The Farmers Boy | Page 5

prosecute his Brother, Mr. G.
Bloomfield, for teaching him. Chamberlayne requested of the Brother
to go on and bring it to a Trial; for that he would defend it; and that
neither George nor Robert should be hurt.
In the mean time George was much insulted for having refus'd to join
upon this occasion those who call'd themselves, exclusively, the
_Lawful Crafts_. George, who says he was never famed for patience,
(it is not indeed so much as might be sometimes wish'd, very often the
lot of strong and acute minds to possess largely of this virtue,) took his
pen, and address'd a Letter to one of the most active of their
Committee-men (a man of very bad character). In this, after stating that
he took Robert at his Mother's request, he made free as well with the
private character of this man as with the views of the Committee.
"This," says George, "was very foolish; for it made things worse: but I
felt too much to refrain."
What connects this episodical circumstance with the character of our
Author follows in his brother's words.
"Robert naturally fond of Peace, and fearful for my personal safety,
begg'd to be suffer'd to retire from the storm."
"He came home; and Mr. AUSTIN kindly bade him take his house for
his home till he could return to me. And here, with his mind glowing
with the fine Descriptions of rural scenery which he found in
THOMSON'S SEASONS, he again retrac'd the very fields where first

he began to think. Here, free from the smoke,[Footnote: But one word
is altered in this Description; which reminds one of the
_Omitte
mirari beatae
Fumum et opes_ Strepitumque Romae. L.]
the noise,
the contention of the city, he imbibed that Love of rural Simplicity and
rural Innocence, which fitted him, in a great degree, to be the writer of
such a thing as the Farmer's Boy."
"Here he liv'd two Months:... at length, as the dispute in the trade still
remain'd undecided, Mr. DUDBRIDGE offer'd to take Robert
Apprentice, to secure him, at all events, from any consequences of the
Litigation."
He was bound by Mr. Ingram_, of _Bell-alley_, to Mr. _John
Dudbridge. His Brother George_ paid five shillings for _Robert, by
way of form, as a premium. Dudbridge was their Landlord, and a
Freeman_ of the _City of London. He acted most honourably, and took
no advantage of the power which the Indentures gave him. George
Bloomfield_ staid with _Robert till he found he could work as expertly
as his self.
Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD adds, "When I left London he was
turned of eighteen; [Footnote: This should seem to require correction
by setting the Age forward according to the Dates above stated. C.L.]
and much of my happiness since has arisen from a constant
correspondence which I have held with him."
"After I left him, he studied Music, and was a good player on the
Violin."
"But as my Brother Nat_ had married a _Woolwich woman, it happen'd
that Robert took a fancy to MARY-ANNE CHURCH, a comely young
woman of that town, whose Father is a boat-builder in the Government
yard there. He married 12th Dec. 1790."[Footnote: This Date from the
Author. C.L.] "Soon after he married, Robert told me, in a Letter, that
'he had sold his Fiddle and got a Wife.' Like most poor men, he got a
wife first, and had to get household-stuff afterward. It took him some
years to get out of ready furnished Lodgings. At length, by hard

working, &c. he acquired a Bed of his own, and hired the room up one
pair of stairs at 14, _Bellalley, Coleman-street_. The Landlord kindly
gave him leave to sit and work in the light Garret, two pair of stairs
higher."
"In this Garret, amid six or seven other workmen, his active Mind
employ'd itself in composing the Farmer's Boy."
"In my correspondence I have seen several poetical effusions of his; all
of them of a good moral tendency; but which he very likely would
think do him little credit: on that account I have not preserv'd them."
"ROBERT is a Ladies Shoemaker_, and works for DAVIES,
_Lombard-street. He is of a slender make; of about 5 F. 4 I. high; very
dark complexion.... His MOTHER, who is a very religions member of
the _Church of England_, took all the pains she could in his infancy to
make him pious: and as his Reason expanded, his love of God and Man
increas'd with it. I never knew his fellow for mildness of temper and
Goodness of Disposition. And since I left him, universally is he prais'd
by those who know him best, for the best of Husbands, an indulgent
Father, and quiet Neighbour. He is between thirty-three and four years
old,[Footnote: Corrected from the above Date,