SIX BIOGRAPHIES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18674, 24 April 1926, Page 13

SIX BIOGRAPHIES.

• • (By D.N.B. in the "Nation.") GEORGE LILLO (1693-1739). George Lillo, jeweller (of Dutch descent), Turned playwright with didactical intent, Urged , the importance of the commonplace, And used plain prose to dialogue Disgrace. "Apprentice ruined by a courtesan," And "Rustic maid seduced by scoundrel farmer"'; ■ Such were the plots which made this .worthy man Tho pioneer of modern melodrams. ROGER PAYKE (1739-1797). On olive-brown. morocco, a design Of elegant devices, gilt but plain: Star,'crescent, circlet, acorn, running vine, Shone paramount, employed by Roger Payne. Contrast with this Payne's ragged outer.'cover; His squalid face, forever at a tankard; Arrogant, improvident, cross-grained, and cankered; And (if you trust externals) you'll discovnr That men whom you've disparaged for their looks ' May cam your approbation bytbeir books. SAMUEL ROGERS (1763-1855). Rogers, who primmed and pruned, to woll or worse ' The desiccated laurel of his verse, And breathed for ninety years (without a wife) ■ ' The literary atmosphere of life, Respectably survives his bland meridian, A man of taste whose talents were quotidian. GEOBGB WOMB WELL (1778-1850). No one was once more famous at a Fair Than Wombwell with his wisened wine-red skin. From the capricious purchase of a pair. Of boa-constrictors his displays begin. In later years his stock-in-trade Includes A score of lions and caravans twice twenty; Though rich with anecdote his life eludes Analysis. He died in peace and plenty. TAUNT UMPHELBY <I7BB-1863). "Who was this Fanny Umphelbyf" you ask ... . She lived in Leatherhead and died at Bow; Hade Education a congenial task. And taught mild infanta all they ought to know. Pensive she sits.,—the Urbane's genteel disseminant,— Nibbling her pencil in an arboar shady; Authoress of that compendium, once preeminent. Called "The Child's Guide to Knowledge; by a Lady." THOMAS HAYHEB BAYLY (1797-1839.) "We met—'twas In a Crowd"; "The Soldier's Tear"; "I'd be a Butterfly"; and. beat of all, *'Bbe wore a Wreath of Roses"; songs we hear But seldom tow; yet Bayly .wrote them all. The 1820 charmer, with high-waist, Brown ringlets, ostrich-feathers, and gold , locket. Warbled them languishing!?. Modern taste Reacts from hers; and would, I' fancy, shock it. .