my predecessor was the best-natured man that ever wore a great wig.“[136] The shoemaker’s poetry was ”published by subscription” in 1774, and the long list of notable names speaks well for the industry and influence of the patron to whose efforts the splendid array of subscribers must be attributed. Bennet’s poetry, which was not of a very high order of merit, consisted chiefly of simple rhymes on rustic themes, in which he does not forget to sing the praises of the gentleman-like craft to which he belongs; nor does he hesitate frankly to declare that his reason for publishing his rhymes is “to enable the author to rear an infant offspring, and to drive away all anxious solicitude from the breast of a most amiable wife.” Later in life he published another volume, having for its chief piece a poem entitled “Redemption;” and, as a set-off, a kindly preface by Dr. Mavor, Rector of Woodstock. This honest parish clerk of poetical fame died and was buried at Woodstock on the 8th of August, 1803.
RICHARD SAVAGE, THE FRIEND OF POPE.
A far better poet but a far less worthy man than Bennet of Woodstock or Woodhouse of Rowley was Richard Savage, the friend of Pope. From beginning to end the story of his life, as told by Dr. Johnson in his “Lives of the Poets,” is one of the most romantic and melancholy biographies in existence. It only concerns us here to say that Richard Savage, the reputed[137] son of Earl Rivers and the Countess of Macclesfield, was, on leaving school, apprenticed to a shoemaker, and remained in this humble position “longer than he was willing to confess; nor was it, perhaps, any great advantage to him that an unexpected discovery determined him to quit his occupation.” Dr. Johnson thus speaks of this discovery and its immediate results: “About this time his nurse, who had always treated him as her own son, died; and it was natural for him to take care of those effects which, by her death, were, as he imagined, become his own. He therefore went to her house, opened her boxes, and examined her papers, among which he found some letters written to her by the Lady Mason, which informed him of his birth and the reason for which it was concealed. Dissatisfied with his employment, but unable to obtain either pity or help from his mother, to whom he made many tender appeals, he resolved to devote himself to literature. His first attempt in this line was a short poem called ‘The Battle of the Pamphlets,’ written anent the Bangorian Controversy; and his second a comedy under the title ‘Woman’s Riddle.’ Two years after appeared another comedy, ‘Love in a Veil.’ In 1723 he wrote a drama, having for its subject certain events in the life of Sir Thomas Overbury. Previous to the publication of a small volume entitled ‘A Miscellany of Poems,’ Savage wrote the story of his life in a political paper called The Plain Dealer. His best poem, ‘The Wanderer,’ in which are some pathetic passages referring to himself, was published in 1729.” For the story of the life of this unhappy man the reader must be referred to Johnson’s “Lives.” Savage died in the debtors’ prison, Bristol, August 1st, 1743.
THOMAS OLIVERS, HYMN-WRITER, FRIEND AND COWORKER WITH JOHN WESLEY.
It is a relief to turn from the thought of Savage to Thomas Olivers, one of John Wesley’s most intimate friends and zealous coworkers. We have seen already how prominent a part another shoemaker played in the Methodist revival;[138] but Olivers is perhaps better known to the general public than Samuel Bradburn, for the latter has left no mark on our literature, while the former has made a name among hymn-writers as the author of several excellent hymns, and of one, in particular, which holds a place of first rank in Christian hymnology. Olivers’ fame outside Methodism rests chiefly on the fine hymn beginning—
“The God of Abram praise,
Who reigns enthroned above,