SHENSTONE, WILLIAM, an admired English poet, the eldest son of a plain country gentleman, who farmed his own estate in Shropshire, was born at Leasowes in November 1714. He learned to read of an old dame, whom his poem of the Schoolmistress has delivered to posterity; and he soon received such delight from books, that he was always calling for new entertainment, and expected that, when any of the family went to market, a new book should be brought him. As he grew older, he went for a while to the grammar-school in Hales-Owen, and was placed afterwards with an eminent schoolmaster at Solihull, where he distinguished himself by the quickness of his progress. From school he was sent, in 1732, to Pembroke College, Oxford, where he continued his name for ten years, though he took no degree. After the first four years he put on the civilian's gown, but without showing any intention to engage in the profession. At Oxford he applied to