HILL, AARON, an English miscellaneous writer of the eighteenth century, was born at London in 1685. His education at Westminster School was broken off in consequence of his father's imprudence, who allowed the family property to go to ruin, and thus, at the early age of fourteen, he began that career of adventure which only ended with his life. Leaving England, he proceeded to Constan-
tinople, where he was kindly received by Lord Paget, a relation of his mother's, who was then British ambassador at the Turkish court. Under the care of a tutor provided by this considerate friend, young Hill travelled through Palestine, Egypt, and a great part of the East; returning to England about the year 1703. A misunderstanding with his patron compelled him to go abroad as travelling companion to a rich Yorkshire baronet; and on reaching home in 1709 he published his History of the Ottoman Empire, which, even by his own admission, had far more success than it deserved. About the same time appeared his poem of Camillus, in honour of the famous Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough; and in the same year he was made master of Drury Lane Theatre, and afterwards of the Haymarket. Both of these offices he soon after lost through his indiscretion, and spent the remainder of his life partly in literary pursuits, and partly in commercial speculations, which were all unlucky. One of these schemes called him to the Highlands of Scotland, and while there he wrote The Progress of Wit, being a Caveat for the use of an eminent Writer. The "eminent writer" was Pope, who had introduced Hill into the Dunciad, though in a way that was in fact complimentary, and the "caveat" is said to have made him feel very uneasy. Hill died in 1749, at the very moment, it is said, of the great earthquake of that year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Two only of his seventeen dramas are now remembered, Zara and Merope, both adaptations from the French of Voltaire. His poetry is stilted and commonplace, and even the Progress of Wit never rises above a flippant smartness. Though a poor and tasteless poet, and afflicted with an overwhelming sense of his own importance, Hill was an honourable man, and his letters to Savage show his character in a very amiable light. His letters with the author of Pamela, extending from 1730 to 1748, are not quite so creditable to his taste. Some of them were prefixed by Richardson to an edition of his Pamela, and described as coming from "a gentleman of the most distinguished taste and abilities." Till it was known that the "gentleman" in question was Aaron Hill, great weight was attached to the testimony of the anonymous correspondent.