FENTON, SíR Geoffrey, an eminent writer and statesman during the reigns of Elizabeth and James L, was brother to Edward Fenton, the navigator, who accompanied Sir Martin Frobisher in his expeditions, and was afterwards sent out independently to endeavour to discover a north-west passage. The time of Sir Geoffrey’s birth is uncertain, but he appears to have received a liberal education, and certainly gave many proofs of his acquaintance with ancient and modern learning, particularly of his knowledge of the French, Spanish, and Italian languages. He is best known, however, for his translation of the History of the Wars of Italy by Guicciardini, which he dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. But this was his last work, as is proved by the date of the dedication (7th January 1579) just mentioned. He had previously published, 1. Certain Tragical Discourses, written oute of French and Latin, 1567, in 4to; 2. An Account of a dispute at Paris, between two Doctors of the Sorbonne and two Ministers of God’s Word, 1571; 3. An Epistle, or Godly Admonition, sent to the Pastors of the Flemish Church at Antwerp, exhorting them to concord with other Ministers; translated from the original of Antonio de Carro, 1578; 4. Golden Epistles, containing variety of Discourses, both moral, philosophical, and divine, gathered as well out of the remainder of Guevara’s works, as other authors, Latin, French, and Italian, 1577. The familiar epistles of Guevara had been published in English by Edward Fellowes, in 1574; but Fenton’s collection consists of pieces not contained in that publication, and, like his translation of Guicciardini, has risen in public estimation since the language and literature of the Elizabethan age have been more generally studied. In the capacity of queen’s counsellor or secretary, Fenton served for a considerable time in Ireland, where his conduct appears to have given great satisfaction to his royal mistress, and whence he was frequently sent for to be consulted respecting Irish affairs. Nor does the confidence which his sovereign had in his judgment and understanding appear to have been misplaced. Maintained in office by her favour alone, he repaid her kindness by communicating salutary truths, and recommending wise and liberal measures. To his honour be it stated, he took every opportunity of impressing on the mind of the queen the important truth, that the Irish were to be governed only by a strict observance of the rules of justice, and that the safety and glory of her government in that island depended on her subjects enjoying the protection of equal‘laws. How much misery, and suffering, and humiliation, might have been spared to Ireland, if succeeding counsellors and secretaries in that country had been capable of appreciating the enlightened policy so strongly recommended by Fenton! In 1603 Sir Geoffrey married his only daughter to Mr Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork, and died at his house in Dublin on the 19th October 1606. (a.) Fenton, Elijah, an English poet of considerable note, was born at Shelton, near Newcastle-under-Line, in Staffordshire, on the 20th May 1683. Being the youngest of twelve children, he was destined for the church as a profession; and with this view, after passing through the usual course of grammatical education, he was, on the 1st July 1700, admitted a -pensioner of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he prosecuted his studies with much diligence and assiduity; but having refused to take the oaths to government, he was obliged -to quit the university without a degree, and forced to trust to his abilities for a subsistence. Whatever were the difficulties and discouragements which he had to struggle with, however, Fenton never descended to mean or dishonourable shifts; and as his conduct was without reproach, so his name was never mentioned except with commendation. His first employment promised more than it afterwards realized. He accompanied the Earl of Orrery to Flanders in the capacity of private secretary, and returned with his lordship to England in 1705. Being thus left without employment, he became assistant in a school at Headley, in Surrey, and was soon afterwards appointed master of the free grammar-school at Sevenoaks in Kent. In 1710 he was prevailed on to give up the drudgery of teaching, for the worse drudgery of political dependence; Lord Bolingbroke, who had persuaded him to take this unwise step, having, with characteristic recklessness, neglected his interest, and left him disappointed and in debt. But not long afterwards he was appointed tutor to Lord Broghill, only son of the Earl of Orrery; and when this engagement expired, he was, on the recommendation of Pope, employed to give private instructions to Mr Craggs, secretary of state, who, feeling his own want of literature, was anxious, with the aid of such an instructor, to supply the deficiencies of his education. The sudden death of Craggs, however, disappointed the expectations which had been formed from this connection, and Fenton was again thrown out of employment. His next engagement was with Pope himself. The success of the translation of the Iliad having induced the latter to undertake that of the Odyssey, he, in order to lighten the task, resolved to engage auxiliaries; and, with this view, retaining twelve books for his own share, he distributed the remaining twelve between Broome and Fenton. Of these, according to Johnson and Marton, Fenton translated the first, fourth, nineteenth, and twentieth; though the Earl of Orrery has asserted that he translated double the number of books which Pope has acknowledged.^[1. In a letter to Mr Duncombe, Lord Orrery says, “His reward was a trifle, an arrant trifle. He has even told me that he thoug Pope feared him more than he loved him. He had no opinion of Pope’s heart; and declared him, in the words of Bishop Atterbury? k Ment curνα in corpore curυο. ’ ∖ ] In 1723 his tragedy of Mariamne was brought out, and performed with such success that the author’s profits are said to have amounted to nearly a thousand pounds. The poetical merit of this tragedy is considerable; but the [7:9:509]diction is too figurative and ornate for a dramatic composition, and accordingly it has not retained its place on the stage. In 1727, Fenton superintended a new edition of Milton’s Poems, to which he prefixed a life, of which Johnson has spoken with commendation; and, in 1729, he published a splendid edition of Waller, with notes, which is accounted among the best of that poet’s works. The latter part of Fenton’s life was passed in tranquillity. By the recommendation of Pope, Lady Trumbull appointed him tutor to her son, first at home, and afterwards at Cambridge; and when he had acquitted himself of the duties of this office, she still retained him in her family as auditor of her accounts, in which capacity he seems to have enjoyed his ease, and found leisure to pay frequent visits to his literary friends in London. He died at East Hampstead, Berkshire, on the 13th July 1730, and was interred in the parish church, where his tomb bears inscribed on it an epitaph written by Pope. Fenton, naturally indolent, was capable of greater things than he performed. His reputation as a poet rests chiefly on his Mariamne, and his share in the translation of the Odyssey, which the readers of poetry have never been able to distinguish from the portion executed by Pope himself; but to his Miscellaneous Poems, published in 1717, he has been indebted for a place amongst the English poets in Dr Johnson’s collection. Of his morals and conversation the account is uniform. “He was never named,” says Dr Johnson, “but with praise and fondness, as a man in the highest degree amiable and excellent. Such was the character given of him by the Earl of Orrery, his pupil; such is the testimony of Pope; and such were the suffrages of all who could boast of his acquaintance.” (a.)