ON CHATTERTON, AND THE ROW LEIAN CONTROVERSY. A subject, like that of the respective claims of Rowley and Chatterton, which has so long divided the Literary World, and ranked amongst its zealous disputants, on both sides, men of the most distinguished acuteness and learning, cannot be regarded as uninteresting, or as unworthy of a full discussion, and a final settlement. It will be in the recollection of many readers, that the author, in conjunction with his friend, Dr. Southey, several years ago, edited the "Complete Edition of Chatterton's Works," in three volumes, octavo; which was undertaken purely for the benefit of the bard's widowed sister, Mrs. Newton, and the profits of which, cheered her declining life. On that occasion, the investigation of the Controversy exclusively devolved on the writer of these pages, the result of which, in a consolidated form, will now be made the subject of the three following Essays. ESSAY IV. SUGGESTED BY CHATTERTON's PEDIGREE OF DE BURGHAM. THE pedigree of De Burgham is one of the most ingenious and complicated of Chatterton's Forgeries. It is contained in two volumes, each the size of a boy's copy book. The circumstances attending its production are the following; and which must be familiarly stated. Mr. Henry Burgham was a Pewterer, who had come to Bristol early in life, in a very humble capacity, from Gloucestershire. He had often noticed Chatterton, as an acute blue-coat boy, fond of talking about books, and had given him an occasional sixpence. This boy subsequently appeared in a somewhat higher capacity, from having been the lucky discoverer of sundry ancient |