The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland/Volume 4/Dr. George Sewel
Dr. George Sewel.
This ingenious gentleman was the eldeſt ſon of Mr. John Sewel, treaſurer, and chapter-clerk of the college of Windſor, in which place our poet was born. He received his education at Eton ſchool, was afterwards ſent to the univerſity of Cambridge, and took the degree of bachelor of phyſic at Peter-houſe College. He then paſſed over to Leyden, and ſtudied under the famous Boerhaave, and afterwards returned to London, where for ſeveral years he practiſed as a Phyſician. He had a ſtrong propenſion for poetry, and has favoured the world with many performances much applauded. In the year 1719 he introduced upon the ſtage is tragedy of Sir Walter Raleigh, taken from the hiſtorical account of that great man’s fate. He was chiefly concerned in writing the fifth volume of the Tatler, and the ninth of the Spectator. He tranſlated, with ſome other gentlemen, the Metamorphoſes of Ovid, with very great ſucceſs, and rendered the Latin poems of Mr. Addiſon into Engliſh. Dr. Sewel made an attempt, which he had not leiſure to execute, of tranſlating Quillet’s Callipedia, which was afterwards done by Rowe. He is the author of ſeveral miſcellanous poems, of which the following is as accurate an account as we could poſſibly obtain.
On Conſcience, Beauty, the Force of Muſic, Song of Troilus, &c. dedicated to the Duke of Newcaſtle.
To his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, upon his going into Germany 1712. This poem begins thus,
Go, mighty prince, and thoſe great nations ſee,
Which thy victorious arms made free;
View that fam’d column, where thy name’s engrav’d,
Shall tell their children who their empire ſav’d.
Point out that marble where thy worth is ſhewn
To every grateful country but thy own.
A Deſcription of the Field of Battle, after Cæſar was Conqueror at Pharſalia, from the Seventh Book of Lucan.
The Patriot.
Tranſlations from Lucan, occaſioned by the Tragedy of Cato.
The Fifth Elegy of the Firſt Book of Tibullus, tranſlated, and addreſſed to Delia.
An Apology for Loving a Widow.
The Fifth Pſalm Paraphraſed.
A Poetical Epiſtle, written from Hampſtead to Mr. Thornhill, upon Mr. Addiſon’s Cato.
An Epiſtle to Mr. Addiſon on the Death of the Earl of Hallifax. This poem begins thus,
And ſhall great Hallifax reſign to fate,
And not one bard upon his aſhes wait?
Or is with him all inſpiration fled,
And lye the muſes with their patron dead?
Convince us, Addiſon, his ſpirit reigns,
Breathing again in thy immortal ſtrains:
To thee the liſt’ning world impartial bends,
Since Hallifax and envy now are friends.
Dr. Sewel, in his ſtate principles, was inclined to the cauſe of the Tories, and takes every occaſion to combat with the biſhop of Saliſbury, who had ſo eminently appeared in the cauſe of the Whigs.
The following is a liſt of his proſe works, in which there are ſome letters addreſſed to, and animadverſions upon that eminent prelate’s works.
The Clergy, and the Preſent Miniſtry defended; being a Letter to the Biſhop of Saliſbury, occaſioned by his Lordſhip’s new Preface to his Paſtoral Caſe, 8 vo. 1713, third Edition that year. In a fourth Edition (ſame date) this is called Mr. Sewel’s Firſt Letter to the Biſhop of Saliſbury, the Clergy, &c.
A Second Letter to the Biſhop of Saliſbury, upon the Publication of his new Volume of Sermons, wherein his Lordſhip’s Preface concerning the Revolution, and the Caſe of the Lord Ruſſel are examined, &c. 8 vo. 1713.
Remarks upon a Pamphlet entitled Obſervations upon the State of the Nation 1712–13, third Edition; to which is added a Poſtſcript to the Vindicator of the Earl of Nottingham, 8 vo. 1714.
An Introduction to the Life and Writings of G——t Lord Biſhop of S——m, &c. being a Third Letter to the Biſhop of Saliſbury, 8 vo. 1716.
A Vindication of the Engliſh Stage, exemplified in the Cato of Mr. Addiſon. In a Letter to a Nobleman, 8 vo. 1716.
Schiſm deſtructive of the Government, both in Church and State; being a Defence of the Bill intitled An Act to prevent the Growth of Schiſm; wherein all the Objections againſt it, and particularly thoſe in ’Squire Steele’s Letter are fully Refuted. Humbly offered to the Conſideration of the Houſe of Lords, 8 vo. 1714, ſecond Edition.
More News from Saliſbury, viz. 1. An Examination of ſome Parts of the Biſhop of Sarum’s Sermon and Charge, &c. 8 vo. 1714.
The Reaſons for writing againſt the Biſhop of Saliſbury, 8 vo. 1714.
The Life of Mr. John Philips, Author of the Poem on Cyder.
Dr. Sewel died at Hampſtead in Middleſex, where, in the latter part of his life, he had practiſed phyſic, on the 8th of February 1726, and was buried there. He ſeems to have been a man of an amiable diſpoſition, and to have poſſeſſed a very conſiderable genius.
