Aaron Hill

Aaron Hill (10 February 1685 - 8 February 1750) was an English playwright and miscellaneous writer.

Aaron Hill (1685-1750). Courtesy NNDB.

Life

Overview

Hill, son of a country gentleman of Wiltshire, was educated at Westminster School, and thereafter made a tour in the East. He was the author of 17 dramatic pieces, some of them, such as his versions of Voltaire's Zaire and Merope, being adaptations. He also wrote a quantity of poetry, which, notwithstanding some good passages, is as a general rule dull and pompous. Having written some satiric lines on Pope he received in return a niche in The Dunciad, which led to a controversy, in which Hill showed some spirit. Afterwards a reconciliation took place. He was a friend and correspondent of Richardson, whose Pamela he highly praised. In addition to his literary pursuits Hill was a great promoter, but his schemes were usually unsuccessful. He was a good and honorable man, but over-impressed with his own importance.

Youth and education

Hill, the eldest surviving son of George Hill of Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, was born in Beaufort Buildings, Strand, 10 February 1684-5. His father died during his infancy after making an illegal sale (it is said) of an estate of 2,000l. a year entailed upon the son. Aaron was brought up by his mother and his grandmother, a Mrs. Gregory.

When 9 years old he was sent to Barnstaple grammar school, and afterwards to Westminster School. With Mrs. Gregory's help he left his school, and sailed (2 March 1699–1700) to Constantinople, where a relation, Lord Paget, was then ambassador. Paget received him kindly, and sent him to travel in the East with a tutor. He returned in 1703 with Paget, who would, it is said, have provided for him but for the "misrepresentations of a female." He afterwards travelled for some time as tutor to Sir William Wentworth.

Career

In 1709 Hill published a Full Account of the Ottoman Empire, , later criticized by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in her Letters from Turkey (1716-1718). Although it reached a 2nd edition in 1710, he was afterwards thoroughly ashamed of it (Richardson, Correspondence, i. 25–8).

Also in 1709 he addressed a complimentary poem to Lord Peterborough, called Camillus (Works, 1754, iv. 201, &c.). He began working as secretary to Peterborough and began publishing poems as well as editing a magazine. Peterborough in 1710 offered to take him abroad on a mission to Vienna and Turin. He declined on account of the objections of his wife.

In 1710 he married Margaret Morris (1694-1731), the only daughter and heiress of Edmund Morris of Stratford in Essex which allowed him to give up his job and become a theatre entrepreneur, librettist, playwright, and editor. He had by her 9 children, of whom 4 were living in 1760, a son and 3 daughters, Urania, Astræa, and Minerva.

Hill became interested in theatrical matters, and was (according to his 1st biographers) "master of the stage" at Drury Lane in 1709, and of the opera at the Haymarket in 1710. At Drury Lane he produced his 1st piece, Elfrid, or the Fair Inconstant, written in less than a fortnight (ib. i. 125). It was ridiculed for its bombast, but in 1731 rewritten and brought out again as Athelwold. It was then received in a way which would have caused him the "liveliest indignation" had he not been the author (ib. i. 160). At the Haymarket he produced an opera, Rinaldo, written at his request by G. Rossi, translated by himself, and set to music by Handel, then 1st visiting England.

Hill had a sanguine belief in his own gifts, both for literature and speculation. He proposed a scheme to Harley in 1714 for improving the wool trade. He started a scheme for extracting oil from beechmast. A patent was granted on 23 Oct. 1713. A company was raised with a capital of 25,000l., and he promised to pay 45% after 2 years, and besides making the whole nation happy. The company could not be got into working order, abundance of the sharers became "peevish," and by 1716 the speculation collapsed, and Hill lost a large sum.

In 1718 he proposed with others to settle a colony in Georgia (then part of South Carolina). A grant of the land was obtained from the proprietors, but money was wanting, and the scheme broke down. It was carried out by Oglethorpe in 1732. In 1728 Hill tried to obtain timber for the navy in Scotland, showed the natives how to float rafts down the Spey, and received many compliments from the Duke and Duchess of Gordon, and the freedom of Inverness and Aberdeen. Somehow this, like all his schemes, failed, and led only to loss of money.

He meanwhile continued his literary career, writing many occasional poems, and producing plays at intervals. He wrote a complimentary poem to Peter the Great, called "The Northern Star," about 1718 (ib. iii. 181, &c.) Peter, when dying in 1725, is said to have ordered a gold medal to be sent to Hill, which never came, and the czarina also promised him materials for a life. Only a few papers were sent before her death in the spring of 1727, and the life was not written.

When his theatre career came to an end, he began editing a series of magazines, such as The Plain-Dealer (1724-1727) and The Prompter (1734-1736).

Among Hill's letters are many giving advice to actors (including Garrick) upon their art, others making suggestions to Oxford and Walpole upon politics and finance, and literary disquisitions addressed to Pope and Bolingbroke. His letters to Richardson (Richardson, Correspondence, i. 1–132) begin in 1730, and upon the publication of Pamela in 1740 he became an enthusiastic admirer. His self-importance and pomposity would now be rather amusing if less terribly long-winded.

Although Hill was absurd and a bore of the highest order, he was apparently a kindly and liberal man, and abandoned the profits of his plays, such as they were, to the actors. He was zealous on behalf of Savage, whose story he published in the Plaindealer. He was also a generous patron to other writers, including John Dyer, Eliza Haywood, David Mallet, James Thomson, and Edward Young.

Conflict with Pope

Hill is best known by his relations with Pope. He had attacked Pope in a preface to the Northern Star on account of a misreported conversation, and upon Pope's explanation had apologised in a preface to The Creation, 1720. The Bathos, published in the 3rd volume of Pope's Miscellanies (March 1727–8), gave a list of bad authors, in which "A.H." appeared among the "flying fishes," who could only make brief flights out of the profound. Hill retorted by an epigram on the supposed authors, Pope, Swift, and Arbuthnot, and by a copy of verses.

In the Dunciad, published in the following May, Pope described Hill as attempting to dive in the games sacred to dullness, but rising unstained to "mount far off among the swans of Thames." A note stated that the satire had been turned into a compliment, because its object had shown himself capable of apologising. Hill, however, retorted in The Progress of Wit: A caveat for an eminent writer; by a fellow of All Souls, with an "explanatory discourse by Gamaliel Gunson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy," 1730 (Works, iii. 371, &c.), an allegorical attack upon Pope for lowering himself by personalities against the dunces.

He wrote to Pope soon afterwards, and in a dignified letter (28 Jan. 1730–1) put his case so well that Pope was driven to reply by the strange subterfuges too familiar to him. Hill punished Pope sufficiently perhaps by long letters, and by sending him manuscript tragedies to be criticised. A passage in the Epistle to Arbuthnot (1735), describing such trials of Pope's patience, may include some recollections of this intercourse. Pope at the time returned the flattery in kind, and even ventured to assert (22 Dec. 1731) that he had read Athelwold 6 times through. A long breach of correspondence seems, however, to imply that Pope found the burden intolerable, though Hill reopened it for a time in 1738. After Pope's death Hill abused him heartily to Richardson (Richardson, Correspondence, i. 104, &c.)

Later life

In 1738 Hill left London, where he had hitherto occupied a house in Petty France, Westminster, looking upon St. James's Park, to Plaistow in Essex. He mentions pecuniary difficulties at this time (to Pope, 1 September 1738), which may have been the cause of his retirement. He probably did not diminish them by planting vineyards in Essex. He sent some bottles of his wine to Richardson (ib. i. 22, 29, 44–52), with the sanguine belief that they would contribute to Richardson's health and pleasure. He also busied himself in a scheme for making potash.

His translation of Voltaire's Merope (1749) was brought upon the stage, and a performance commanded for his benefit by Frederick, prince of Wales. He died the night before the intended performance, 8 February 1749-1750, "at the very minute of the earthquake."

Writing

Poems

His poems include "Camillus," the "Northern Star," and the "Progress of Wit"; the "Creation," 1720; "Advice to Poets," 1731; the "Tears of the Muses," 1737; "Free Thoughts on Faith," 1746; and a number of prologues and occasional pieces. He also published the Fanciad, 1743; the 1st 2 books of Gideon, an epic poem, about 1716, and 3 more books, now called Gideon; or, The patriot, and dedicated to Bolingbroke, in 1749.

Plays

His dramatic works were published by subscription in 2 volumes in 1760. The plays, with dates of earliest publication, are:

Vol. i.: 1. ‘Elfrid,’ 1710. 2. ‘The Walking Statue,’ 1710. 3. ‘Rinaldo’ (in English and Italian), 1711. 4. ‘The Fatal Vision,’ 1716. 5. ‘Henry V’ (founded on Shakespeare), 1723. 6. ‘The Fatal Extravagance,’ 1726 (written by Hill for the benefit of J. Mitchell, under whose name it was 1st published). 7. ‘Merlin in Love,’ 1759 (pastoral opera). 8. ‘Athelwold,’ 1732.

Vol. ii.: 1. ‘The Muses in Mourning’ (opera), 1760. 2. ‘Zara’ (from Voltaire), 1736, and later editions (acted in 1735 for the benefit of W. Bond). 3. ‘The Snake in the Grass,’ 1760. 4. ‘Alzira’ (from Voltaire), 1736. 5. ‘Saul’ (tragedy), 1760. 6. ‘Daraxes’ (pastoral opera), 1760. 7. ‘Merope’ (from Voltaire), 1749. 8. ‘The Roman Revenge’ (written about 1738 as ‘Cæsar,’ when he published a pamphlet On the Merits of Assassination, with a view to this case of Cæsar, published 1754).

The Biographia Dramatica also mentions Trick upon Trick; or, Squire Brainless, a comedy, and in 1758 was published The Insolvent; or, Filial piety.

Miscellaneous

Hill was co-author with William Bond of the Plaindealer, 1724, afterwards collected in 2 volumes 8vo, and published the Prompter in 1735. He wrote various pamphlets about his beechnut projects, and the 1st of Four Essays in 1718, which treats of making china ware in England.

A Collection of Letters between Mr. Aaron Hill, Pope, and others, was published in 1751. His Works, in 4 volumes 8vo, were published by subscription for the benefit of his family in 1753 (2nd edition 1754). The 1st 2 contain his correspondence; the last his poems and an essay upon acting (1st published in 1746).

Recognition

He was buried in the cloister of Westminster Abbey in the same grave with his wife, in the west transept. His grave is unmarked.

A posthumous collection of Hill's essays, letters and poems was published in 1753. His Dramatic Works were published in 1760. His biography was recorded in Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the Time of Dean Swift, volume 5 (ostensibly by Theophilus Cibber but generally accepted to be of anonymous authorship).

2 of Hill's poems were included in Dodsley's Collection of Poems in Six Volumes; by several hands.

Publications

Poetry

• Camillus: A poem. London: Tho. Bickerton, 1707.
• The Invasion: A poem to the Queen. London: Tho. Bickerton, 1708.
• The Celebrated Speeches of Ajax and Ulysses, for the armour of Achilles. London: William Keble / Tho. Bickerton, 1708.
• The Dedication of the Beech-tree. London: London: John Morphew, 1714.
• The Northern Star: A poem. London: E. Berington / J. Morphew, 1718; London: T. Payne, 1724.
• A Specimen; consisting of extracts and episodes from a poem call'd Gideon. London: 1720.
• The Creation: A Pindaric illustration of a poem. London: T. Bickerton, 1720.
• The Judgement Day: A poem. London: T. Jauncy, 1721.
• The Progress of Wit: A caveat for the use of an eminent writer. London: J. Wilford, 1730.
• The Tears of the Muses: A satire. London: T. Ward, 1737; London: T. Cooper, 1738.
• The Fanciad: An heroic poem, in six cantos. London: J. Osborn, 1743.
• The Impartial: an address without flattery: Being a poet's free thoughts on the Situation of our Public affairs. London: M. Cooper, 1744.
• Free Thoughts on Faith; or, The religion of nature: A poem. London: J. Osborn, 1746.
• Gideon; or, The patriot: An epic poem, in twelve books. London: A. Millar, 1749.
• The Poems of Hill, Cawthorn, and Bruce (with James Cawthorn & Michael Bruce). Chicswick, UK: Press of C. Whittingham, 1822.

Plays

• Elfrid; or, The fair inconstant. London: Bernard Lintott / Egbert Sanger, 1710.
  • revised as Athelwold: A tragedy. (1729) London: L. Gilliver, 1731,
• The Walking Statue; or, The devil in the wine-cellar. 1710.
• The Fatal Vision; or, The fall of Siam: A tragedy. London: E. Nutt, 1716.
• The Fatal Extravagance: A tragedy. London: T. Jauncy, 1720.
• King Henry the Fifth : or, the conquest of France, by the English. A tragedy. London: W. Chetwood / J. Watts, 1723.
• Alzira: A tragedy. 1736.
• The Tragedy of Zara (adapted from Voltaire). London: J. Watts, 1736; London: T. Lownds, 1758.
• Merope: A tragedy (adapted from Voltaire). London: A. Millar, 1749; Dublin: S. Powell, for G. & A. Ewing / G. Faulkner / J. Exshaw / et al, 1749.
• The Roman Revenge: A tragedy. London: M. Mechell, 1753.
• The Insolvent; or, filial piety: A tragedy. London: W. Reeve, 1758.
• The Dramatic Works. (2 volumes), London: T. Lownds, 1760. Volume II
• The Plays (edited by Calhoun Winton). New York & London: Garland, 1981.

Non-fiction

• A Full and Just Account of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire. London: J. Mayo, 1709.
• An Account of the Rise and Progress of the Beech-oil Invention. London: 1715.
• Four Essays. London: J. Roberts, 1718.
• An Enquiry into the Merit of Assassination. London: T. Cooper, 1738.
• The Art of Acting. London: J. Osborne, 1746.

Collected editions

• The Works. (4 volumes), London: for the family, 1753; Bristol, UK: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.

Edited

• The Plain Dealer: Being select essays on several curious subjects (edited with William Bond). London: J. Roberts, 1724-1727; London: S. Richardson / A. Wilde, 1730.
• The Prompter: A theatrical paper. London: J. Peele, 1734-36.

Letters

• A Collection of Letters between Mr Aaron Hill, Mr Pope, and others. London: W. Owen, 1751.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets
• List of English-language playwrights

References

• Brestoff, Richard, The Great Acting Teachers and their Methods, A Smith and Kraus Book, Lyme, NH, 1995 [ISBN 1-57525-012-8]
•  Stephen, Leslie (1891) "Hill, Aaron" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 26 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 387-389  . Wikisource, Web, Jan. 26, 2018.

External links

Poems

• "Alone, in an Inn, in Southampton"
• Aaron Hill at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (2 poems)

Books

• Works by Aaron Hill at Project Gutenberg
• The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, 4 vols (1753)

About

• Aaron Hill in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Aaron Hill at Westminster Abbey
• Aaron Hill at NNDB
• Aaron Hill (1685-1750) at English Poetry, 1579-1830

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Hill, Aaron