Amhurst, Nicholas

(1697-1742)

   Satirical poet, political pamphleteer, and editor of the political journal The Craftsman, founded in 1726, to which he contributed under the pseudonym of "Caleb D'Anvers of Gray's Inn." While at St. John's College, Oxford, he published "Epistle from a Student at Oxford to the Chevalier; Protestant Popery" and "Strephon's Revenge; a Satire on the Oxford Toasts." He was expelled from Oxford in 1719; some said it was because of his outspoken views and his libertinism and misconduct, others that it was political. His Terræ Filius (1721) was se12 vere satire of Oxford University. In 1737 he was imprisoned for a few days for "suspected libel," for publishing in The Craftsman a letter purporting to come from Colley Cibber, then poet laureate. Robert Southey, in Specimens of the Later English Poets, with preliminary notices, 3 Volumes (1807), lists thirteen poems by Amhurst. His other poetical publications (in addition to several other works): Poems on Several Occasions, 1723. A Collection of Poems, 1731."The Bowling Green" (a translation of Addison's Latin poem "Sphaeristerium") is a description of the skill of bowling.

   Sources: Aberdeen Studies in Scottish Philosophy (www. abdn.ac.uk). Biography of Nicholas Amhurst: Online Classic Encyclopedia-Love to Know (http://www.19.1911encyclopedia.org). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.htm l). Every-day Boo, The Death of Nicholas Amhurst (http://www.uab.edu/english/hone/etexts/edb/day-pages/ 117-april27.html). From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift. Vol. 9 (http://www.bartleby.com/219/0700.html). The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes, 1907-21. New York: Putnam, 1907-1921. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Nature and Purpose of Poetry; Nature (http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/poet18/nature.htm).