Berkshire.

Of lively and playful dispositions, Sillery did not derive much
advantage from scholastic training. His favourite themes were poetry and
music, and these he assiduously cultivated, much to the prejudice of
other important studies. At a subsequent period he devoted himself with
ardour to his improvement in general knowledge. He read extensively, and
became conversant with the ancient and some of the modern languages.
Disappointed in obtaining a commission in the Royal Artillery, on which
he had calculated, he proceeded to India as midshipman in a merchant
vessel. Conceiving a dislike to a seafaring life, after a single voyage,
he entered on the study of medicine in the University of Edinburgh. From
early youth he composed verses. In 1829, while only in his twenty-second
year, he published, by subscription, a poem, in nine cantos, entitled
"Vallery; or, the Citadel of the Lake." This production, which refers to
the times of Chivalry, was well received; and, in the following year,
the author ventured on the publication of a second poem, in two books,
entitled "Eldred of Erin." In the latter composition, which is pervaded
by devotional sentiment, the poet details some of his personal
experiences. In 1834 he published, in a small duodecimo volume, "The
Exiles of Chamouni; a Drama," a production which received only a limited
circulation. About the same period, he became a contributor of verses to
the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_. He ultimately undertook the editorial
superintendence of a religious periodical.

Delicate in constitution, and of a highly nervous temperament, Sillery
found the study of medicine somewhat uncongenial, and had formed the
intention of qualifying himself for the Church. He calculated on early
ecclesiastical preferment through the favour of Her Majesty Queen
Adelaide, to whom he had been presented, and who had evinced some
interest on his behalf. But his prospects were soon clouded by the slow
but certain progress of an insidious malady. He was seized with
pulmonary consumption, and died at Edinburgh on the 16th May 1836, in
his twenty-ninth year.

Of sprightly and winning manners, Sillery was much cherished in the
literary circles of the capital. He was of the ordinary height, and of
an extremely slender figure; and his eye, remarkably keen and piercing,
was singularly indicative of power. Poetry, in its every department, he
cherished with the devotion of an enthusiast; and though suffic