Percival Stockdale (1736–1811) was an English poet, writer and reformer, active especially in opposing
slavery.
Biography
Born 26 October 1736 (O. S.) at
Branxton, Northumberland, he was the only child of Thomas Stockdale, vicar of the parish and perpetual curate of
Cornhill-on-Tweed, and his wife, Dorothy Collingwood of
Murton, Northumberland. After spending six years at
Alnwick grammar school, he went in 1751 to the grammar school at
Berwick-upon-Tweed. He became acquainted with the Greek and Latin classics, and acquired a taste for poetry.[1]
In 1754 Stockdale entered the
University of Aberdeen, with a bursary for the united colleges of St. Leonard and St. Salvador. The death of his father in 1755 left the family with money troubles, and he accepted the offer of a lieutenancy in the
Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He joined Admiral
John Byng 's fleet, which anchored in the
Bay of Gibraltar in May 1756. Stockdale, with part of his regiment, was on board
HMS Revenge, in the expedition sent, under the command of Byng and
Temple West, to the relief of the besieged garrison of St. Philip on
Menorca. He returned to England in October 1756, and in November 1757 he left the army with the pretext of poor health.[1]
After a brief time as tutor to the eldest son of
Lord Craven, Stockdale was presented in 1780 by Sir Adam Gordon to the rectory of
Hinxworth, Hertfordshire; while there he took priest's orders. In 1783
Lord-chancellor Thurlow presented him to the vicarage of
Lesbury, Northumberland, and to this the
Duke of Northumberland added the vicarage of
Long Houghton, in the same county. On 28 October 1784 Archbishop
John Moore conferred on him the
Lambeth degree of M.A.[1]
After paying a visit to
Tangier for the sake of his health, Stockdale returned to Lesbury in 1790.[1] His reaction to the
Haitian Revolution of 1792 put him among the radical
abolitionists.[2] With
William Roscoe, he defended the violence with which slaves liberated themselves.[3]
Stockdale died at Lesbury on 14 September 1811, and was buried at Cornhill-on-Tweed.[1][4]
Works
Stockdale's major work was The Poet (1773), a poem. He wrote also:[1]
A Poetical Address to the Supreme Being (Berwick [1764]),
Life of
Edmund Waller, prefixed to the poet's Works, 1772
Antiquities of Greece, translation from the Latin of
Lambert Bos, 1772
Three Discourses: two against Luxury and Dissipation, one on Universal Benevolence, 1773
Institutions, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient Nations, translation of
François Sabbathier, Les Mœurs, coutumes et usages des anciens peuples (3 vols. 1770–1)
Six Discourses, to which is prefixed an introduction containing a view of the genuine Ancient Philosophy, London, 1777
An Enquiry into the Nature and Genuine Laws of Poetry; including a particular defence of the Writings and Genius of Mr. Pope, 1778, against An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope (1756, 1782) by
Joseph Warton.
Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, 1778
Letters from Lord Rivers to Sir C. Cardigan, 1778, translation from
Marie Jeanne Riccoboni
An Examination of the Important Question whether Education at a Great School or by Private Tuition is preferable, London, 1782. The second part is an answer to Liberal Education, or a Practical Treatise on the Methods of acquiring Useful and Polite Learning (1781) by
Vicesimus Knox.[5]
Essay on Misanthropy, 1783
Sermons on Important and Interesting Subjects, 1784[6]
Ximenes, verse tragedy in five acts, not acted, 1788
Thirteen Sermons to Seamen, preached on board H.M.S. Leander in the Bay of Gibraltar, 1791
Letter to Granville Sharp, suggested by the present Insurrection of the Negroes in the Island of St. Domingo, 1791. A defence of the
St. Domingue Slave Revolt.[7]
Observations on the Writings and Conduct of our present Political and Religious Reformers, 1792
Poetical Thoughts and Views on the Banks of the Wear, 1792
Letter to Mr. Bryant, occasioned by his late Remarks on Mr. Pope's Universal Prayer, 1793
Edition of James Thomson's Seasons, with biography, 1793
Letter to a Gentleman of the Philanthropic Society on the Liberty of the Press, 1794
The Invincible Island: a poem, with introductory Observations on the present War, 1797
Letters between the Honourable and Right Reverend Shute, by Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of Durham ... and Percival Stockdale, 1798[8]
A Discourse on the Duties and Advantages of Old Age, Alnwick, 1801
A Remonstrance against Inhumanity to Animals, and particularly against the Savage Practice of Bull-Baiting, Alnwick, 1802
Verses on the abolition of the slave trade, 1804
Lectures on the truly eminent English Poets, 1807
Poems, a selection, 1808
Memoirs of his Life and Writings, containing many interesting Anecdotes of the Illustrious Men with whom he was connected, 2 vols. 1809.
A letter from Percival Stockdale to Granville Sharp, Esq., suggested to the authour by the present insurrection of the Negroes in the island of St. Domingo. , 1811
Stockdale famously eulogized
Samuel Johnson's cat
Hodge in his An Elegy on a Friend's Favourite Cat. The poem appeared in the Universal Magazine for May 1771.[9]
References
Howard D. Weinbrot, Samuel Johnson, Percival Stockdale, and Brick-Bats from Grubstreet: Some Later Response to the "Lives of the Poets", Huntington Library Quarterly Vol. 56, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 105–134. Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press. DOI: 10.2307/3817589 Stable URL:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3817589