Philips

Philips, Ambeose (1671-1749), man of letters, was born of a good family in Leicestershire, and educated at Cambridge. On coming to London he became the friend of Addison and Steele, and a leading figure at Button's. He worked for Tonson, whose Miscellany (1709) opens with six Pastorals containing some of his most vigorous and elegant verses. Philips was always a consistent Whig. His contributions to the Freethinker (1711) were rewarded by the Government with the post of secretary to Archbishop Boulter in Ireland, where he eventually became judge of the Prerogative Court (1733). He died in London. Philips' plays are now deservedly forgotten. His "odes" often degenerate into a puerility which earned him the nickname of "Namby-pamby." yet such pieces as Timely Blossom, Infant Fair, are marked by a simplicity and grace which entitle them to rank amongst the best poetry of the kind.