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diff --git a/old/2013-02-05-4678-h.htm b/old/2013-02-05-4678-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52766b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2013-02-05-4678-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6513 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young, and Others, by Samuel Johnson + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young, +and Others, by Samuel Johnson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young, and Others + +Author: Samuel Johnson + +Commentator: Henry Morley + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #4678] +Last Updated: February 6, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE POETS *** + + + + +Produced by Les Bowler, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + <i>LIVES OF THE POETS:</i><br />GAY, THOMSON, YOUNG, and OTHERS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Samuel Johnson + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <h4> + <a href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION. </a><br /> + </h4> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> KING. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> HALIFAX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> PARNELL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> GARTH. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> ROWE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> GAY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> TICKELL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> SOMERVILE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> THOMSON. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> WATTS. </a> + </p> + </td> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> A. PHILIPS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> WEST. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> COLLINS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> DYER. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> SHENSTONE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> YOUNG. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> MALLET. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> AKENSIDE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> GRAY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> LYTTELTON. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <table summary="" border="3" cellpadding="0"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td> + <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4679/4679-h/4679-h.htm"><b>ADDISON, + SAVAGE, and SWIFT</b> </a> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + This volume contains a record of twenty lives, of which only one—that + of Edward Young—is treated at length. It completes our edition of + Johnson's Lives of the Poets, from which a few only of the briefest and + least important have been omitted. + </p> + <p> + The eldest of the Poets here discussed were Samuel Garth, Charles Montague + (Lord Halifax), and William King, who were born within the years 1660-63. + Next in age were Addison's friend Ambrose Philips, and Nicholas Rowe the + dramatist, who was also the first editor of Shakespeare's plays after the + four folios had appeared. Ambrose Philips and Rowe were born in 1671 and + 1673, and Isaac Watts in 1674. Thomas Parnell, born in 1679, would follow + next, nearly of like age with Young, whose birth-year was 1681. Pope's + friend John Gay was of Pope's age, born in 1688, two years later than + Addison's friend Thomas Tickell, who was born in 1686. Next in the course + of years came, in 1692, William Somerville, the author of "The Chace." + John Dyer, who wrote "Grongar Hill," and James Thomson, who wrote the + "Seasons," were both born in the year 1700. They were two of three poets—Allan + Ramsay, the third—who, almost at the same time, wrote verse instinct + with a fresh sense of outward Nature which was hardly to be found in other + writers of that day. David Mallet, Thomson's college-friend and friend of + after-years—who shares with Thomson the curiosity of critics who + would decide which of them wrote "Rule Britannia"—was of Thomson's + age. + </p> + <p> + The other writers of whose lives Johnson here gives his note were men born + in the beginning of the eighteenth century: Gilbert West, the translator + of Pindar, in 1706; George Lyttelton, in 1709. William Shenstone, whose + sense of Nature, although true, was mixed with the conventions of his + time, and who once asked a noble friend to open a waterfall in the garden + upon which the poet spent his little patrimony, was born in 1714; Thomas + Gray, in 1716; William Collins, in 1720; and Mark Akenside, in 1721. In + Collins, while he lived with loss of reason, Johnson, who had fears for + himself, took pathetic interest. Akenside could not interest him much. + Akenside made his mark when young with "The Pleasures of Imagination," a + good poem, according to the fashion of the time, when read with due + consideration as a young man's first venture for fame. He spent much of + the rest of his life in overloading it with valueless additions. The + writer who begins well should let well alone, and, instead of tinkering at + bygone work, follow the course of his own ripening thought. He should seek + new ways of doing worthy service in the years of labour left to him. + </p> + <p> + H. M. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + KING. + </h2> + <p> + William King was born in London in 1663; the son of Ezekiel King, a + gentleman. He was allied to the family of Clarendon. + </p> + <p> + From Westminster School, where he was a scholar on the foundation under + the care of Dr. Busby, he was at eighteen elected to Christ Church in + 1681; where he is said to have prosecuted his studies with so much + intenseness and activity, that before he was eight years' standing he had + read over, and made remarks upon, twenty-two thousand odd hundred books + and manuscripts. The books were certainly not very long, the manuscripts + not very difficult, nor the remarks very large; for the calculator will + find that he despatched seven a day for every day of his eight years; with + a remnant that more than satisfies most other students. He took his degree + in the most expensive manner, as a GRAND COMPOUNDER; whence it is inferred + that he inherited a considerable fortune. + </p> + <p> + In 1688, the same year in which he was made Master of Arts, he published a + confutation of Varillas's account of Wickliffe; and, engaging in the study + of the civil law, became Doctor in 1692, and was admitted advocate at + Doctors' Commons. + </p> + <p> + He had already made some translations from the French, and written some + humorous and satirical pieces; when, in 1694, Molesworth published his + "Account of Denmark," in which he treats the Danes and their monarch with + great contempt; and takes the opportunity of insinuating those wild + principles by which he supposes liberty to be established, and by which + his adversaries suspect that all subordination and government is + endangered. + </p> + <p> + This book offended Prince George; and the Danish Minister presented a + memorial against it. The principles of its author did not please Dr. King; + and therefore he undertook to confute part, and laugh at the rest. The + controversy is now forgotten: and books of this kind seldom live long when + interest and resentment have ceased. + </p> + <p> + In 1697 he mingled in the controversy between Boyle and Bentley; and was + one of those who tried what wit could perform in opposition to learning, + on a question which learning only could decide. + </p> + <p> + In 1699 was published by him "A Journey to London," after the method of + Dr. Martin Lister, who had published "A Journey to Paris." And in 1700 he + satirised the Royal Society—at least, Sir Hans Sloane, their + president—in two dialogues, intituled "The Transactioner." + </p> + <p> + Though he was a regular advocate in the courts of civil and canon law, he + did not love his profession, nor, indeed, any kind of business which + interrupted his voluptuary dreams or forced him to rouse from that + indulgence in which only he could find delight. His reputation as a + civilian was yet maintained by his judgments in the Courts of Delegates, + and raised very high by the address and knowledge which he discovered in + 1700, when he defended the Earl of Anglesea against his lady, afterwards + Duchess of Buckinghamshire, who sued for a divorce and obtained it. + </p> + <p> + The expense of his pleasures, and neglect of business, had now lessened + his revenues; and he was willing to accept of a settlement in Ireland, + where, about 1702, he was made Judge of the Admiralty, Commissioner of the + Prizes, Keeper of the Records in Birmingham's Tower, and Vicar-General to + Dr. Marsh, the primate. + </p> + <p> + But it is vain to put wealth within the reach of him who will not stretch + out his hand to take it. King soon found a friend, as idle and thoughtless + as himself, in Upton, one of the judges, who had a pleasant house called + Mountown, near Dublin, to which King frequently retired; delighting to + neglect his interest, forget his cares, and desert his duty. + </p> + <p> + Here he wrote "Mully of Mountown," a poem; by which, though fanciful + readers in the pride of sagacity have given it a poetical interpretation, + was meant originally no more than it expressed, as it was dictated only by + the author's delight in the quiet of Mountown. + </p> + <p> + In 1708, when Lord Wharton was sent to govern Ireland, King returned to + London, with his poverty, his idleness, and his wit; and published some + essays, called "Useful Transactions." His "Voyage to the Island of + Cajamai" is particularly commended. He then wrote the "Art of Love," a + poem remarkable, notwithstanding its title, for purity of sentiment; and + in 1709 imitated Horace in an "Art of Cookery," which he published with + some letters to Dr. Lister. + </p> + <p> + In 1710 he appeared as a lover of the Church, on the side of Sacheverell; + and was supposed to have concurred at least in the projection of the + Examiner. His eyes were open to all the operations of Whiggism; and he + bestowed some strictures upon Dr. Kennet's adulatory sermon at the funeral + of the Duke of Devonshire. + </p> + <p> + "The History of the Heathen Gods," a book composed for schools, was + written by him in 1711. The work is useful, but might have been produced + without the powers of King. The same year he published "Rufinus," an + historical essay; and a poem intended to dispose the nation to think as he + thought of the Duke of Marlborough and his adherents. + </p> + <p> + In 1711, competence, if not plenty, was again put into his power. He was, + without the trouble of attendance or the mortification of a request, made + Gazetteer. Swift, Freind, Prior, and other men of the same party, brought + him the key of the Gazetteer's office. He was now again placed in a + profitable employment, and again threw the benefit away. An Act of + Insolvency made his business at that time particularly troublesome; and he + would not wait till hurry should be at an end, but impatiently resigned + it, and returned to his wonted indigence and amusements. + </p> + <p> + One of his amusements at Lambeth, where he resided, was to mortify Dr. + Tenison, the archbishop, by a public festivity on the surrender of Dunkirk + to Hill; an event with which Tenison's political bigotry did not suffer + him to be delighted. King was resolved to counteract his sullenness, and + at the expense of a few barrels of ale filled the neighbourhood with + honest merriment. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1712 his health declined; he grew weaker by degrees, and + died on Christmas Day. Though his life had not been without irregularity, + his principles were pure and orthodox, and his death was pious. + </p> + <p> + After this relation it will be naturally supposed that his poems were + rather the amusements of idleness than efforts of study; that he + endeavoured rather to divert than astonish; that his thoughts seldom + aspired to sublimity; and that, if his verse was easy and his images + familiar, he attained what he desired. His purpose is to be merry; but + perhaps, to enjoy his mirth, it may be sometimes necessary to think well + of his opinions. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HALIFAX. + </h2> + <p> + The life of the Earl of Halifax was properly that of an artful and active + statesman, employed in balancing parties, contriving expedients, and + combating opposition, and exposed to the vicissitudes of advancement and + degradation; but in this collection poetical merit is the claim to + attention; and the account which is here to be expected may properly be + proportioned, not to his influence in the State, but to his rank among the + writers of verse. + </p> + <p> + Charles Montague was born April 16, 1661, at Horton, in Northamptonshire, + the son of Mr. George Montague, a younger son of the Earl of Manchester. + He was educated first in the country, and then removed to Westminster, + where, in 1677, he was chosen a King's Scholar, and recommended himself to + Busby by his felicity in extemporary epigrams. He contracted a very + intimate friendship with Mr. Stepney; and in 1682, when Stepney was + elected at Cambridge, the election of Montague being not to proceed till + the year following, he was afraid lest by being placed at Oxford he might + be separated from his companion, and therefore solicited to be removed to + Cambridge, without waiting for the advantages of another year. + </p> + <p> + It seemed indeed time to wish for a removal, for he was already a + schoolboy of one-and-twenty. + </p> + <p> + His relation, Dr. Montague, was then Master of the college in which he was + placed a Fellow-Commoner, and took him under his particular care. Here he + commenced an acquaintance with the great Newton, which continued through + his life, and was at last attested by a legacy. + </p> + <p> + In 1685 his verses on the death of King Charles made such an impression on + the Earl of Dorset that he was invited to town, and introduced by that + universal patron to the other wits. In 1687 he joined with Prior in "The + City Mouse and the Country Mouse," a burlesque of Dryden's "Hind and + Panther." He signed the invitation to the Prince of Orange, and sat in the + Convention. He about the same time married the Countess Dowager of + Manchester, and intended to have taken Orders; but, afterwards altering + his purpose, he purchased for 1,500 pounds the place of one of the clerks + of the Council. + </p> + <p> + After he had written his epistle on the victory of the Boyne, his patron + Dorset introduced him to King William with this expression, "Sir, I have + brought a MOUSE to wait on your Majesty." To which the King is said to + have replied, "You do well to put me in the way of making a MAN of him;" + and ordered him a pension of 500 pounds. This story, however current, + seems to have been made after the event. The King's answer implies a + greater acquaintance with our proverbial and familiar diction than King + William could possibly have attained. + </p> + <p> + In 1691, being member of the House of Commons, he argued warmly in favour + of a law to grant the assistance of counsel in trials for high treason; + and in the midst of his speech falling into some confusion, was for a + while silent; but, recovering himself, observed, "how reasonable it was to + allow counsel to men called as criminals before a court of justice, when + it appeared how much the presence of that assembly could disconcert one of + their own body." + </p> + <p> + After this he rose fast into honours and employments, being made one of + the Commissioners of the Treasury, and called to the Privy Council. In + 1694 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the next year engaged in + the great attempt of the recoinage, which was in two years happily + completed. In 1696 he projected the GENERAL FUND and raised the credit of + the Exchequer; and after inquiry concerning a grant of Irish Crown lands, + it was determined by a vote of the Commons that Charles Montague, Esq., + HAD DESERVED HIS MAJESTY'S FAVOUR. In 1698, being advanced to the first + Commission of the Treasury, he was appointed one of the regency in the + King's absence: the next year he was made Auditor of the Exchequer, and + the year after created Baron Halifax. He was, however, impeached by the + Commons; but the Articles were dismissed by the Lords. + </p> + <p> + At the accession of Queen Anne he was dismissed from the Council; and in + the first Parliament of her reign was again attacked by the Commons, and + again escaped by the protection of the Lords. In 1704 he wrote an answer + to Bromley's speech against occasional conformity. He headed the inquiry + into the danger of the Church. In 1706 he proposed and negotiated the + Union with Scotland; and when the Elector of Hanover received the Garter, + after the Act had passed for securing the Protestant Succession, he was + appointed to carry the ensigns of the Order to the Electoral Court. He sat + as one of the judges of Sacheverell, but voted for a mild sentence. Being + now no longer in favour, he contrived to obtain a writ for summoning the + Electoral Prince to Parliament as Duke of Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + At the Queen's death he was appointed one of the regents; and at the + accession of George I. was made Earl of Halifax, Knight of the Garter, and + First Commissioner of the Treasury, with a grant to his nephew of the + reversion of the Auditorship of the Exchequer. More was not to be had, and + this he kept but a little while; for on the 19th of May, 1715, he died of + an inflammation of his lungs. + </p> + <p> + Of him, who from a poet became a patron of poets, it will be readily + believed that the works would not miss of celebration. Addison began to + praise him early, and was followed or accompanied by other poets; perhaps + by almost all, except Swift and Pope, who forbore to flatter him in his + life, and after his death spoke of him—Swift with slight censure, + and Pope, in the character of Bufo, with acrimonious contempt. + </p> + <p> + He was, as Pope says, "fed with dedications;" for Tickell affirms that no + dedication was unrewarded. To charge all unmerited praise with the guilt + of flattery, and to suppose that the encomiast always knows and feels the + falsehoods of his assertions, is surely to discover great ignorance of + human nature and human life. In determinations depending not on rules, but + on experience and comparison, judgment is always in some degree subject to + affection. Very near to admiration is the wish to admire. + </p> + <p> + Every man willingly gives value to the praise which he receives, and + considers the sentence passed in his favour as the sentence of + discernment. We admire in a friend that understanding that selected us for + confidence; we admire more, in a patron, that judgment which, instead of + scattering bounty indiscriminately, directed it to us; and, if the patron + be an author, those performances which gratitude forbids us to blame, + affection will easily dispose us to exalt. + </p> + <p> + To these prejudices, hardly culpable, interest adds a power always + operating, though not always, because not willingly, perceived. The + modesty of praise wears gradually away; and perhaps the pride of patronage + may be in time so increased that modest praise will no longer please. + </p> + <p> + Many a blandishment was practised upon Halifax which he would never have + known had he no other attractions than those of his poetry, of which a + short time has withered the beauties. It would now be esteemed no honour, + by a contributor to the monthly bundles of verses, to be told that, in + strains either familiar or solemn, he sings like Montague. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PARNELL. + </h2> + <p> + The life of Dr. Parnell is a task which I should very willingly decline, + since it has been lately written by Goldsmith, a man of such variety of + powers, and such felicity of performance, that he always seemed to do best + that which he was doing; a man who had the art of being minute without + tediousness, and general without confusion; whose language was copious + without exuberance, exact without constraint, and easy without weakness. + </p> + <p> + What such an author has told, who would tell again? I have made an + abstract from his larger narrative; and have this gratification from my + attempt, that it gives me an opportunity of paying due tribute to the + memory of Goldsmith. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Parnell was the son of a Commonwealthsman of the same name, who, at + the Restoration, left Congleton, in Cheshire, where the family had been + established for several centuries, and, settling in Ireland, purchased an + estate, which, with his lands in Cheshire, descended to the poet, who was + born at Dublin in 1679; and, after the usual education at a grammar + school, was, at the age of thirteen, admitted into the College where, in + 1700, he became Master of Arts; and was the same year ordained a deacon, + though under the canonical age, by a dispensation from the Bishop of + Derry. + </p> + <p> + About three years afterwards he was made a priest and in 1705 Dr. Ashe, + the Bishop of Clogher, conferred upon him the archdeaconry of Clogher. + About the same time he married Mrs. Anne Minchin, an amiable lady, by whom + he had two sons, who died young, and a daughter, who long survived him. + </p> + <p> + At the ejection of the Whigs, in the end of Queen Anne's reign, Parnell + was persuaded to change his party, not without much censure from those + whom he forsook, and was received by the new Ministry as a valuable + reinforcement. When the Earl of Oxford was told that Dr. Parnell waited + among the crowd in the outer room, he went, by the persuasion of Swift, + with his Treasurer's staff in his hand, to inquire for him, and to bid him + welcome; and, as may be inferred from Pope's dedication, admitted him as a + favourite companion to his convivial hours, but, as it seems often to have + happened in those times to the favourites of the great, without attention + to his fortune, which, however, was in no great need of improvement. + </p> + <p> + Parnell, who did not want ambition or vanity, was desirous to make himself + conspicuous, and to show how worthy he was of high preferment. As he + thought himself qualified to become a popular preacher, he displayed his + elocution with great success in the pulpits of London; but the Queen's + death putting an end to his expectations, abated his diligence; and Pope + represents him as falling from that time into intemperance of wine. That + in his latter life he was too much a lover of the bottle, is not denied; + but I have heard it imputed to a cause more likely to obtain forgiveness + from mankind, the untimely death of a darling son; or, as others tell, the + loss of his wife, who died (1712) in the midst of his expectations. + </p> + <p> + He was now to derive every future addition to his preferments from his + personal interest with his private friends, and he was not long + unregarded. He was warmly recommended by Swift to Archbishop King, who + gave him a prebend in 1713; and in May, 1716, presented him to the + vicarage of Finglass, in the diocese of Dublin, worth 400 pounds a year. + Such notice from such a man inclines me to believe that the vice of which + he has been accused was not gross or not notorious. + </p> + <p> + But his prosperity did not last long. His end, whatever was its cause, was + now approaching. He enjoyed his preferment little more than a year; for in + July, 1717, in his thirty-eighth year, he died at Chester on his way to + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + He seems to have been one of those poets who take delight in writing. He + contributed to the papers of that time, and probably published more than + he owned. He left many compositions behind him, of which Pope selected + those which he thought best, and dedicated them to the Earl of Oxford. Of + these Goldsmith has given an opinion, and his criticism it is seldom safe + to contradict. He bestows just praise upon "The Rise of Woman," "The Fairy + Tale," and "The Pervigilium Veneris;" but has very properly remarked that + in "The Battle of Mice and Frogs" the Greek names have not in English + their original effect. He tells us that "The Bookworm" is borrowed from + Beza; but he should have added with modern applications: and when he + discovers that "Gay Bacchus" is translated from Augurellus, he ought to + have remarked that the latter part is purely Parnell's. Another poem, + "When Spring Comes On," is, he says, taken from the French. I would add + that the description of "Barrenness," in his verses to Pope, was borrowed + from Secundus; but lately searching for the passage which I had formerly + read, I could not find it. "The Night Piece on Death" is indirectly + preferred by Goldsmith to Gray's "Churchyard;" but, in my opinion, Gray + has the advantage in dignity, variety, and originality of sentiment. He + observes that the story of "The Hermit" is in More's "Dialogues" and + Howell's "Letters," and supposes it to have been originally Arabian. + </p> + <p> + Goldsmith has not taken any notice of "The Elegy to the Old Beauty," which + is perhaps the meanest; nor of "The Allegory on Man," the happiest of + Parnell's performances. The hint of "The Hymn to Contentment" I suspect to + have been borrowed from Cleveland. + </p> + <p> + The general character of Parnell is not great extent of comprehension or + fertility of mind. Of the little that appears, still less is his own. His + praise must be derived from the easy sweetness of his diction: in his + verses there is more happiness than pains; he is sprightly without effort, + and always delights, though he never ravishes; everything is proper, yet + everything seems casual. If there is some appearance of elaboration in + "The Hermit," the narrative, as it is less airy, is less pleasing. Of his + other compositions it is impossible to say whether they are the + productions of nature, so excellent as not to want the help of art, or of + art so refined as to resemble nature. + </p> + <p> + This criticism relates only to the pieces published by Pope. Of the large + appendages which I find in the last edition, I can only say that I know + not whence they came, nor have ever inquired whither they are going. They + stand upon the faith of the compilers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GARTH. + </h2> + <p> + Samuel Garth was of a good family in Yorkshire, and from some school in + his own county became a student at Peter House, in Cambridge, where he + resided till he became Doctor of Physic on July the 7th, 1691. He was + examined before the College at London on March the 12th, 1691-2, and + admitted Fellow June 26th, 1693. He was soon so much distinguished by his + conversation and accomplishments as to obtain very extensive practice; + and, if a pamphlet of those times may be credited, had the favour and + confidence of one party, as Radcliffe had of the other. He is always + mentioned as a man of benevolence; and it is just to suppose that his + desire of helping the helpless disposed him to so much zeal for "The + Dispensary;" an undertaking of which some account, however short, is + proper to be given. + </p> + <p> + Whether what Temple says be true, that physicians have had more learning + than the other faculties, I will not stay to inquire; but I believe every + man has found in physicians great liberality and dignity of sentiment, + very prompt effusion of beneficence, and willingness to exert a lucrative + art where there is no hope of lucre. Agreeably to this character, the + College of Physicians, in July, 1687, published an edict, requiring all + the Fellows, Candidates, and Licentiates to give gratuitous advice to the + neighbouring poor. This edict was sent to the Court of Aldermen; and, a + question being made to whom the appellation of the POOR should be + extended, the College answered that it should be sufficient to bring a + testimonial from the clergyman officiating in the parish where the patient + resided. + </p> + <p> + After a year's experience the physicians found their charity frustrated by + some malignant opposition, and made to a great degree vain by the high + price of physic; they therefore voted, in August, 1688, that the + laboratory of the College should be accommodated to the preparation of + medicines, and another room prepared for their reception; and that the + contributors to the expense should manage the charity. + </p> + <p> + It was now expected that the apothecaries would have undertaken the care + of providing medicines; but they took another course. Thinking the whole + design pernicious to their interest, they endeavoured to raise a faction + against it in the College, and found some physicians mean enough to + solicit their patronage by betraying to them the counsels of the College. + The greater part, however, enforced by a new edict, in 1694, the former + order of 1687, and sent it to the Mayor and Aldermen, who appointed a + committee to treat with the College and settle the mode of administering + the charity. + </p> + <p> + It was desired by the aldermen that the testimonials of churchwardens and + overseers should be admitted; and that all hired servants, and all + apprentices to handicraftsmen, should be considered as POOR. This likewise + was granted by the College. + </p> + <p> + It was then considered who should distribute the medicines, and who should + settle their prices. The physicians procured some apothecaries to + undertake the dispensation, and offered that the warden and company of the + apothecaries should adjust the price. This offer was rejected; and the + apothecaries who had engaged to assist the charity were considered as + traitors to the company, threatened with the imposition of troublesome + offices, and deterred from the performance of their engagements. The + apothecaries ventured upon public opposition, and presented a kind of + remonstrance against the design to the committee of the City, which the + physicians condescended to confute: and at last the traders seem to have + prevailed among the sons of trade; for the proposal of the College having + been considered, a paper of approbation was drawn up, but postponed and + forgotten. + </p> + <p> + The physicians still persisted; and in 1696 a subscription was raised by + themselves according to an agreement prefixed to "The Dispensary." The + poor were, for a time, supplied with medicines; for how long a time I know + not. The medicinal charity, like others, began with ardour, but soon + remitted, and at last died gradually away. + </p> + <p> + About the time of the subscription begins the action of "The Dispensary." + The poem, as its subject was present and popular, co-operated with + passions and prejudices then prevalent, and, with such auxiliaries to its + intrinsic merit, was universally and liberally applauded. It was on the + side of charity against the intrigues of interest; and of regular learning + against licentious usurpation of medical authority, and was therefore + naturally favoured by those who read and can judge of poetry. + </p> + <p> + In 1697 Garth spoke that which is now called "The Harveian Oration;" which + the authors of "The Biographia" mention with more praise than the passage + quoted in their notes will fully justify. Garth, speaking of the mischiefs + done by quacks, has these expressions: "Non tamen telis vulnerat ista + agyrtarum colluvies, sed theriaca quadam magis perniciosa, non pyrio, sed + pulvere nescio quo exotico certat, non globulis plumbeis, sed pilulis + aeque lethalibus interficit." This was certainly thought fine by the + author, and is still admired by his biographer. In October, 1702, he + became one of the censors of the College. + </p> + <p> + Garth, being an active and zealous Whig, was a member of the Kit-Cat Club, + and, by consequence, familiarly known to all the great men of that + denomination. In 1710, when the government fell into other hands, he writ + to Lord Godolphin, on his dismission, a short poem, which was criticised + in the Examiner, and so successfully either defended or excused by Mr. + Addison that, for the sake of the vindication, it ought to be preserved. + </p> + <p> + At the accession of the present family his merits were acknowledged and + rewarded. He was knighted with the sword of his hero, Marlborough; and was + made Physician-in-Ordinary to the King, and Physician-General to the army. + He then undertook an edition of Ovid's "Metamorphoses," translated by + several hands; which he recommended by a preface, written with more + ostentation than ability; his notions are half-formed, and his materials + immethodically confused. This was his last work. He died January 18th, + 1717-18, and was buried at Harrow-on-the-Hill. + </p> + <p> + His personal character seems to have been social and liberal. He + communicated himself through a very wide extent of acquaintance; and + though firm in a party, at a time when firmness included virulence, yet he + imparted his kindness to those who were not supposed to favour his + principles. He was an early encourager of Pope, and was at once the friend + of Addison and of Granville. He is accused of voluptuousness and + irreligion; and Pope, who says that "if ever there was a good Christian, + without knowing himself to be so, it was Dr. Garth," seems not able to + deny what he is angry to hear and loth to confess. + </p> + <p> + Pope afterwards declared himself convinced that Garth died in the + communion of the Church of Rome, having been privately reconciled. It is + observed by Lowth that there is less distance than is thought between + scepticism and Popery; and that a mind wearied with perpetual doubt, + willingly seeks repose in the bosom of an infallible Church. + </p> + <p> + His poetry has been praised at least equally to its merit. In "The + Dispensary" there is a strain of smooth and free versification; but few + lines are eminently elegant. No passages fall below mediocrity, and few + rise much above it. The plan seems formed without just proportion to the + subject; the means and end have no necessary connection. Resnel, in his + preface to Pope's Essay, remarks that Garth exhibits no discrimination of + characters; and that what any one says might, with equal propriety, have + been said by another. The general design is, perhaps, open to criticism; + but the composition can seldom be charged with inaccuracy or negligence. + The author never slumbers in self-indulgence; his full vigour is always + exerted; scarcely a line is left unfinished; nor is it easy to find an + expression used by constraint, or a thought imperfectly expressed. It was + remarked by Pope, that "The Dispensary" had been corrected in every + edition, and that every change was an improvement. It appears, however, to + want something of poetical ardour, and something of general delectation; + and therefore, since it has been no longer supported by accidental and + intrinsic popularity, it has been scarcely able to support itself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ROWE. + </h2> + <p> + Nicholas Rowe was born at Little Beckford, in Bedfordshire, in 1673. His + family had long possessed a considerable estate, with a good house, at + Lambertoun in Devonshire. The ancestor from whom he descended in a direct + line received the arms borne by his descendants for his bravery in the + Holy War. His father, John Rowe, who was the first that quitted his + paternal acres to practise any part of profit, professed the law, and + published Benlow's and Dallison's Reports in the reign of James the + Second, when, in opposition to the notions then diligently propagated of + dispensing power, he ventured to remark how low his authors rated the + prerogative. He was made a serjeant, and died April 30, 1692. He was + buried in the Temple church. + </p> + <p> + Nicholas was first sent to a private school at Highgate; and, being + afterwards removed to Westminster, was at twelve years chosen one of the + King's Scholars. His master was Busby, who suffered none of his scholars + to let their powers lie useless; and his exercises in several languages + are said to have been written with uncommon degrees of excellence, and yet + to have cost him very little labour. At sixteen he had, in his father's + opinion, made advances in learning sufficient to qualify him for the study + of law, and was entered a student of the Middle Temple, where for some + time he read statutes and reports with proficiency proportionate to the + force of his mind, which was already such that he endeavoured to + comprehend law, not as a series of precedents, or collection of positive + precepts, but as a system of rational government and impartial justice. + When he was nineteen, he was, by the death of his father, left more to his + own direction, and probably from that time suffered law gradually to give + way to poetry. At twenty-five he produced the Ambitious Step-Mother, which + was received with so much favour that he devoted himself from that time + wholly to elegant literature. + </p> + <p> + His next tragedy (1702) was Tamerlane, in which, under the name of + Tamerlane, he intended to characterise King William, and Louis the + Fourteenth under Bajazet. The virtues of Tamerlane seem to have been + arbitrarily assigned him by his poet, for I know not that history gives + any other qualities than those which make a conqueror. The fashion, + however, of the time was to accumulate upon Louis all that can raise + horror and detestation; and whatever good was withheld from him, that it + might not be thrown away was bestowed upon King William. This was the + tragedy which Rowe valued most, and that which probably, by the help of + political auxiliaries, excited most applause; but occasional poetry must + often content itself with occasional praise. Tamerlane has for a long time + been acted only once a year, on the night when King William landed. Our + quarrel with Louis has been long over; and it now gratifies neither zeal + nor malice to see him painted with aggravated features, like a Saracen + upon a sign. + </p> + <p> + The Fair Penitent, his next production (1703), is one of the most pleasing + tragedies on the stage, where it still keeps its turns of appearing, and + probably will long keep them, for there is scarcely any work of any poet + at once so interesting by the fable, and so delightful by the language. + The story is domestic, and therefore easily received by the imagination, + and assimilated to common life; the diction is exquisitely harmonious, and + soft or sprightly as occasion requires. + </p> + <p> + The character of Lothario seems to have been expanded by Richardson into + Lovelace; but he has excelled his original in the moral effect of the + fiction. Lothario, with gaiety which cannot be hated, and bravery which + cannot be despised, retains too much of the spectator's kindness. It was + in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once esteem and + detestation, to make virtuous resentment overpower all the benevolence + which wit, elegance, and courage, naturally excite; and to lose at last + the hero in the villain. The fifth act is not equal to the former; the + events of the drama are exhausted, and little remains but to talk of what + is past. It has been observed that the title of the play does not + sufficiently correspond with the behaviour of Calista, who at last shows + no evident signs of repentance, but may be reasonably suspected of feeling + pain from detection rather than from guilt, and expresses more shame than + sorrow, and more rage than shame. + </p> + <p> + His next (1706) was Ulysses; which, with the common fate of mythological + stories, is now generally neglected. We have been too early acquainted + with the poetical heroes to expect any pleasure from their revival; to + show them as they have already been shown, is to disgust by repetition; to + give them new qualities, or new adventures, is to offend by violating + received notions. + </p> + <p> + "The Royal Convert" (1708) seems to have a better claim to longevity. The + fable is drawn from an obscure and barbarous age, to which fictions are + more easily and properly adapted; for when objects are imperfectly seen, + they easily take forms from imagination. The scene lies among our + ancestors in our own country, and therefore very easily catches attention. + Rodogune is a personage truly tragical, of high spirit, and violent + passions, great with tempestuous dignity, and wicked with a soul that + would have been heroic if it had been virtuous. The motto seems to tell + that this play was not successful. + </p> + <p> + Rowe does not always remember what his characters require. In Tamerlane + there is some ridiculous mention of the God of Love; and Rodogune, a + savage Saxon, talks of Venus and the eagle that bears the thunder of + Jupiter. + </p> + <p> + This play discovers its own date, by a prediction of the Union, in + imitation of Cranmer's prophetic promises to Henry VIII. The anticipated + blessings of union are not very naturally introduced, nor very happily + expressed. He once (1706) tried to change his hand. He ventured on a + comedy, and produced the Biter, with which, though it was unfavourably + treated by the audience, he was himself delighted; for he is said to have + sat in the house laughing with great vehemence, whenever he had, in his + own opinion, produced a jest. But finding that he and the public had no + sympathy of mirth, he tried at lighter scenes no more. + </p> + <p> + After the Royal Convert (1714) appeared Jane Shore, written, as its author + professes, IN IMITATION OF SHAKESPEARE'S STYLE. In what he thought himself + an imitator of Shakespeare it is not easy to conceive. The numbers, the + diction, the sentiments, and the conduct, everything in which imitation + can consist, are remote in the utmost degree from the manner of + Shakespeare, whose dramas it resembles only as it is an English story, and + as some of the persons have their names in history. This play, consisting + chiefly of domestic scenes and private distress, lays hold upon the heart. + The wife is forgiven because she repents, and the husband is honoured + because he forgives. This, therefore, is one of those pieces which we + still welcome on the stage. + </p> + <p> + His last tragedy (1715) was Lady Jane Grey. This subject had been chosen + by Mr. Smith, whose papers were put into Rowe's hands such as he describes + them in his preface. This play has likewise sunk into oblivion. From this + time he gave nothing more to the stage. + </p> + <p> + Being by a competent fortune exempted from any necessity of combating his + inclination, he never wrote in distress, and therefore does not appear to + have ever written in haste. His works were finished to his own + approbation, and bear few marks of negligence or hurry. It is remarkable + that his prologues and epilogues are all his own, though he sometimes + supplied others; he afforded help, but did not solicit it. + </p> + <p> + As his studies necessarily made him acquainted with Shakespeare, and + acquaintance produced veneration, he undertook (1709) an edition of his + works, from which he neither received much praise, nor seems to have + expected it; yet I believe those who compare it with former copies will + find that he has done more than he promised; and that, without the pomp of + notes or boasts of criticism, many passages are happily restored. He + prefixed a life of the author, such as tradition, then almost expiring, + could supply, and a preface, which cannot be said to discover much + profundity or penetration. He at least contributed to the popularity of + his author. He was willing enough to improve his fortune by other arts + than poetry. He was under-secretary for three years when the Duke of + Queensberry was Secretary of State, and afterwards applied to the Earl of + Oxford for some public employment. Oxford enjoined him to study Spanish; + and when, some time afterwards, he came again, and said that he had + mastered it, dismissed him with this congratulation, "Then, sir, I envy + you the pleasure of reading 'Don Quixote' in the original." + </p> + <p> + This story is sufficiently attested; but why Oxford, who desired to be + thought a favourer of literature, should thus insult a man of acknowledged + merit, or how Rowe, who was so keen a Whig that he did not willingly + converse with men of the opposite party, could ask preferment from Oxford, + it is not now possible to discover. Pope, who told the story, did not say + on what occasion the advice was given; and, though he owned Rowe's + disappointment, doubted whether any injury was intended him, but thought + it rather Lord Oxford's ODD WAY. + </p> + <p> + It is likely that he lived on discontented through the rest of Queen + Anne's reign; but the time came at last when he found kinder friends. At + the accession of King George he was made Poet-Laureate—I am afraid, + by the ejection of poor Nahum Tate, who (1716) died in the Mint, where he + was forced to seek shelter by extreme poverty. He was made likewise one of + the land-surveyors of the customs of the Port of London. The Prince of + Wales chose him Clerk of his Council; and the Lord Chancellor Parker, as + soon as he received the seals, appointed him, unasked, Secretary of the + Presentations. Such an accumulation of employments undoubtedly produced a + very considerable revenue. + </p> + <p> + Having already translated some parts of Lucan's "Pharsalia," which had + been published in the Miscellanies, and doubtless received many praises, + he undertook a version of the whole work, which he lived to finish, but + not to publish. It seems to have been printed under the care of Dr. + Welwood, who prefixed the author's life, in which is contained the + following character:— + </p> + <p> + "As to his person, it was graceful and well made; his face regular, and of + a manly beauty. As his soul was well lodged, so its rational and animal + faculties excelled in a high degree. He had a quick and fruitful + invention, a deep penetration, and a large compass of thought, with + singular dexterity and easiness in making his thoughts to be understood. + He was master of most parts of polite learning, especially the classical + authors, both Greek and Latin; understood the French, Italian, and Spanish + languages, and spoke the first fluently, and the other two tolerably well. + He had likewise read most of the Greek and Roman histories in their + original languages, and most that are wrote in English, French, Italian, + and Spanish. He had a good taste in philosophy; and, having a firm + impression of religion upon his mind, he took great delight in divinity + and ecclesiastical history, in both of which he made great advances in the + times he retired into the country, which was frequent. He expressed on all + occasions his full persuasion of the truth of revealed religion; and, + being a sincere member of the Established Church himself, he pitied, but + condemned not, those that dissented from it. He abhorred the principles of + persecuting men upon the account of their opinions in religion; and, being + strict in his own, he took it not upon him to censure those of another + persuasion. His conversation was pleasant, witty, and learned, without the + least tincture of affectation or pedantry; and his inimitable manner of + diverting and enlivening the company made it impossible for any one to be + out of humour when he was in it. Envy and detraction seemed to be entirely + foreign to his constitution; and whatever provocations he met with at any + time, he passed them over without the least thought of resentment or + revenge. As Homer had a Zoilus, so Mr. Rowe had sometimes his; for there + were not wanting malevolent people, and pretenders to poetry too, that + would now and then bark at his best performances; but he was so conscious + of his own genius, and had so much good-nature, as to forgive them, nor + could he ever be tempted to return them an answer. + </p> + <p> + "The love of learning and poetry made him not the less fit for business, + and nobody applied himself closer to it when it required his attendance. + The late Duke of Queensberry, when he was Secretary of State, made him his + secretary for public affairs; and when that truly great man came to know + him well, he was never so pleased as when Mr. Rowe was in his company. + After the duke's death, all avenues were stopped to his preferment; and + during the rest of that reign he passed his time with the Muses and his + books, and sometimes the conversation of his friends. When he had just got + to be easy in his fortune, and was in a fair way to make it better, death + swept him away, and in him deprived the world of one of the best men, as + well as one of the best geniuses, of the age. He died like a Christian and + a philosopher, in charity with all mankind, and with an absolute + resignation to the will of God. He kept up his good-humour to the last; + and took leave of his wife and friends, immediately before his last agony, + with the same tranquillity of mind, and the same indifference for life, as + though he had been upon taking but a short journey. He was twice married—first + to a daughter of Mr. Parsons, one of the auditors of the revenue; and + afterwards to a daughter of Mr. Devenish, of a good family in Dorsetshire. + By the first he had a son; and by the second a daughter, married + afterwards to Mr. Fane. He died 6th December, 1718, in the forty-fifth + year of his age, and was buried on the 19th of the same month in + Westminster Abbey, in the aisle where many of our English poets are + interred, over against Chaucer, his body being attended by a select number + of his friends, and the dean and choir officiating at the funeral." + </p> + <p> + To this character, which is apparently given with the fondness of a + friend, may be added the testimony of Pope, who says, in a letter to + Blount, "Mr. Rowe accompanied me, and passed a week in the Forest. I need + not tell you how much a man of his turn entertained me; but I must + acquaint you, there is a vivacity and gaiety of disposition, almost + peculiar to him, which make it impossible to part from him without that + uneasiness which generally succeeds all our pleasure." + </p> + <p> + Pope has left behind him another mention of his companion less + advantageous, which is thus reported by Dr. Warburton:— + </p> + <p> + "Rowe, in Mr. Pope's opinion, maintained a decent character, but had no + heart. Mr. Addison was justly offended with some behaviour which arose + from that want, and estranged himself from him, which Rowe felt very + severely. Mr. Pope, their common friend, knowing this, took an + opportunity, at some juncture of Mr. Addison's advancement, to tell him + how poor Rowe was grieved at his displeasure, and what satisfaction he + expressed at Mr. Addison's good fortune, which he expressed so naturally + that he (Mr. Pope) could not but think him sincere. Mr. Addison replied, + 'I do not suspect that he feigned; but the levity of his heart is such, + that he is struck with any new adventure, and it would affect him just in + the same manner if he heard I was going to be hanged.' Mr. Pope said he + could not deny but Mr. Addison understood Rowe well." + </p> + <p> + This censure time has not left us the power of confirming or refuting; but + observation daily shows that much stress is not to be laid on hyperbolical + accusations and pointed sentences, which even he that utters them desires + to be applauded rather than credited. Addison can hardly be supposed to + have meant all that he said. Few characters can bear the microscopic + scrutiny of wit quickened by anger; and, perhaps, the best advice to + authors would be, that they should keep out of the way of one another. + </p> + <p> + Rowe is chiefly to be considered as a tragic writer and a translator. In + his attempt at comedy he failed so ignominiously that his Biter is not + inserted in his works: and his occasional poems and short compositions are + rarely worthy either praise or censure, for they seem the casual sports of + a mind seeking rather to amuse its leisure than to exercise its powers. In + the construction of his dramas there is not much art; he is not a nice + observer of the unities. He extends time and varies places as his + convenience requires. To vary the place is not, in my opinion, any + violation of nature, if the change be made between the acts, for it is no + less easy for the spectator to suppose himself at Athens in the second + act, than at Thebes in the first; but to change the scene, as is done by + Rowe, in the middle of an act, is to add more acts to the play, since an + act is so much of the business as is transacted without interruption. + Rowe, by this licence, easily extricates himself from difficulties; as in + Jane Grey, when we have been terrified with all the dreadful pomp of + public execution; and are wondering how the heroine or the poet will + proceed, no sooner has Jane pronounced some prophetic rhymes than—pass + and be gone—the scene closes, and Pembroke and Gardiner are turned + out upon the stage. + </p> + <p> + I know not that there can be found in his plays any deep search into + nature, any accurate discriminations of kindred qualities, or nice display + of passion in its progress; all is general and undefined. Nor does he much + interest or affect the auditor, except in Jane Shore, who is always seen + and heard with pity. Alicia is a character of empty noise, with no + resemblance to real sorrow or to natural madness. + </p> + <p> + Whence, then, has Rowe his reputation? From the reasonableness and + propriety of some of his scenes, from the elegance of his diction, and the + suavity of his verse. He seldom moves either pity or terror, but he often + elevates the sentiments; he seldom pierces the breast, but he always + delights the ear, and often improves the understanding. His translation of + the "Golden Verses," and of the first book of Quillet's poem, have nothing + in them remarkable. The "Golden Verses" are tedious. + </p> + <p> + The version of Lucan is one of the greatest productions of English poetry, + for there is perhaps none that so completely exhibits the genius and + spirit of the original. Lucan is distinguished by a kind of dictatorial or + philosophic dignity, rather, as Quintilian observes, declamatory than + poetical; full of ambitious morality and pointed sentences, comprised in + vigorous and animated lines. This character Rowe has very diligently and + successfully preserved. His versification, which is such as his + contemporaries practised, without any attempt at innovation or + improvement, seldom wants either melody or force. His author's sense is + sometimes a little diluted by additional infusions, and sometimes weakened + by too much expansion. But such faults are to be expected in all + translations, from the constraint of measures and dissimilitude of + languages. The "Pharsalia" of Rowe deserves more notice than it obtains, + and as it is more read will be more esteemed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GAY. + </h2> + <p> + John Gay, descended from an old family that had been long in possession of + the manor of Goldworthy, in Devonshire, was born in 1688, at or near + Barnstaple, where he was educated by Mr. Luck, who taught the school of + that town with good reputation, and, a little before he retired from it, + published a volume of Latin and English verses. Under such a master he was + likely to form a taste for poetry. Being born without prospect of + hereditary riches, he was sent to London in his youth, and placed + apprentice with a silk mercer. How long he continued behind the counter, + or with what degree of softness and dexterity he received and accommodated + the ladies, as he probably took no delight in telling it, is not known. + The report is that he was soon weary of either the restraint or servility + of his occupation, and easily persuaded his master to discharge him. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess of Monmouth, remarkable for inflexible perseverance in her + demand to be treated as a princess, in 1712 took Gay into her service as + secretary: by quitting a shop for such service he might gain leisure, but + he certainly advanced little in the boast of independence. Of his leisure + he made so good use that he published next year a poem on "Rural Sports," + and inscribed it to Mr. Pope, who was then rising fast into reputation. + Pope was pleased with the honour, and when he became acquainted with Gay, + found such attractions in his manners and conversation that he seems to + have received him into his inmost confidence; and a friendship was formed + between them which lasted to their separation by death, without any known + abatement on either part. Gay was the general favourite of the whole + association of wits; but they regarded him as a playfellow rather than a + partner, and treated him with more fondness than respect. + </p> + <p> + Next year he published "The Shepherd's Week," six English pastorals, in + which the images are drawn from real life, such as it appears among the + rustics in parts of England remote from London. Steele, in some papers of + the Guardian, had praised Ambrose Philips as the pastoral writer that + yielded only to Theocritus, Virgil, and Spenser. Pope, who had also + published pastorals, not pleased to be overlooked, drew up a comparison of + his own compositions with those of Philips, in which he covertly gave + himself the preference, while he seemed to disown it. Not content with + this, he is supposed to have incited Gay to write "The Shepherd's Week," + to show that, if it be necessary to copy nature with minuteness, rural + life must be exhibited such as grossness and ignorance have made it. So + far the plan was reasonable; but the pastorals are introduced by a Proeme, + written with such imitation as they could attain of obsolete language, + and, by consequence, in a style that was never spoken nor written in any + language or in any place. But the effect of reality and truth became + conspicuous, even when the intention was to show them grovelling and + degraded. These pastorals became popular, and were read with delight as + just representations of rural manners and occupations by those who had no + interest in the rivalry of the poets, nor knowledge of the critical + dispute. + </p> + <p> + In 1713 he brought a comedy called The Wife of Bath upon the stage, but it + received no applause; he printed it, however, and seventeen years after, + having altered it and, as he thought, adapted it more to the public taste, + he offered it again to the town; but, though he was flushed with the + success of the Beggar's Opera, had the mortification to see it again + rejected. + </p> + <p> + In the last year of Queen Anne's life Gay was made secretary to the Earl + of Clarendon, Ambassador to the Court of Hanover. This was a station that + naturally gave him hopes of kindness from every party; but the Queen's + death put an end to her favours, and he had dedicated his "Shepherd's + Week" to Bolingbroke, which Swift considered as the crime that obstructed + all kindness from the House of Hanover. He did not, however, omit to + improve the right which his office had given him to the notice of the + Royal Family. On the arrival of the Princess of Wales he wrote a poem, and + obtained so much favour that both the Prince and the Princess went to see + his What D'ye Call It, a kind of mock tragedy, in which the images were + comic and the action grave; so that, as Pope relates, Mr. Cromwell, who + could not hear what was said, was at a loss how to reconcile the laughter + of the audience with the solemnity of the scene. + </p> + <p> + Of this performance the value certainly is but little; but it was one of + the lucky trifles that give pleasure by novelty, and was so much favoured + by the audience that envy appeared against it in the form of criticism; + and Griffin, a player, in conjunction with Mr. Theobald, a man afterwards + more remarkable, produced a pamphlet called "The Key to the What D'ye Call + It," "which," says Gay, "calls me a blockhead, and Mr. Pope a knave." + </p> + <p> + But fortune has always been inconstant. Not long afterwards (1717) he + endeavoured to entertain the town with Three Hours after Marriage, a + comedy written, as there is sufficient reason for believing, by the joint + assistance of Pope and Arbuthnot. One purpose of it was to bring into + contempt Dr. Woodward, the fossilist, a man not really or justly + contemptible. It had the fate which such outrages deserve. The scene in + which Woodward was directly and apparently ridiculed, by the introduction + of a mummy and a crocodile, disgusted the audience, and the performance + was driven off the stage with general condemnation. + </p> + <p> + Gay is represented as a man easily incited to hope, and deeply depressed + when his hopes were disappointed. This is not the character of a hero, but + it may naturally imply something more generally welcome, a soft and civil + companion. Whoever is apt to hope good from others is diligent to please + them; but he that believes his powers strong enough to force their own + way, commonly tries only to please himself. He had been simple enough to + imagine that those who laughed at the What D'ye Call It would raise the + fortune of its author, and, finding nothing done, sunk into dejection. His + friends endeavoured to divert him. The Earl of Burlington sent him (1716) + into Devonshire, the year after Mr. Pulteney took him to Aix, and in the + following year Lord Harcourt invited him to his seat, where, during his + visit, two rural lovers were killed with lightning, as is particularly + told in Pope's "Letters." + </p> + <p> + Being now generally known, he published (1720) his poems by subscription, + with such success that he raised a thousand pounds, and called his friends + to a consultation what use might be best made of it. Lewis, the steward of + Lord Oxford, advised him to intrust it to the Funds, and live upon the + interest; Arbuthnot bade him to intrust it to Providence, and live upon + the principal; Pope directed him, and was seconded by Swift, to purchase + an annuity. + </p> + <p> + Gay in that disastrous year had a present from young Craggs of some South + Sea Stock, and once supposed himself to be master of twenty thousand + pounds. His friends persuaded him to sell his share; but he dreamed of + dignity and splendour, and could not bear to obstruct his own fortune. He + was then importuned to sell as much as would purchase a hundred a year for + life, "which," says Penton, "will make you sure of a clean shirt and a + shoulder of mutton every day." This counsel was rejected; the profit and + principal were lost, and Gay sunk under the calamity so low that his life + became in danger. By the care of his friends, among whom Pope appears to + have shown particular tenderness, his health was restored; and, returning + to his studies, he wrote a tragedy called The Captives, which he was + invited to read before the Princess of Wales. When the hour came, he saw + the Princess and her ladies all in expectation, and, advancing with + reverence too great for any other attention, stumbled at a stool, and, + falling forwards, threw down a weighty Japan screen. The Princess started, + the ladies screamed, and poor Gay, after all the disturbance, was still to + read his play. + </p> + <p> + The fate of The Captives, which was acted at Drury Lane in 1723-4, I know + not; but he now thought himself in favour, and undertook (1726) to write a + volume of "Fables" for the improvement of the young Duke of Cumberland. + For this he is said to have been promised a reward, which he had doubtless + magnified with all the wild expectations of indigence and vanity. + </p> + <p> + Next year the Prince and Princess became King and Queen, and Gay was to be + great and happy; but on the settlement of the household, he found himself + appointed gentleman usher to the Princess Louisa. By this offer he thought + himself insulted, and sent a message to the Queen that he was too old for + the place. There seem to have been many machinations employed afterwards + in his favour, and diligent court was paid to Mrs. Howard, afterwards + Countess of Suffolk, who was much beloved by the King and Queen, to engage + her interest for his promotion; but solicitation, verses, and flatteries + were thrown away; the lady heard them, and did nothing. All the pain which + he suffered from neglect, or, as he perhaps termed it, the ingratitude of + the Court, may be supposed to have been driven away by the unexampled + success of the Beggar's Opera. This play, written in ridicule of the + musical Italian drama, was first offered to Cibber and his brethren at + Drury Lane and rejected: it being then carried to Rich, had the effect, as + was ludicrously said, of making Gay RICH and Rich GAY. Of this lucky + piece, as the reader cannot but wish to know the original and progress, I + have inserted the relation which Spence has given in Pope's words:— + </p> + <p> + "Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay what an odd pretty sort of a + thing a Newgate Pastoral might make. Gay was inclined to try at such a + thing for some time; but afterwards thought it would be better to write a + comedy on the same plan. This was what gave rise to the Beggar's Opera. He + began on it, and when first he mentioned it to Swift, the doctor did not + much like the project. As he carried it on, he showed what he wrote to + both of us, and we now and then gave a correction, or a word or two of + advice; but it was wholly of his own writing. When it was done, neither of + us thought it would succeed. We showed it to Congreve, who, after reading + it over, said it would either take greatly or be damned confoundedly. We + were all, at the first night of it, in great uncertainty of the event, + till we were very much encouraged by overhearing the Duke of Argyll, who + sat in the next box to us, say, 'It will do—it must do! I see it in + the eyes of them.' This was a good while before the first act was over, + and so gave us ease soon; for that Duke (besides his own good taste) has a + particular knack, as any one now living, in discovering the taste of the + public. He was quite right in this, as usual; the good-nature of the + audience appeared stronger and stronger every act, and ended in a clamour + of applause." + </p> + <p> + Its reception is thus recorded in the notes to the "Dunciad":— + </p> + <p> + "This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known. + Besides being acted in London sixty-three days without interruption, and + renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread into all the great + towns of England; was played in many places to the thirtieth and fortieth + time; at Bath and Bristol fifty, etc. It made its progress into Wales, + Scotland, and Ireland, where it was performed twenty-four days + successively. The ladies carried about with them the favourite songs of it + in fans, and houses were furnished with it in screens. The fame of it was + not confined to the author only. The person who acted Polly, till then + obscure, became all at once the favourite of the town; her pictures were + engraved and sold in great numbers; her life written, books of letters and + verses to her published, and pamphlets made even of her sayings and jests. + Furthermore, it drove out of England (for that season) the Italian Opera, + which had carried all before it for ten years." + </p> + <p> + Of this performance, when it was printed, the reception was different, + according to the different opinions of its readers. Swift commended it for + the excellence of its morality, as a piece that "placed all kinds of vice + in the strongest and most odious light;" but others, and among them Dr. + Herring, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, censured it as giving + encouragement, not only to vice, but to crimes, by making a highwayman the + hero and dismissing him at last unpunished. It has been even said that + after the exhibition of the Beggar's Opera the gangs of robbers were + evidently multiplied. + </p> + <p> + Both these decisions are surely exaggerated. The play, like many others, + was plainly written only to divert, without any moral purpose, and is + therefore not likely to do good; nor can it be conceived, without more + speculation than life requires or admits, to be productive of much evil. + Highwaymen and housebreakers seldom frequent the playhouse, or mingle in + any elegant diversion; nor is it possible for any one to imagine that he + may rob with safety, because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage. + This objection, however, or some other rather political than moral, + obtained such prevalence that when Gay produced a second part under the + name of Polly, it was prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain; and he was + forced to recompense his repulse by a subscription, which is said to have + been so liberally bestowed that what he called oppression ended in profit. + The publication was so much favoured that though the first part gained him + four hundred pounds, near thrice as much was the profit of the second. He + received yet another recompense for this supposed hardship, in the + affectionate attention of the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, into whose + house he was taken, and with whom he passed the remaining part of his + life. The Duke, considering his want of economy, undertook the management + of his money, and gave it to him as he wanted it. But it is supposed that + the discountenance of the Court sunk deep into his heart, and gave him + more discontent than the applauses or tenderness of his friends could + overpower. He soon fell into his old distemper, an habitual colic, and + languished, though with many intervals of ease and cheerfulness, till a + violent fit at last seized him and carried him to the grave, as Arbuthnot + reported, with more precipitance than he had ever known. He died on the + 4th of December, 1732, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The letter + which brought an account of his death to Swift, was laid by for some days + unopened, because when he received it, he was impressed with the + preconception of some misfortune. + </p> + <p> + After his death was published a second volume of "Fables," more political + than the former. His opera of Achilles was acted, and the profits were + given to two widow sisters, who inherited what he left, as his lawful + heirs; for he died without a will, though he had gathered three thousand + pounds. There have appeared likewise under his name a comedy called the + Distressed Wife, and the Rehearsal at Gotham, a piece of humour. + </p> + <p> + The character given him by Pope is this, that "he was a natural man, + without design, who spoke what he thought, and just as he thought it," and + that "he was of a timid temper, and fearful of giving offence to the + great;" which caution, however, says Pope, was of no avail. + </p> + <p> + As a poet he cannot be rated very high. He was, I once heard a female + critic remark, "of a lower order." He had not in any great degree the MENS + DIVINIOR, the dignity of genius. Much, however, must be allowed to the + author of a new species of composition, though it be not of the highest + kind. We owe to Gay the ballad opera, a mode of comedy which at first was + supposed to delight only by its novelty, but has now, by the experience of + half a century, been found so well accommodated to the disposition of a + popular audience that it is likely to keep long possession of the stage. + Whether this new drama was the product of judgment or of luck, the praise + of it must be given to the inventor; and there are many writers read with + more reverence to whom such merit or originality cannot be attributed. + </p> + <p> + His first performance, the Rural Sports, is such as was easily planned and + executed; it is never contemptible, nor ever excellent. The Fan is one of + those mythological fictions which antiquity delivers ready to the hand, + but which, like other things that lie open to every one's use, are of + little value. The attention naturally retires from a new tale of Venus, + Diana, and Minerva. + </p> + <p> + His "Fables" seem to have been a favourite work; for, having published one + volume, he left another behind him. Of this kind of Fables the author does + not appear to have formed any distinct or settled notion. Phaedrus + evidently confounds them with Tales, and Gay both with Tales and + Allegorical Prosopopoeias. A Fable or Apologue, such as is now under + consideration, seems to be, in its genuine state, a narrative in which + beings irrational, and sometimes inanimate, arbores loquuntur, non tantum + ferae, are, for the purpose of moral instruction, feigned to act and speak + with human interests and passions. To this description the compositions of + Gay do not always conform. For a fable he gives now and then a tale, or an + abstracted allegory; and from some, by whatever name they may be called, + it will be difficult to extract any moral principle. They are, however, + told with liveliness, the versification is smooth, and the diction, though + now and then a little constrained by the measure or the rhyme, is + generally happy. + </p> + <p> + To "Trivia" may be allowed all that it claims; it is sprightly, various, + and pleasant. The subject is of that kind which Gay was by nature + qualified to adorn, yet some of his decorations may be justly wished away. + An honest blacksmith might have done for Patty what is performed by + Vulcan. The appearance of Cloacina is nauseous and superfluous; a shoe-boy + could have been produced by the casual cohabitation of mere mortals. + Horace's rule is broken in both cases; there is no dignus vindice nodus, + no difficulty that required any supernatural interposition. A patten may + be made by the hammer of a mortal, and a bastard may be dropped by a human + strumpet. On great occasions, and on small, the mind is repelled by + useless and apparent falsehood. + </p> + <p> + Of his little poems the public judgment seems to be right; they are + neither much esteemed nor totally despised. The story of "The Apparition" + is borrowed from one of the tales of Poggio. Those that please least are + the pieces to which Gulliver gave occasion, for who can much delight in + the echo of an unnatural fiction? + </p> + <p> + "Dione" is a counterpart to "Amynta" and "Pastor Fido" and other trifles + of the same kind, easily imitated, and unworthy of imitation. What the + Italians call comedies from a happy conclusion, Gay calls a tragedy from a + mournful event, but the style of the Italians and of Gay is equally + tragical. There is something in the poetical Arcadia so remote from known + reality and speculative possibility that we can never support its + representation through a long work. A pastoral of an hundred lines may be + endured, but who will hear of sheep and goats, and myrtle bowers and + purling rivulets, through five acts? Such scenes please barbarians in the + dawn of literature, and children in the dawn of life, but will be for the + most part thrown away as men grow wise and nations grow learned. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TICKELL. + </h2> + <p> + Thomas Tickell, the son of the Rev. Richard Tickell, was born in 1686, at + Bridekirk, in Cumberland, and in 1701 became a member of Queen's College + in Oxford; in 1708 he was made Master of Arts, and two years afterwards + was chosen Fellow, for which, as he did not comply with the statutes by + taking orders, he obtained a dispensation from the Crown. He held his + fellowship till 1726, and then vacated it by marrying, in that year, at + Dublin. + </p> + <p> + Tickell was not one of those scholars who wear away their lives in + closets; he entered early into the world and was long busy in public + affairs, in which he was initiated under the patronage of Addison, whose + notice he is said to have gained by his verses in praise of Rosamond. To + those verses it would not have been just to deny regard, for they contain + some of the most elegant encomiastic strains; and among the innumerable + poems of the same kind it will be hard to find one with which they need to + fear a comparison. It may deserve observation that when Pope wrote long + afterwards in praise of Addison, he has copied—at least, has + resembled—Tickell. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Let joy salute fair Rosamonda's shade, + And wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely maid. + While now perhaps with Dido's ghost she roves, + And hears and tells the story of their loves, + Alike they mourn, alike they bless their fate, + Since Love, which made them wretched, made them great. + Nor longer that relentless doom bemoan, + Which gained a Virgil and an Addison."—TICKELL. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Then future ages with delight shall see + How Plato's, Bacon's, Newton's, looks agree; + Or in fair series laurelled bards be shown, + A Virgil there, and here an Addison."—POPE. +</pre> + <p> + He produced another piece of the same kind at the appearance of Cato, with + equal skill, but not equal happiness. + </p> + <p> + When the Ministers of Queen Anne were negotiating with France, Tickell + published "The Prospect of Peace," a poem of which the tendency was to + reclaim the nation from the pride of conquest to the pleasures of + tranquillity. How far Tickell, whom Swift afterwards mentioned as + Whiggissimus, had then connected himself with any party, I know not; this + poem certainly did not flatter the practices, or promote the opinions, of + the men by whom he was afterwards befriended. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Addison, however he hated the men then in power, suffered his + friendship to prevail over his public spirit, and gave in the Spectator + such praises of Tickell's poem that when, after having long wished to + peruse it, I laid hold of it at last, I thought it unequal to the honours + which it had received, and found it a piece to be approved rather than + admired. But the hope excited by a work of genius, being general and + indefinite, is rarely gratified. It was read at that with so much favour + that six editions were sold. + </p> + <p> + At the arrival of King George, he sang "The Royal Progress," which, being + inserted in the Spectator, is well known, and of which it is just to say + that it is neither high nor low. + </p> + <p> + The poetical incident of most importance in Tickell's life was his + publication of the first book of the "Iliad," as translated by himself, an + apparent opposition to Pope's "Homer," of which the first part made its + entrance into the world at the same time. Addison declared that the rival + versions were both good, but that Tickell's was the best that ever was + made; and with Addison, the wits, his adherents and followers, were + certain to concur. Pope does not appear to have been much dismayed, "for," + says he, "I have the town—that is, the mob—on my side." But he + remarks "that it is common for the smaller party to make up in diligence + what they want in numbers. He appeals to the people as his proper judges, + and if they are not inclined to condemn him, he is in little care about + the highflyers at Button's." + </p> + <p> + Pope did not long think Addison an impartial judge, for he considered him + as the writer of Tickell's version. The reasons for his suspicion I will + literally transcribe from Mr. Spence's Collection:— + </p> + <p> + "There had been a coldness," said Mr. Pope, "between Mr. Addison and me + for some time, and we had not been in company together, for a good while, + anywhere but at Button's Coffee House, where I used to see him almost + every day. On his meeting me there, one day in particular, he took me + aside and said he should be glad to dine with me at such a tavern, if I + stayed till those people were gone (Budgell and Philips). He went + accordingly, and after dinner Mr. Addison said 'that he had wanted for + some time to talk with me: that his friend Tickell had formerly, whilst at + Oxford, translated the first book of the Iliad; that he designed to print + it, and had desired him to look it over; that he must therefore beg that I + would not desire him to look over my first book, because, if he did, it + would have the air of double-dealing.' I assured him that I did not at all + take it ill of Mr. Tickell that he was going to publish his translation; + that he certainly had as much right to translate any author as myself; and + that publishing both was entering on a fair stage. I then added that I + would not desire him to look over my first book of the Iliad, because he + had looked over Mr. Tickell's, but could wish to have the benefit of his + observations on my second, which I had then finished, and which Mr. + Tickell had not touched upon. Accordingly I sent him the second book the + next morning, and Mr. Addison a few days after returned it, with very high + commendations. Soon after it was generally known that Mr. Tickell was + publishing the first book of the Iliad, I met Dr. Young in the street, and + upon our falling into that subject, the doctor expressed a great deal of + surprise at Tickell's having had such a translation so long by him. He + said that it was inconceivable to him, and that there must be some mistake + in the matter; that each used to communicate to the other whatever verses + they wrote, even to the least things; that Tickell could not have been + busied in so long a work there without his knowing something of the + matter; and that he had never heard a single word of it till on this + occasion. This surprise of Dr. Young, together with what Steele has said + against Tickell in relation to this affair, make it highly probable that + there was some underhand dealing in that business; and indeed Tickell + himself, who is a very fair worthy man, has since, in a manner, as good as + owned it to me. When it was introduced into a conversation between Mr. + Tickell and Mr. Pope by a third person, Tickell did not deny it, which, + considering his honour and zeal for his departed friend, was the same as + owning it." + </p> + <p> + Upon these suspicions, with which Dr. Warburton hints that other + circumstances concurred, Pope always in his "Art of Sinking" quotes this + book as the work of Addison. + </p> + <p> + To compare the two translations would be tedious; the palm is now given + universally to Pope, but I think the first lines of Tickell's were rather + to be preferred; and Pope seems to have since borrowed something from them + in the correction of his own. + </p> + <p> + When the Hanover succession was disputed, Tickell gave what assistance his + pen would supply. His "Letter to Avignon" stands high among party poems; + it expresses contempt without coarseness, and superiority without + insolence. It had the success which it deserved, being five times printed. + </p> + <p> + He was now intimately united to Mr. Addison, who, when he went into + Ireland as secretary to the Lord Sunderland, took him thither, and + employed him in public business; and when (1717) afterwards he rose to be + Secretary of State, made him Under-Secretary. Their friendship seems to + have continued without abatement; for, when Addison died, he left him the + charge of publishing his works, with a solemn recommendation to the + patronage of Craggs. To these works he prefixed an elegy on the author, + which could owe none of its beauties to the assistance which might be + suspected to have strengthened or embellished his earlier compositions; + but neither he nor Addison ever produced nobler lines than are contained + in the third and fourth paragraphs; nor is a more elegant funeral poem to + be found in the whole compass of English literature. He was afterwards + (about 1725) made secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland, a place of + great honour; in which he continued till 1740, when he died on the 23rd of + April at Bath. + </p> + <p> + Of the poems yet unmentioned, the longest is "Kensington Gardens," of + which the versification is smooth and elegant, but the fiction unskilfully + compounded of Grecian deities and Gothic fairies. Neither species of those + exploded beings could have done much; and when they are brought together, + they only make each other contemptible. To Tickell, however, cannot be + refused a high place among the minor poets; nor should it be forgotten + that he was one of the contributors to the Spectator. With respect to his + personal character, he is said to have been a man of gay conversation, at + least a temperate lover of wine and company, and in his domestic relations + without censure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SOMERVILE. + </h2> + <p> + Of Mr. Somervile's life I am not able to say anything that can satisfy + curiosity. He was a gentleman whose estate lay in Warwickshire; his house, + where he was born in 1693, is called Edston, a seat inherited from a long + line of ancestors; for he was said to be of the first family in his + county. He tells of himself that he was born near the Avon's banks. He was + bred at Winchester school, and was elected fellow of New College. It does + not appear that in the places of his education he exhibited any uncommon + proofs of genius or literature. His powers were first displayed in the + country, where he was distinguished as a poet, a gentleman, and a skilful + and useful justice of the peace. + </p> + <p> + Of the close of his life, those whom his poems have delighted will read + with pain the following account, copied from the "Letters" of his friend + Shenstone, by whom he was too much resembled:— + </p> + <p> + "—Our old friend Somervile is dead! I did not imagine I could have + been so sorry as I find myself on this occasion. Sublatum quaerimus. I can + now excuse all his foibles; impute them to age, and to distress of + circumstances: the last of these considerations wrings my very soul to + think on. For a man of high spirit conscious of having (at least in one + production) generally pleased the world, to be plagued and threatened by + wretches that are low in every sense; to be forced to drink himself into + pains of the body, in order to get rid of the pains of the mind is a + misery."—He died July 19, 1742, and was buried at Wotton, near + Henley on Arden. + </p> + <p> + His distresses need not be much pitied: his estate is said to be fifteen + hundred a year, which by his death has devolved to Lord Somervile of + Scotland. His mother, indeed, who lived till ninety, had a jointure of six + hundred. + </p> + <p> + It is with regret that I find myself not better enabled to exhibit + memorials of a writer who at least must be allowed to have set a good + example to men of his own class, by devoting part of his time to elegant + knowledge; and who has shown, by the subjects which his poetry has + adorned, that it is practicable to be at once a skilful sportsman and a + man of letters. + </p> + <p> + Somervile has tried many modes of poetry; and though perhaps he has not in + any reached such excellence as to raise much envy, it may commonly be said + at least, that "he writes very well for a gentleman." His serious pieces + are sometimes elevated; and his trifles are sometimes elegant. In his + verses to Addison, the couplet which mentions Clio is written with the + most exquisite delicacy of praise; it exhibits one of those happy strokes + that are seldom attained. In his Odes to Marlborough there are beautiful + lines; but in the second Ode he shows that he knew little of his hero, + when he talks of his private virtues. His subjects are commonly such as + require no great depth of thought or energy of expression. His Fables are + generally stale, and therefore excite no curiosity. Of his favourite, "The + Two Springs," the fiction is unnatural, and the moral inconsequential. In + his Tales there is too much coarseness, with too little care of language, + and not sufficient rapidity of narration. His great work is his Chase, + which he undertook in his maturer age, when his ear was improved to the + approbation of blank verse, of which, however, his two first lines give a + bad specimen. To this poem praise cannot be totally denied. He is allowed + by sportsmen to write with great intelligence of his subject, which is the + first requisite to excellence; and though it is impossible to interest the + common readers of verse in the dangers or pleasures of the chase, he has + done all that transition and variety could easily effect; and has with + great propriety enlarged his plan by the modes of hunting used in other + countries. + </p> + <p> + With still less judgment did he choose blank verse as the vehicle of + "Rural Sports." If blank verse be not tumid and gorgeous, it is crippled + prose; and familiar images in laboured language have nothing to recommend + them but absurd novelty, which, wanting the attractions of nature, cannot + please long. One excellence of the "Splendid Shilling" is, that it is + short. Disguise can gratify no longer than it deceives. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THOMSON. + </h2> + <p> + James Thomson, the son of a minister well esteemed for his piety and + diligence, was born September 7, 1700, at Ednam, in the shire of Roxburgh, + of which his father was pastor. His mother, whose name was Hume, inherited + as co-heiress a portion of a small estate. The revenue of a parish in + Scotland is seldom large; and it was probably in commiseration of the + difficulty with which Mr. Thomson supported his family, having nine + children, that Mr. Riccarton, a neighbouring minister, discovering in + James uncommon promises of future excellence, undertook to superintend his + education, and provide him books. He was taught the common rudiments of + learning at the school of Jedburgh, a place which he delights to recollect + in his poem of "Autumn;" but was not considered by his master as superior + to common boys, though in those early days he amused his patron and his + friends with poetical compositions; with which, however, he so little + pleased himself that on every New Year's Day he threw into the fire all + the productions of the foregoing year. + </p> + <p> + From the school he was removed to Edinburgh, where he had not resided two + years when his father died, and left all his children to the care of their + mother, who raised upon her little estate what money a mortgage could + afford; and, removing with her family to Edinburgh, lived to see her son + rising into eminence. + </p> + <p> + The design of Thomson's friends was to breed him a minister. He lived at + Edinburgh, at a school, without distinction or expectation, till at the + usual time he performed a probationary exercise by explaining a psalm. His + diction was so poetically splendid, that Mr. Hamilton, the professor of + divinity, reproved him for speaking language unintelligible to a popular + audience; and he censured one of his expressions as indecent, if not + profane. This rebuke is reported to have repressed his thoughts of an + ecclesiastical character, and he probably cultivated with new diligence + his blossoms of poetry, which, however, were in some danger of a blast; + for, submitting his productions to some who thought themselves qualified + to criticise, he heard of nothing but faults; but, finding other judges + more favourable, he did not suffer himself to sink into despondence. He + easily discovered that the only stage on which a poet could appear with + any hope of advantage was London; a place too wide for the operation of + petty competition and private malignity, where merit might soon become + conspicuous, and would find friends as soon as it became reputable to + befriend it. A lady who was acquainted with his mother advised him to the + journey, and promised some countenance or assistance, which at last he + never received; however, he justified his adventure by her encouragement, + and came to seek in London patronage and fame. At his arrival he found his + way to Mr. Mallet, then tutor to the sons of the Duke of Montrose. He had + recommendations to several persons of consequence, which he had tied up + carefully in his handkerchief; but as he passed along the street, with the + gaping curiosity of a newcomer, his attention was upon everything rather + than his pocket, and his magazine of credentials was stolen from him. + </p> + <p> + His first want was a pair of shoes. For the supply of all his necessities, + his whole fund was his "Winter," which for a time could find no purchaser; + till at last Mr. Millan was persuaded to buy it at a low price; and this + low price he had for some time reason to regret; but, by accident, Mr. + Whately, a man not wholly unknown among authors, happening to turn his eye + upon it, was so delighted that he ran from place to place celebrating its + excellence. Thomson obtained likewise the notice of Aaron Hill, whom, + being friendless and indigent, and glad of kindness, he courted with every + expression of servile adulation. + </p> + <p> + "Winter" was dedicated to Sir Spencer Compton, but attracted no regard + from him to the author; till Aaron Hill awakened his attention by some + verses addressed to Thomson, and published in one of the newspapers, which + censured the great for their neglect of ingenious men. Thomson then + received a present of twenty guineas, of which he gives this account to + Mr. Hill:— + </p> + <p> + "I hinted to you in my last that on Saturday morning I was with Sir + Spencer Compton. A certain gentleman, without my desire, spoke to him + concerning me: his answer was that I had never come near him. Then the + gentleman put the question, if he desired that I should wait on him? He + returned, he did. On this the gentleman gave me an introductory letter to + him. He received me in what they commonly call a civil manner; asked me + some common-place questions, and made me a present of twenty guineas. I am + very ready to own that the present was larger than my performance + deserved; and shall ascribe it to his generosity, or any other cause, + rather than the merit of the address." + </p> + <p> + The poem, which, being of a new kind, few would venture at first to like, + by degrees gained upon the public; and one edition was very speedily + succeeded by another. + </p> + <p> + Thomson's credit was now high, and every day brought him new friends; + among others Dr. Rundle, a man afterwards unfortunately famous, sought his + acquaintance, and found his qualities such that he recommended him to the + Lord Chancellor Talbot. + </p> + <p> + "Winter" was accompanied, in many editions, not only with a preface and + dedication, but with poetical praises by Mr. Hill, Mr. Mallet (then + Malloch), and Mira, the fictitious name of a lady once too well known. Why + the dedications are, to "Winter" and the other Seasons, contrarily to + custom, left out in the collected works, the reader may inquire. + </p> + <p> + The next year (1727) he distinguished himself by three publications: of + "Summer," in pursuance of his plan; of "A Poem on the Death of Sir Isaac + Newton," which he was enabled to perform as an exact philosopher by the + instruction of Mr. Gray; and of "Britannia," a kind of poetical invective + against the Ministry, whom the nation then thought not forward enough in + resenting the depredations of the Spaniards. By this piece he declared + himself an adherent to the Opposition, and had therefore no favour to + expect from the Court. + </p> + <p> + Thomson, having been some time entertained in the family of Lord Binning, + was desirous of testifying his gratitude by making him the patron of his + "Summer;" but the same kindness which had first disposed Lord Binning to + encourage him, determined him to refuse the dedication, which was by his + advice addressed to Mr. Dodington, a man who had more power to advance the + reputation and fortune of a poet. + </p> + <p> + "Spring" was published next year, with a dedication to the Countess of + Hertford, whose practice it was to invite every summer some poet into the + country, to hear her verses and assist her studies. This honour was one + summer conferred on Thomson, who took more delight in carousing with Lord + Hertford and his friends than assisting her ladyship's poetical + operations, and therefore never received another summons. + </p> + <p> + "Autumn," the season to which the "Spring" and "Summer" are preparatory, + still remained unsung, and was delayed till he published (1730) his works + collected. + </p> + <p> + He produced in 1727 the tragedy of Sophonisba, which raised such + expectation that every rehearsal was dignified with a splendid audience, + collected to anticipate the delight that was preparing for the public. It + was observed, however, that nobody was much affected, and that the company + rose as from a moral lecture. It had upon the stage no unusual degree of + success. Slight accidents will operate upon the taste of pleasure. There + is a feeble line in the play:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O!" +</pre> + <p> + This gave occasion to a waggish parody— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O, Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O!" +</pre> + <p> + which for a while was echoed through the town. + </p> + <p> + I have been told by Savage, that of the prologue to Sophonisba, the first + part was written by Pope, who could not be persuaded to finish it; and + that the concluding lines were added by Mallet. + </p> + <p> + Thomson was not long afterwards, by the influence of Dr. Rundle, sent to + travel with Mr. Charles Talbot, the eldest son of the Chancellor. He was + yet young enough to receive new impressions, to have his opinions + rectified and his views enlarged; nor can he be supposed to have wanted + that curiosity which is inseparable from an active and comprehensive mind. + He may therefore now be supposed to have revelled in all the joys of + intellectual luxury; he was every day feasted with instructive novelties; + he lived splendidly without expense: and might expect when he returned + home a certain establishment. + </p> + <p> + At this time a long course of opposition to Sir Robert Walpole had filled + the nation with clamours for liberty, of which no man felt the want, and + with care for liberty which was not in danger. Thomson, in his travels on + the Continent, found or fancied so many evils arising from the tyranny of + other governments, that he resolved to write a very long poem, in five + parts, upon Liberty. While he was busy on the first book, Mr. Talbot died; + and Thomson, who had been rewarded for his attendance by the place of + secretary of the briefs, pays in the initial lines a decent tribute to his + memory. Upon this great poem two years were spent, and the author + congratulated himself upon it as his noblest work; but an author and his + reader are not always of a mind. Liberty called in vain upon her votaries + to read her praises, and reward her encomiast: her praises were condemned + to harbour spiders, and to gather dust: none of Thomson's performances + were so little regarded. The judgment of the public was not erroneous; the + recurrence of the same images must tire in time; an enumeration of + examples to prove a position which nobody denied, as it was from the + beginning superfluous, must quickly grow disgusting. + </p> + <p> + The poem of "Liberty" does not now appear in its original state; but, when + the author's works were collected after his death, was shortened by Sir + George Lyttelton, with a liberty which, as it has a manifest tendency to + lessen the confidence of society, and to confound the characters of + authors, by making one man write by the judgment of another, cannot be + justified by any supposed propriety of the alteration, or kindness of the + friend. I wish to see it exhibited as its author left it. + </p> + <p> + Thomson now lived in ease and plenty, and seems for a while to have + suspended his poetry: but he was soon called back to labour by the death + of the Chancellor, for his place then became vacant; and though the Lord + Hardwicke delayed for some time to give it away, Thomson's bashfulness or + pride, or some other motive perhaps not more laudable, withheld him from + soliciting; and the new Chancellor would not give him what he would not + ask. He now relapsed to his former indigence; but the Prince of Wales was + at that time struggling for popularity, and by the influence of Mr. + Lyttelton professed himself the patron of wit; to him Thomson was + introduced, and being gaily interrogated about the state of his affairs + said "that they were in a more poetical posture than formerly," and had a + pension allowed him of one hundred pounds a year. + </p> + <p> + Being now obliged to write, he produced (1738) the tragedy of Agamemnon, + which was much shortened in the representation. It had the fate which most + commonly attends mythological stories, and was only endured, but not + favoured. It struggled with such difficulty through the first night that + Thomson, coming late to his friends with whom he was to sup, excused his + delay by telling them how the sweat of his distress had so disordered his + wig that he could not come till he had been refitted by a barber. He so + interested himself in his own drama that, if I remember right, as he sat + in the upper gallery, he accompanied the players by audible recitation, + till a friendly hint frighted him to silence. Pope countenanced Agamemnon + by coming to it, the first night, and was welcomed to the theatre by a + general clap; he had much regard for Thomson, and once expressed it in a + poetical epistle sent to Italy, of which, however, he abated the value by + transplanting some of the lines into his Epistle to Arbuthnot. + </p> + <p> + About this time (1737) the Act was passed for licensing plays, of which + the first operation was the prohibition of Gustavus Vasa, a tragedy of Mr. + Brooke, whom the public recompensed by a very liberal subscription; the + next was the refusal of Edward and Eleonora, offered by Thomson. It is + hard to discover why either play should have been obstructed. Thomson + likewise endeavoured to repair his loss by a subscription, of which I + cannot now tell the success. When the public murmured at the unkind + treatment of Thomson, one of the Ministerial writers remarked that "he had + taken a Liberty which was not agreeable to Britannia in any Season." He + was soon after employed, in conjunction with Mr. Mallet, to write the + masque of Alfred, which was acted before the Prince at Cliefden House. + </p> + <p> + His next work (1745) was, Tancred and Sigismunda, the most successful of + all his tragedies, for it still keeps its turn upon the stage. It may be + doubted whether he was, either by the bent of nature or habits of study, + much qualified for tragedy. It does not appear that he had much sense of + the pathetic; and his diffusive and descriptive style produced declamation + rather than dialogue. His friend Mr. Lyttelton was now in power, and + conferred upon him the office of Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands; + from which, when his deputy was paid, he received about three hundred + pounds a year. + </p> + <p> + The last piece that he lived to publish was the "Castle of Indolence," + which was many years under his hand, but was at last finished with great + accuracy. The first canto opens a scene of lazy luxury that fills the + imagination. He was now at ease, but was not long to enjoy it, for, by + taking cold on the water between London and Kew, he caught a disorder, + which, with some careless exasperation, ended in a fever that put an end + to his life, August 27, 1748. He was buried in the church of Richmond, + without an inscription; but a monument has been erected to his memory in + Westminster Abbey. + </p> + <p> + Thomson was of stature above the middle size, and "more fat than bard + beseems," of a dull countenance and a gross, unanimated, uninviting + appearance; silent in mingled company, but cheerful among select friends, + and by his friends very tenderly and warmly beloved. He left behind him + the tragedy of Coriolanus, which was, by the zeal of his patron, Sir + George Lyttelton, brought upon the stage for the benefit of his family, + and recommended by a prologue, which Quin, who had long lived with Thomson + in fond intimacy, spoke in such a manner as showed him "to be," on that + occasion, "no actor." The commencement of this benevolence is very + honourable to Quin, who is reported to have delivered Thomson, then known + to him only for his genius, from an arrest by a very considerable present; + and its continuance is honourable to both, for friendship is not always + the sequel of obligation. By this tragedy a considerable sum was raised, + of which part discharged his debts, and the rest was remitted to his + sisters, whom, however removed from them by place or condition, he + regarded with great tenderness, as will appear by the following letter, + which I communicate with much pleasure, as it gives me at once an + opportunity of recording the fraternal kindness of Thomson, and reflecting + on the friendly assistance of Mr. Boswell, from whom I received it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Hagley in Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747. +</pre> + <p> + "My Dear Sister,—I thought you had known me better than to interpret + my silence into a decay of affection, especially as your behaviour has + always been such as rather to increase than diminish it. Don't imagine, + because I am a bad correspondent, that I can ever prove an unkind friend + and brother. I must do myself the justice to tell you that my affections + are naturally very fixed and constant; and if I had ever reason of + complaint against you (of which, by-the-bye, I have not the least shadow), + I am conscious of so many defects in myself as dispose me to be not a + little charitable and forgiving. + </p> + <p> + "It gives me the truest heart-felt satisfaction to hear you have a good + kind husband, and are in easy contented circumstances; but were they + otherwise, that would only awaken and heighten my tenderness towards you. + As our good and tender-hearted parents did not live to receive any + material testimonies of that highest human gratitude I owed them (than + which nothing could have given me equal pleasure), the only return I can + make them now is by kindness to those they left behind them. Would to God + poor Lizy had lived longer, to have been a farther witness of the truth of + what I say and that I might have had the pleasure of seeing once more a + sister who so truly deserved my esteem and love! But she is happy, while + we must toil a little longer here below: let us, however, do it cheerfully + and gratefully, supported by the pleasing hope of meeting you again on a + safer shore, where to recollect the storms and difficulties of life will + not perhaps be inconsistent with that blissful state. You did right to + call your daughter by her name: for you must needs have had a particular + tender friendship for one another, endeared as you were by nature, by + having passed the affectionate years of your youth together: and by that + great softener and engager of hearts, mutual hardship. That it was in my + power to ease it a little, I account one of the most exquisite pleasures + of my life. But enough of this melancholy, though not unpleasing, strain. + </p> + <p> + "I esteem you for your sensible and disinterested advice to Mr. Bell, as + you will see by my letter to him. As I approve entirely of his marrying + again, you may readily ask me why I don't marry at all. My circumstances + have hitherto been so variable and uncertain in this fluctuating world, as + induce to keep me from engaging in such a state: and now, though they are + more settled, and of late (which you will be glad to hear) considerably + improved, I begin to think myself too far advanced in life for such + youthful undertakings, not to mention some other petty reasons that are + apt to startle the delicacy of difficult old bachelors. I am, however, not + a little suspicious that, was I to pay a visit to Scotland (which I have + some thought of doing soon), I might possibly be tempted to think of a + thing not easily repaired if done amiss. I have always been of opinion + that none make better wives than the ladies of Scotland; and yet who more + forsaken than they, while the gentlemen are continually running abroad all + the world over? Some of them, it is true, are wise enough to return for a + wife. You see, I am beginning to make interest already with the Scots + ladies. But no more of this infectious subject. Pray let me hear from you + now and then; and though I am not a regular correspondent, yet perhaps I + may mend in that respect. Remember me kindly to your husband, and believe + me to be + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your most affectionate Brother, + "James Thomson." + (Addressed) "To Mrs. Thomson in Lanark." +</pre> + <p> + The benevolence of Thomson was fervid, but not active; he would give on + all occasions what assistance his purse would supply, but the offices of + intervention or solicitation he could not conquer his sluggishness + sufficiently to perform. The affairs of others, however, were not more + neglected than his own. He had often felt the inconveniences of idleness, + but he never cured it; and was so conscious of his own character that he + talked of writing an Eastern tale "Of the Man who Loved to be in + Distress." Among his peculiarities was a very unskilful and inarticulate + manner of pronouncing any lofty or solemn composition. He was once reading + to Dodington, who, being himself a reader eminently elegant, was so much + provoked by his odd utterance that he snatched the paper from his hands + and told him that he did not understand his own verses. + </p> + <p> + The biographer of Thomson has remarked that an author's life is best read + in his works; his observation was not well timed. Savage, who lived much + with Thomson, once told me how he heard a lady remarking that she could + gather from his works three-parts of his character: that he was "a great + lover, a great swimmer, and rigorously abstinent;" "but," said Savage, "he + knows not any love but that of the sex; he was, perhaps, never in cold + water in his life; and he indulges himself in all the luxury that comes + within his reach." Yet Savage always spoke with the most eager praise of + his social qualities, his warmth and constancy of friendship, and his + adherence to his first acquaintance when the advancement of his reputation + had left them behind him. + </p> + <p> + As a writer, he is entitled to one praise of the highest kind: his mode of + thinking and of expressing his thoughts is original. His blank verse is no + more the blank verse of Milton, or of any other poet, than the rhymes of + Prior are the rhymes of Cowley. His numbers, his pauses, his diction, are + of his own growth, without transcription, without imitation. He thinks in + a peculiar train, and he thinks always as a man of genius; he looks round + on Nature and on Life with the eye which Nature bestows only on a poet; + the eye that distinguishes in everything presented to its view whatever + there is on which imagination can delight to be detained, and with a mind + that at once comprehends the vast and attends to the minute. The reader of + the "Seasons" wonders that he never saw before what Thomson shows him, and + that he never yet has felt what Thomson impresses. His is one of the works + in which blank verse seems properly used. Thomson's wide expansion of + general views, and his enumeration of circumstantial varieties, would have + been obstructed and embarrassed by the frequent intersections of the + sense, which are the necessary effects of rhyme. His descriptions of + extended scenes and general effects bring before us the whole magnificence + of Nature, whether pleasing or dreadful. The gaiety of Spring, the + splendour of Summer, the tranquillity of Autumn, and the horror of Winter, + take in their turns possession of the mind. The poet leads us through the + appearances of things as they are successively varied by the vicissitudes + of the year, and imparts to us so much of his own enthusiasm that our + thoughts expand with his imagery and kindle with his sentiments. Nor is + the naturalist without his part in the entertainment, for he is assisted + to recollect and to combine, to arrange his discoveries, and to amplify + the sphere of his contemplation. The great defect of the "Seasons" is want + of method; but for this I know not that there was any remedy. Of many + appearances subsisting all at once, no rule can be given why one should be + mentioned before another; yet the memory wants the help of order, and the + curiosity is not excited by suspense or expectation. His diction is in the + highest degree florid and luxuriant, such as may be said to be to his + images and thoughts "both their lustre and their shade;" such as invests + them with splendour, through which, perhaps, they are not always easily + discerned. It is too exuberant, and sometimes may be charged with filling + the ear more than the mind. + </p> + <p> + These poems, with which I was acquainted at their first appearance, I have + since found altered and enlarged by subsequent revisals, as the author + supposed his judgment to grow more exact, and as books or conversation + extended his knowledge and opened his prospects. They are, I think, + improved in general; yet I know not whether they have not lost part of + what Temple calls their "race," a word which, applied to wines in its + primitive sense, means the flavour of the soil. + </p> + <p> + "Liberty," when it first appeared, I tried to read, and soon desisted. I + have never tried again, and therefore will not hazard either praise or + censure. The highest praise which he has received ought not to be + suppressed: it is said by Lord Lyttelton, in the Prologue to his + posthumous play, that his works contained + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "No line which, dying, he could wish to blot." +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WATTS. + </h2> + <p> + The poems of Dr. Watts were, by my recommendation, inserted in the late + Collection, the readers of which are to impute to me whatever pleasure or + weariness they may find in the perusal of Blackmore, Watts, Pomfret, and + Yalden. + </p> + <p> + Isaac Watts was born July 17, 1674, at Southampton, where his father, of + the same name, kept a boarding-school for young gentlemen, though common + report makes him a shoemaker. He appears, from the narrative of Dr. + Gibbons, to have been neither indigent nor illiterate. + </p> + <p> + Isaac, the eldest of nine children, was given to books from his infancy, + and began, we are told, to learn Latin when he was four years old—I + suppose, at home. He was afterwards taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, by + Mr. Pinhorne, a clergyman, master of the Free School at Southampton, to + whom the gratitude of his scholar afterwards inscribed a Latin ode. His + proficiency at school was so conspicuous that a subscription was proposed + for his support at the University, but he declared his resolution of + taking his lot with the Dissenters. Such he was as every Christian Church + would rejoice to have adopted. He therefore repaired, in 1690, to an + academy taught by Mr. Rowe, where he had for his companions and fellow + students Mr. Hughes the poet, and Dr. Horte, afterwards Archbishop of + Tuam. Some Latin Essays, supposed to have been written as exercises at + this academy, show a degree of knowledge, both philosophical and + theological, such as very few attain by a much longer course of study. He + was, as he hints in his "Miscellanies," a maker of verses from fifteen to + fifty, and in his youth he appears to have paid attention to Latin poetry. + His verses to his brother, in the glyconic measure, written when he was + seventeen, are remarkably easy and elegant. Some of his other odes are + deformed by the Pindaric folly then prevailing, and are written with such + neglect of all metrical rules as is without example among the ancients; + but his diction, though perhaps not always exactly pure, has such + copiousness and splendour as shows that he was but a very little distance + from excellence. His method of study was to impress the contents of his + books upon his memory by abridging them, and by interleaving them to + amplify one system with supplements from another. + </p> + <p> + With the congregation of his tutor, Mr. Rowe, who were, I believe, + Independents, he communicated in his nineteenth year. At the age of twenty + he left the academy, and spent two years in study and devotion at the + house of his father, who treated him with great tenderness, and had the + happiness, indulged to few parents, of living to see his son eminent for + literature and venerable for piety. He was then entertained by Sir John + Hartopp five years, as domestic tutor to his son, and in that time + particularly devoted himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures; and, + being chosen assistant to Dr. Chauncey, preached the first time on the + birthday that completed his twenty-fourth year, probably considering that + as the day of a second nativity, by which he entered on a new period of + existence. + </p> + <p> + In about three years he succeeded Dr. Chauncey; but soon after his + entrance on his charge he was seized by a dangerous illness, which sunk + him to such weakness that the congregation thought an assistant necessary, + and appointed Mr. Price. His health then returned gradually, and he + performed his duty till (1712) he was seized by a fever of such violence + and continuance, that from the feebleness which it brought upon him he + never perfectly recovered. This calamitous state made the compassion of + his friends necessary, and drew upon him the attention of Sir Thomas + Abney, who received him into his house, where, with a constancy of + friendship and uniformity of conduct not often to be found, he was treated + for thirty-six years with all the kindness that friendship could prompt, + and all the attention that respect could dictate. Sir Thomas died about + eight years afterwards, but he continued with the lady and her daughters + to the end of his life. The lady died about a year after him. + </p> + <p> + A coalition like this, a state in which the notions of patronage and + dependence were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal benefits, + deserves a particular memorial; and I will not withhold from the reader + Dr. Gibbons's representation, to which regard is to be paid as to the + narrative of one who writes what he knows, and what is known likewise to + multitudes besides:— + </p> + <p> + "Our next observation shall be made upon that remarkably kind Providence + which brought the Doctor into Sir Thomas Abney's family, and continued him + there till his death, a period of no less than thirty-six years. In the + midst of his sacred labours for the glory of God, and good of his + generation, he is seized with a most violent and threatening fever, which + leaves him oppressed with great weakness, and puts a stop at least to his + public services for four years. In this distressing season, doubly so to + his active and pious spirit, he is invited to Sir Thomas Abney's family, + nor ever removes from it till he had finished his days. Here he enjoyed + the uninterrupted demonstrations of the truest friendship. Here, without + any care of his own, he had everything which could contribute to the + enjoyment of life, and favour the unwearied pursuit of his studies. Here + he dwelt in a family which, for piety, order, harmony, and every virtue, + was a house of God. Here he had the privilege of a country recess, the + fragrant bower, the spreading lawn, the flowery garden, and other + advantages, to soothe his mind and aid his restoration to health; to yield + him, whenever he chose them, most grateful intervals from his laborious + studies, and enable him to return to them with redoubled vigour and + delight. Had it not been for this most happy event, he might, as to + outward view, have feebly, it may be painfully, dragged on through many + more years of languor, and inability for public service, and even for + profitable study, or perhaps might have sunk into his grave under the + overwhelming load of infirmities in the midst of his days; and thus the + Church and world would have been deprived of those many excellent sermons + and works which he drew up and published during his long residence in this + family. In a few years after his coming hither, Sir Thomas Abney dies; but + his amiable consort survives, who shows the Doctor the same respect and + friendship as before, and most happily for him and great numbers besides; + for, as her riches were great, her generosity and munificence were in full + proportion; her thread of life was drawn out to a great age, even beyond + that of the Doctor's, and thus this excellent man, through her kindness, + and that of her daughter, the present Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who in a like + degree esteemed and honoured him, enjoyed all the benefits and felicities + he experienced at his first entrance into this family till his days were + numbered and finished, and, like a shock of corn in its season, he + ascended into the regions of perfect and immortal life and joy." + </p> + <p> + If this quotation has appeared long, let it be considered that it + comprises an account of six-and-thirty years, and those the years of Dr. + Watts. + </p> + <p> + From the time of his reception into this family his life was no otherwise + diversified than by successive publications. The series of his works I am + not able to deduce; their number and their variety show the intenseness of + his industry and the extent of his capacity. He was one of the first + authors that taught the Dissenters to court attention by the graces of + language. Whatever they had among them before, whether of learning or + acuteness, was commonly obscured and blunted by coarseness and inelegance + of style. He showed them that zeal and purity might be expressed and + enforced by polished diction. He continued to the end of his life a + teacher of a congregation, and no reader of his works can doubt his + fidelity or diligence. In the pulpit, though his low stature, which very + little exceeded five feet, graced him with no advantages of appearance, + yet the gravity and propriety of his utterance made his discourses very + efficacious. I once mentioned the reputation which Mr. Foster had gained + by his proper delivery, to my friend Dr. Hawkesworth, who told me that in + the art of pronunciation he was far inferior to Dr. Watts. Such was his + flow of thoughts, and such his promptitude of language, that in the latter + part of his life he did not precompose his cursory sermons, but, having + adjusted the heads and sketched out some particulars, trusted for success + to his extemporary powers. He did not endeavour to assist his eloquence by + any gesticulations; for, as no corporeal actions have any correspondence + with theological truth, he did not see how they could enforce it. At the + conclusion of weighty sentences he gave time, by a short pause, for the + proper impression. + </p> + <p> + To stated and public instruction he added familiar visits and personal + application, and was careful to improve the opportunities which + conversation offered of diffusing and increasing the influence of + religion. By his natural temper he was quick of resentment; but by his + established and habitual practice he was gentle, modest, and inoffensive. + His tenderness appeared in his attention to children, and to the poor. To + the poor, while he lived in the family of his friend, he allowed the third + part of his annual revenue; though the whole was not a hundred a year; and + for children he condescended to lay aside the scholar, the philosopher, + and the wit, to write little poems of devotion, and systems of + instruction, adapted to their wants and capacities, from the dawn of + reason through its gradations of advance in the morning of life. Every man + acquainted with the common principles of human action will look with + veneration on the writer who is at one time combating Locke, and at + another making a catechism for children in their fourth year. A voluntary + descent from the dignity of science is perhaps the hardest lesson that + humility can teach. + </p> + <p> + As his mind was capacious, his curiosity excursive, and his industry + continual, his writings are very numerous and his subjects various. With + his theological works I am only enough acquainted to admire his meekness + of opposition, and his mildness of censure. It was not only in his book, + but in his mind, that orthodoxy was united with charity. + </p> + <p> + Of his philosophical pieces, his "Logic" has been received into the + Universities, and therefore wants no private recommendation; if he owes + part of it to Le Clerc, it must be considered that no man who undertakes + merely to methodise or illustrate a system pretends to be its author. + </p> + <p> + In his metaphysical disquisitions it was observed by the late learned Mr. + Dyer, that he confounded the idea of SPACE with that of EMPTY SPACE, and + did not consider that though space might be without matter, yet matter + being extended could not be without space. + </p> + <p> + Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his + "Improvement of the Mind," of which the radical principle may indeed be + found in Locke's "Conduct of the Understanding;" but they are so expanded + and ramified by Watts, as to confer upon him the merit of a work in the + highest degree useful and pleasing. Whoever has the care of instructing + others may be charged with deficiency in his duty if this book is not + recommended. + </p> + <p> + I have mentioned his treatises of theology as distinct from his other + productions; but the truth is that whatever he took in hand was, by his + incessant solicitude for souls, converted to theology. As piety + predominated in his mind, it is diffused over his works. Under his + direction it may be truly said, Theologiae philosophia ancillatur + (Philosophy is subservient to evangelical instruction). It is difficult to + read a page without learning, or at least wishing, to be better. The + attention is caught by indirect instruction; and he that sat down only to + reason is on a sudden compelled to pray. It was therefore with great + propriety that, in 1728, he received from Edinburgh and Aberdeen an + unsolicited diploma, by which he became a Doctor of Divinity. Academical + honours would have more value if they were always bestowed with equal + judgment. He continued many years to study and to preach, and to do good + by his instruction and example, till at last the infirmities of age + disabled him from the more laborious part of his ministerial functions, + and, being no longer capable of public duty, he offered to remit the + salary appendent to it; but his congregation would not accept the + resignation. By degrees his weakness increased, and at last confined him + to his chamber and his bed, where he was worn gradually away without pain, + till he expired November 25th 1748, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. + </p> + <p> + Few men have left behind such purity of character, or such monuments of + laborious piety. He has provided instruction for all ages—from those + who are lisping their first lessons, to the enlightened readers of + Malebranche and Locke; he has left neither corporeal nor spiritual nature + unexamined; he has taught the art of reasoning, and the science of the + stars. His character, therefore, must be formed from the multiplicity and + diversity of his attainments, rather than from any single performance, for + it would not be safe to claim for him the highest rank in any single + denomination of literary dignity; yet, perhaps, there was nothing in which + he would not have excelled, if he had not divided his powers to different + pursuits. + </p> + <p> + As a poet, had he been only a poet, he would probably have stood high + among the authors with whom he is now associated. For his judgment was + exact, and he noted beauties and faults with very nice discernment; his + imagination, as the "Dacian Battle" proves, was vigorous and active, and + the stores of knowledge were large by which his fancy was to be supplied. + His ear was well tuned, and his diction was elegant and copious. But his + devotional poetry is, like that of others, unsatisfactory. The paucity of + its topics enforces perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter + rejects the ornaments of figurative diction. It is sufficient for Watts to + have done better than others what no man has done well. His poems on other + subjects seldom rise higher than might be expected from the amusements of + a man of letters, and have different degrees of value as they are more or + less laboured, or as the occasion was more or less favourable to + invention. He writes too often without regular measures, and too often in + blank verse; the rhymes are not always sufficiently correspondent. He is + particularly unhappy in coining names expressive of characters. His lines + are commonly smooth and easy, and his thoughts always religiously pure; + but who is there that, to so much piety and innocence, does not wish for a + greater measure of sprightliness and vigour? He is at least one of the few + poets with whom youth and ignorance may be safely pleased; and happy will + be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to + imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to man, + and his reverence to God. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A. PHILIPS. + </h2> + <p> + Of the birth or early part of the life of Ambrose Philips I have not been + able to find any account. His academical education he received at St. + John's College in Cambridge, where he first solicited the notice of the + world by some English verses, in the collection published by the + University on the death of Queen Mary. From this time how he was employed, + or in what station he passed his life, is not yet discovered. He must have + published his "Pastorals" before the year 1708, because they are evidently + prior to those of Pope. He afterwards (1709) addressed to the universal + patron, the Duke of Dorset, a "Poetical Letter from Copenhagen," which was + published in the Tatler, and is by Pope, in one of his first Letters, + mentioned with high praise as the production of a man "who could write + very nobly." + </p> + <p> + Philips was a zealous Whig, and therefore easily found access to Addison + and Steele; but his ardour seems not to have procured him anything more + than kind words, since he was reduced to translate the "Persian Tales" for + Tonson, for which he was afterwards reproached, with this addition of + contempt, that he worked for half-a-crown. The book is divided into many + sections, for each of which, if he received half-a-crown, his reward, as + writers then were paid, was very liberal; but half-a-crown had a mean + sound. He was employed in promoting the principles of his party, by + epitomising Hacket's "Life of Archbishop Williams." The original book is + written with such depravity of genius, such mixture of the fop and pedant, + as has not often appeared. The epitome is free enough from affectation, + but has little spirit or vigour. + </p> + <p> + In 1712 he brought upon the stage The Distressed Mother, almost a + translation of Racine's Andromaque. Such a work requires no uncommon + powers, but the friends of Philips exerted every art to promote his + interest. Before the appearance of the play a whole Spectator, none indeed + of the best, was devoted to its praise; while it yet continued to be + acted, another Spectator was written to tell what impression it made upon + Sir Roger, and on the first night a select audience, says Pope, was called + together to applaud it. It was concluded with the most successful Epilogue + that was ever yet spoken on the English theatre. The three first nights it + was recited twice, and not only continued to be demanded through the run, + as it is termed, of the play, but whenever it is recalled to the stage, + where by peculiar fortune, though a copy from the French, it yet keeps its + place, the Epilogue is still expected, and is still spoken. + </p> + <p> + The propriety of Epilogues in general, and consequently of this, was + questioned by a correspondent of the Spectator, whose letter was + undoubtedly admitted for the sake of the answer, which soon followed, + written with much zeal and acrimony. The attack and the defence equally + contributed to stimulate curiosity and continue attention. It may be + discovered in the defence that Prior's Epilogue to Phaedra had a little + excited jealousy, and something of Prior's plan may be discovered in the + performance of his rival. Of this distinguished Epilogue the reputed + author was the wretched Budgell, whom Addison used to denominate "the man + who calls me cousin;" and when he was asked how such a silly fellow could + write so well, replied, "The Epilogue was quite another thing when I saw + it first." It was known in Tonson's family, and told to Garrick, that + Addison was himself the author of it, and that, when it had been at first + printed with his name, he came early in the morning, before the copies + were distributed, and ordered it to be given to Budgell, that it might add + weight to the solicitation which he was then making for a place. + </p> + <p> + Philips was now high in the ranks of literature. His play was applauded; + his translations from Sappho had been published in the Spectator; he was + an important and distinguished associate of clubs, witty and poetical; and + nothing was wanting to his happiness but that he should be sure of its + continuance. The work which had procured him the first notice from the + public was his "Six Pastorals," which, flattering the imagination with + Arcadian scenes, probably found many readers, and might have long passed + as a pleasing amusement had they not been unhappily too much commended. + </p> + <p> + The rustic poems of Theocritus were so highly valued by the Greeks and + Romans that they attracted the imitation of Virgil, whose Eclogues seem to + have been considered as precluding all attempts of the same kind; for no + shepherds were taught to sing by any succeeding poet, till Nemesian and + Calphurnius ventured their feeble efforts in the lower age of Latin + literature. + </p> + <p> + At the revival of learning in Italy it was soon discovered that a dialogue + of imaginary swains might be composed with little difficulty, because the + conversation of shepherds excludes profound or refined sentiment; and for + images and descriptions, satyrs and fauns, and naiads and dryads, were + always within call; and woods and meadows, and hills and rivers, supplied + variety of matter, which, having a natural power to soothe the mind, did + not quickly cloy it. + </p> + <p> + Petrarch entertained the learned men of his age with the novelty of modern + pastorals in Latin. Being not ignorant of Greek, and finding nothing in + the word "eclogue" of rural meaning, he supposed it to be corrupted by the + copiers, and therefore called his own productions "AEglogues," by which he + meant to express the talk of goat-herds, though it will mean only the talk + of goats. This new name was adopted by subsequent writers, and among + others by our Spenser. + </p> + <p> + More than a century afterwards (1498) Mantuan published his Bucolics with + such success that they were soon dignified by Badius with a comment, and, + as Scaliger complained, received into schools, and taught as classical; + his complaint was vain, and the practice, however injudicious, spread far + and continued long. Mantuan was read, at least in some of the inferior + schools of this kingdom, to the beginning of the present century. The + speakers of Mantuan carried their disquisitions beyond the country to + censure the corruptions of the Church, and from him Spenser learned to + employ his swains on topics of controversy. The Italians soon transferred + pastoral poetry into their own language. Sannazaro wrote "Arcadia" in + prose and verse; Tasso and Guarini wrote "Favole Boschareccie," or Sylvan + Dramas; and all nations of Europe filled volumes with Thyrsis and Damon, + and Thestylis and Phyllis. + </p> + <p> + Philips thinks it "somewhat strange to conceive how, in an age so addicted + to the Muses, pastoral poetry never comes to be so much as thought upon." + His wonder seems very unseasonable; there had never, from the time of + Spenser, wanted writers to talk occasionally of Arcadia and Strephon, and + half the book, in which he first tried his powers, consists of dialogues + on Queen Mary's death, between Tityrus and Corydon, or Mopsus and + Menalcas. A series or book of pastorals, however, I know not that anyone + had then lately published. + </p> + <p> + Not long afterwards Pope made the first display of his powers in four + pastorals, written in a very different form. Philips had taken Spenser, + and Pope took Virgil for his pattern. Philips endeavoured to be natural, + Pope laboured to be elegant. + </p> + <p> + Philips was now favoured by Addison and by Addison's companions, who were + very willing to push him into reputation. The Guardian gave an account of + Pastoral, partly critical and partly historical; in which, when the merit + of the modern is compared, Tasso and Guarini are censured for remote + thoughts and unnatural refinements, and, upon the whole, the Italians and + French are all excluded from rural poetry, and the pipe of the pastoral + muse is transmitted by lawful inheritance from Theocritus to Virgil, from + Virgil to Spenser, and from Spenser to Philips. With this inauguration of + Philips his rival Pope was not much delighted; he therefore drew a + comparison of Philips's performance with his own, in which, with an + unexampled and unequalled artifice of irony, though he has himself always + the advantage, he gives the preference to Philips. The design of + aggrandising himself he disguised with such dexterity that, though Addison + discovered it, Steele was deceived, and was afraid of displeasing Pope by + publishing his paper. Published however it was (Guardian, No. 40), and + from that time Pope and Philips lived in a perpetual reciprocation of + malevolence. In poetical powers, of either praise or satire, there was no + proportion between the combatants; but Philips, though he could not + prevail by wit, hoped to hurt Pope with another weapon, and charged him, + as Pope thought with Addison's approbation, as disaffected to the + Government. Even with this he was not satisfied, for, indeed, there is no + appearance that any regard was paid to his clamours. He proceeded to + grosser insults, and hung up a rod at Button's, with which he threatened + to chastise Pope, who appears to have been extremely exasperated, for in + the first edition of his Letters he calls Philips "rascal," and in the + last still charges him with detaining in his hands the subscriptions for + "Homer" delivered to him by the Hanover Club. I suppose it was never + suspected that he meant to appropriate the money; he only delayed, and + with sufficient meanness, the gratification of him by whose prosperity he + was pained. + </p> + <p> + Men sometimes suffer by injudicious kindness; Philips became ridiculous, + without his own fault, by the absurd admiration of his friends, who + decorated him with honorary garlands, which the first breath of + contradiction blasted. + </p> + <p> + When upon the succession of the House of Hanover every Whig expected to be + happy, Philips seems to have obtained too little notice; he caught few + drops of the golden shower, though he did not omit what flattery could + perform. He was only made a commissioner of the lottery (1717), and, what + did not much elevate his character, a justice of the peace. + </p> + <p> + The success of his first play must naturally dispose him to turn his hopes + towards the stage; he did not, however, soon commit himself to the mercy + of an audience, but contented himself with the fame already acquired, till + after nine years he produced (1722) The Briton, a tragedy which, whatever + was its reception, is now neglected; though one of the scenes, between + Vanoc the British Prince and Valens the Roman General, is confessed to be + written with great dramatic skill, animated by spirit truly poetical. He + had not been idle though he had been silent, for he exhibited another + tragedy the same year on the story of Humphry, Duke of Gloucester. This + tragedy is only remembered by its title. + </p> + <p> + His happiest undertaking was (1711) of a paper called The Freethinker, in + conjunction with associates, of whom one was Dr. Boulter, who, then only + minister of a parish in Southwark, was of so much consequence to the + Government that he was made first Bishop of Bristol, and afterwards + Primate of Ireland, where his piety and his charity will be long honoured. + It may easily be imagined that what was printed under the direction of + Boulter would have nothing in it indecent or licentious; its title is to + be understood as implying only freedom from unreasonable prejudice. It has + been reprinted in volumes, but is little read; nor can impartial criticism + recommend it as worthy of revival. + </p> + <p> + Boulter was not well qualified to write diurnal essays, but he knew how to + practise the liberality of greatness and the fidelity of friendship. When + he was advanced to the height of ecclesiastical dignity, he did not forget + the companion of his labours. Knowing Philips to be slenderly supported, + he took him to Ireland as partaker of his fortune, and, making him his + secretary, added such preferments as enabled him to represent the county + of Armagh in the Irish Parliament. In December, 1726, he was made + secretary to the Lord Chancellor, and in August, 1733, became Judge of the + Prerogative Court. + </p> + <p> + After the death of his patron he continued some years in Ireland, but at + last longing, as it seems, for his native country, he returned (1748) to + London, having doubtless survived most of his friends and enemies, and + among them his dreaded antagonist Pope. He found, however, the Duke of + Newcastle still living, and to him he dedicated his poems collected into a + volume. + </p> + <p> + Having purchased an annuity of 400 pounds, he now certainly hoped to pass + some years of life in plenty and tranquillity; but his hope deceived him: + he was struck with a palsy, and died June 18, 1749, in his seventy-eighth + year. + </p> + <p> + Of his personal character all that I have heard is, that he was eminent + for bravery and skill in the sword, and that in conversation he was solemn + and pompous. He had great sensibility of censure, if judgment may be made + by a single story which I heard long ago from Mr. Ing, a gentleman of + great eminence in Staffordshire. "Philips," said he, "was once at table, + when I asked him, 'How came thy king of Epirus to drive oxen, and to say, + "I'm goaded on by love"?' After which question he never spoke again." + </p> + <p> + Of The Distressed Mother not much is pretended to be his own, and + therefore it is no subject of criticism: his other two tragedies, I + believe, are not below mediocrity, nor above it. Among the poems comprised + in the late Collection, the "Letter from Denmark" may be justly praised; + the Pastorals, which by the writer of the Guardian were ranked as one of + the four genuine productions of the rustic Muse, cannot surely be + despicable. That they exhibit a mode of life which did not exist, nor ever + existed, is not to be objected: the supposition of such a state is allowed + to be pastoral. In his other poems he cannot be denied the praise of lines + sometimes elegant; but he has seldom much force or much comprehension. The + pieces that please best are those which, from Pope and Pope's adherents, + procured him the name of "Namby-Pamby," the poems of short lines, by which + he paid his court to all ages and characters, from Walpole the "steerer of + the realm," to Miss Pulteney in the nursery. The numbers are smooth and + sprightly, and the diction is seldom faulty. They are not loaded with much + thought, yet, if they had been written by Addison, they would have had + admirers: little things are not valued but when they are done by those who + can do greater. + </p> + <p> + In his translations from "Pindar" he found the art of reaching all the + obscurity of the Theban bard, however he may fall below his sublimity; he + will be allowed, if he has less fire, to have more smoke. He has added + nothing to English poetry, yet at least half his book deserves to be read: + perhaps he valued most himself that part which the critic would reject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WEST. + </h2> + <p> + Gilbert West is one of the writers of whom I regret my inability to give a + sufficient account; the intelligence which my inquiries have obtained is + general and scanty. He was the son of the Rev. Dr. West; perhaps him who + published "Pindar" at Oxford about the beginning of this century. His + mother was sister to Sir Richard Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham. His + father, purposing to educate him for the Church, sent him first to Eton, + and afterwards to Oxford; but he was seduced to a more airy mode of life, + by a commission in a troop of horse, procured him by his uncle. He + continued some time in the army, though it is reasonable to suppose that + he never sunk into a mere soldier, nor ever lost the love, or much + neglected the pursuit, of learning; and afterwards, finding himself more + inclined to civil employment, he laid down his commission, and engaged in + business under the Lord Townshend, then Secretary of State, with whom he + attended the King to Hanover. + </p> + <p> + His adherence to Lord Townshend ended in nothing but a nomination (May, + 1729) to be Clerk-Extraordinary of the Privy Council, which produced no + immediate profit; for it only placed him in a state of expectation and + right of succession, and it was very long before a vacancy admitted him to + profit. + </p> + <p> + Soon afterwards he married, and settled himself in a very pleasant house + at Wickham, in Kent, where he devoted himself to learning and to piety. Of + his learning the late Collection exhibits evidence, which would have been + yet fuller if the dissertations which accompany his version of "Pindar" + had not been improperly omitted. Of his piety the influence has, I hope, + been extended far by his "Observations on the Resurrection," published in + 1747, for which the University of Oxford created him a Doctor of Laws, by + diploma (March 30, 1748), and would doubtless have reached yet further had + he lived to complete what he had for some time meditated—the + "Evidences of the Truth of the New Testament." Perhaps it may not be + without effect to tell that he read the prayers of the public Liturgy + every morning to his family, and that on Sunday evening he called his + servants into the parlour and read to them first a sermon and then + prayers. Crashaw is now not the only maker of verses to whom may be given + the two venerable names of Poet and Saint. He was very often visited by + Lyttelton and Pitt, who, when they were weary of faction and debates, used + at Wickham to find books and quiet, a decent table, and literary + conversation. There is at Wickham a walk made by Pitt; and, what is of far + more importance, at Wickham, Lyttelton received that conviction which + produced his "Dissertation on St. Paul." These two illustrious friends had + for a while listened to the blandishments of infidelity; and when West's + book was published, it was bought by some who did not know his change of + opinion, in expectation of new objections against Christianity; and as + infidels do not want malignity, they revenged the disappointment by + calling him a Methodist. + </p> + <p> + Mr. West's income was not large; and his friends endeavoured, but without + success, to obtain an augmentation. It is reported that the education of + the young Prince was offered to him, but that he required a more extensive + power of superintendence than it was thought proper to allow him. In time, + however, his revenue was improved; he lived to have one of the lucrative + clerkships of the Privy Council (1752); and Mr. Pitt at last had it in his + power to make him Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital. He was now sufficiently + rich; but wealth came too late to be long enjoyed; nor could it secure him + from the calamities of life; he lost (1755) his only son; and the year + after (March 26) a stroke of the palsy brought to the grave one of the few + poets to whom the grave might be without its terrors. + </p> + <p> + Of his translations I have only compared the first Olympic Ode with the + original, and found my expectation surpassed, both by its elegance and its + exactness. He does not confine himself to his author's train of stanzas; + for he saw that the difference of languages required a different mode of + versification. The first strophe is eminently happy; in the second he has + a little strayed from Pindar's meaning, who says, "If thou, my soul, + wishest to speak of games, look not in the desert sky for a planet hotter + than the sun; nor shall we tell of nobler games than those of Olympia." He + is sometimes too paraphrastical. Pindar bestows upon Hiero an epithet + which, in one word, signifies DELIGHTING IN HORSES; a word which, in the + translation, generates these lines:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Hiero's royal brows, whose care + Tends the courser's noble breed, + Pleased to nurse the pregnant mare, + Pleased to train the youthful steed." +</pre> + <p> + Pindar says of Pelops, that "he came alone in the dark to the White Sea;" + and West— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Near the billow-beaten side + Of the foam-besilvered main, + Darkling, and alone, he stood:" +</pre> + <p> + which, however, is less exuberant than the former passage. + </p> + <p> + A work of this kind must, in a minute examination, discover many + imperfections; but West's version, so far as I have considered it, appears + to be the product of great labour and great abilities. + </p> + <p> + His "Institution of the Garter" (1742) is written with sufficient + knowledge of the manners that prevailed in the age to which it is + referred, and with great elegance of diction; but, for want of a process + of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserves the reader from + weariness. + </p> + <p> + His "Imitations of Spenser" are very successfully performed, both with + respect to the metre, the language, and the fiction; and being engaged at + once by the excellence of the sentiments, and the artifice of the copy, + the mind has two amusements together. But such compositions are not to be + reckoned among the great achievements of intellect, because their effect + is local and temporary; they appeal not to reason or passion, but to + memory, and presuppose an accidental or artificial state of mind. An + imitation of Spenser is nothing to a reader, however acute, by whom + Spenser has never been perused. Works of this kind may deserve praise, as + proofs of great industry and great nicety of observation; but the highest + praise, the praise of genius, they cannot claim. The noblest beauties of + art are those of which the effect is co-extended with rational nature, or + at least with the whole circle of polished life; what is less than this + can be only pretty, the plaything of fashion, and the amusement of a day. + </p> + <p> + There is in the Adventurer a paper of verses given to one of the authors + as Mr. West's, and supposed to have been written by him. It should not be + concealed, however, that it is printed with Mr. Jago's name in Dodsley's + Collection, and is mentioned as his in a letter of Shenstone's. Perhaps + West gave it without naming the author, and Hawkesworth, receiving it from + him, thought it his; for his he thought it, as he told me, and as he tells + the public. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + COLLINS. + </h2> + <p> + William Collins was born at Chichester, on the 25th day of December, about + 1720. His father was a hatter of good reputation. He was in 1733, as Dr. + Warton has kindly informed me, admitted scholar of Winchester College, + where he was educated by Dr. Burton. His English exercises were better + than his Latin. He first courted the notice of the public by some verses + to a "Lady weeping," published in The Gentleman's Magazine (January, + 1739). + </p> + <p> + In 1740 he stood first in the list of the scholars to be received in + succession at New College, but unhappily there was no vacancy. He became a + Commoner of Queen's College, probably with a scanty maintenance; but was, + in about half a year, elected a Demy of Magdalen College, where he + continued till he had taken a Bachelor's degree, and then suddenly left + the University; for what reason I know not that he told. + </p> + <p> + He now (about 1744) came to London a literary adventurer, with many + projects in his head, and very little money in his pocket. He designed + many works; but his great fault was irresolution; or the frequent calls of + immediate necessity broke his scheme, and suffered him to pursue no + settled purpose. A man doubtful of his dinner, or trembling at a creditor, + is not much disposed to abstracted meditation or remote inquiries. He + published proposals for a "History of the Revival of Learning;" and I have + heard him speak with great kindness of Leo X., and with keen resentment of + his tasteless successor. But probably not a page of his history was ever + written. He planned several tragedies, but he only planned them. He wrote + now and then odes and other poems, and did something, however little. + About this time I fell into his company. His appearance was decent and + manly; his knowledge considerable, his views extensive, his conversation + elegant, and his disposition cheerful. By degrees I gained his confidence; + and one day was admitted to him when he was immured by a bailiff that was + prowling in the street. On this occasion recourse was had to the + booksellers, who, on the credit of a translation of Aristotle's "Poetics," + which he engaged to write with a large commentary, advanced as much money + as enabled him to escape into the country. He showed me the guineas safe + in his hand. Soon afterwards his uncle, Mr. Martin, a lieutenant-colonel, + left him about 2000 pounds; a sum which Collins could scarcely think + exhaustible, and which he did not live to exhaust. The guineas were then + repaid, and the translation neglected. But man is not born for happiness. + Collins, who, while he studied to live, felt no evil but poverty, no + sooner lived to study than his life was assailed by more dreadful + calamities—disease and insanity. + </p> + <p> + Having formerly written his character, while perhaps it was yet more + distinctly impressed upon my memory, I shall insert it here. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Collins was a man of extensive literature, and of vigorous faculties. + He was acquainted not only with the learned tongues, but with the Italian, + French, and Spanish languages. He had employed his mind chiefly on works + of fiction, and subjects of fancy; and, by indulging some peculiar habits + of thought, was eminently delighted with those flights of imagination + which pass the bounds of nature, and to which the mind is reconciled only + by a passive acquiescence in popular traditions. He loved fairies, genii, + giants, and monsters; he delighted to rove through the meanders of + enchantment, to gaze on the magnificence of golden palaces, to repose by + the waterfalls of Elysian gardens. This was, however, the character rather + of his inclination than his genius; the grandeur of wildness, and the + novelty of extravagance, were always desired by him, but not always + attained. Yet, as diligence is never wholly lost, if his efforts sometimes + caused harshness and obscurity, they likewise produced in happier moments + sublimity and splendour. This idea which he had formed of excellence led + him to Oriental fictions and allegorical imagery, and, perhaps, while he + was intent upon description, he did not sufficiently cultivate sentiment. + His poems are the productions of a mind not deficient in fire, nor + unfurnished with knowledge either of books or life, but somewhat + obstructed in its progress by deviation in quest of mistaken beauties. + </p> + <p> + "His morals were pure, and his opinions pious; in a long continuance of + poverty, and long habits of dissipation, it cannot be expected that any + character should be exactly uniform. There is a degree of want by which + the freedom of agency is almost destroyed; and long association with + fortuitous companions will at last relax the strictness of truth, and + abate the fervour of sincerity. That this man, wise and virtuous as he + was, passed always unentangled through the snares of life, it would be + prejudice and temerity to affirm; but it may be said that at least he + preserved the source of action unpolluted, that his principles were never + shaken, that his distinctions of right and wrong were never confounded, + and that his faults had nothing of malignity or design, but proceeded from + some unexpected pressure, or casual temptation. + </p> + <p> + "The latter part of his life cannot be remembered but with pity and + sadness. He languished some years under that depression of mind which + enchains the faculties without destroying them, and leaves reason the + knowledge of right without the power of pursuing it. These clouds which he + perceived gathering on his intellect he endeavoured to disperse by travel, + and passed into France; but found himself constrained to yield to his + malady, and returned. He was for some time confined in a house of + lunatics, and afterwards retired to the care of his sister in Chichester, + where death, in 1756, came to his relief. + </p> + <p> + "After his return from France, the writer of this character paid him a + visit at Islington, where he was waiting for his sister, whom he had + directed to meet him. There was then nothing of disorder discernible in + his mind by any but himself; but he had withdrawn from study, and + travelled with no other book than an English Testament, such as children + carry to the school. When his friend took it into his hand, out of + curiosity to see what companion a man of letters had chosen, 'I have but + one book,' said Collins, 'but that is the best.'" + </p> + <p> + Such was the fate of Collins, with whom I once delighted to converse, and + whom I yet remember with tenderness. + </p> + <p> + He was visited at Chichester, in his last illness, by his learned friends + Dr. Warton and his brother, to whom he spoke with disapprobation of his + "Oriental Eclogues," as not sufficiently expressive of Asiatic manners, + and called them his "Irish Eclogues." He showed them, at the same time, an + ode inscribed to Mr. John Home, on the superstitions of the Highlands, + which they thought superior to his other works, but which no search has + yet found. His disorder was no alienation of mind, but general laxity and + feebleness—a deficiency rather of his vital than his intellectual + powers. What he spoke wanted neither judgment nor spirit; but a few + minutes exhausted him, so that he was forced to rest upon the couch, till + a short cessation restored his powers, and he was again able to talk with + his former vigour. The approaches of this dreadful malady he began to feel + soon after his uncle's death; and, with the usual weakness of men so + diseased, eagerly snatched that temporary relief with which the table and + the bottle flatter and seduce. But his health continually declined, and he + grew more and more burthensome to himself. + </p> + <p> + To what I have formerly said of his writings may be added, that his + diction was often harsh, unskilfully laboured, and injudiciously selected. + He affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival: and he puts + his words out of the common order, seeming to think, with some later + candidates for fame, that not to write prose is certainly to write poetry. + His lines commonly are of slow motion, clogged and impeded with clusters + of consonants. As men are often esteemed who cannot be loved, so the + poetry of Collins may sometimes extort praise when it gives little + pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Collins's first production is added here from the Poetical Calendar:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + TO MISS AURELIA C—R, + + ON HER WEEPING AT HER SISTER'S WEDDING. + + "Cease, fair Aurelia, cease to mourn; + Lament not Hannah's happy state; + You may be happy in your turn, + And seize the treasure you regret. + With Love united Hymen stands, + And softly whispers to your charms, + 'Meet but your lover in my bands, + You'll find your sister in his arms.'" +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DYER. + </h2> + <p> + John Dyer, of whom I have no other account to give than his own letters, + published with Hughes's correspondence, and the notes added by the editor, + have afforded me, was born in 1700, the second son of Robert Dyer of + Aberglasney, in Caermarthenshire, a solicitor of great capacity and note. + He passed through Westminster school under the care of Dr. Freind, and was + then called home to be instructed in his father's profession. But his + father died soon, and he took no delight in the study of the law; but, + having always amused himself with drawing, resolved to turn painter, and + became pupil to Mr. Richardson, an artist then of high reputation, but now + better known by his books than by his pictures. + </p> + <p> + Having studied a while under his master, he became, as he tells his + friend, an itinerant painter, and wandered about South Wales and the parts + adjacent; but he mingled poetry with painting, and about 1727 (1726) + printed "Grongar Hill" in Lewis's Miscellany. Being, probably, unsatisfied + with his own proficiency, he, like other painters, travelled to Italy; and + coming back in 1740, published the "Ruins of Rome." If his poem was + written soon after his return, he did not make use of his acquisitions in + painting, whatever they might be; for decline of health and love of study + determined him to the Church. He therefore entered into orders; and, it + seems, married about the same time a lady of the name of Ensor; "whose + grandmother," says he, "was a Shakspeare, descended from a brother of + everybody's Shakspeare;" by her, in 1756, he had a son and three daughters + living. + </p> + <p> + His ecclesiastical provision was for a long time but slender. His first + patron, Mr. Harper, gave him, in 1741, Calthorp in Leicestershire, of + eighty pounds a year, on which he lived ten years, and then exchanged it + for Belchford, in Lincolnshire, of seventy-five. His condition now began + to mend. In 1751 Sir John Heathcote gave him Coningsby, of one hundred and + forty pounds a year; and in 1755 the Chancellor added Kirkby, of one + hundred and ten. He complains that the repair of the house at Coningsby, + and other expenses, took away the profit. In 1757 he published "The + Fleece," his greatest poetical work; of which I will not suppress a + ludicrous story. Dodsley the bookseller was one day mentioning it to a + critical visitor, with more expectation of success than the other could + easily admit. In the conversation the author's age was asked; and being + represented as advanced in life, "He will," said the critic, "be buried in + woollen." He did not indeed long survive that publication, nor long enjoy + the increase of his preferments, for in 1758 he died. + </p> + <p> + Dyer is not a poet of bulk or dignity sufficient to require an elaborate + criticism. "Grongar Hill" is the happiest of his productions: it is not + indeed very accurately written; but the scenes which it displays are so + pleasing, the images which they raise are so welcome to the mind, and the + reflections of the writer so consonant to the general sense or experience + of mankind, that when it is once read, it will be read again. The idea of + the "Ruins of Rome" strikes more, but pleases less, and the title raises + greater expectation than the performance gratifies. Some passages, + however, are conceived with the mind of a poet; as when, in the + neighbourhood of dilapidating edifices, he says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The Pilgrim oft + At dead of night, 'mid his orison hears + Aghast the voice of Time, disparting tow'rs + Tumbling all precipitate down dashed, + Rattling around, loud thund'ring to the Moon." +</pre> + <p> + Of "The Fleece," which never became popular, and is now universally + neglected, I can say little that is likely to recall it to attention. The + woolcomber and the poet appear to me such discordant natures, that an + attempt to bring them together is to COUPLE THE SERPENT WITH THE FOWL. + When Dyer, whose mind was not unpoetical, has done his utmost, by + interesting his reader in our native commodity by interspersing rural + imagery, and incidental digressions, by clothing small images in great + words, and by all the writer's arts of delusion, the meanness naturally + adhering, and the irreverence habitually annexed to trade and manufacture, + sink him under insuperable oppression; and the disgust which blank verse, + encumbering and encumbered, superadds to an unpleasing subject, soon + repels the reader, however willing to be pleased. + </p> + <p> + Let me, however, honestly report whatever may counterbalance this weight + of censure. I have been told that Akenside, who, upon a poetical question, + has a right to be heard, said, "That he would regulate his opinion of the + reigning taste by the fate of Dyer's 'Fleece;' for, if that were + ill-received, he should not think it any longer reasonable to expect fame + from excellence." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SHENSTONE. + </h2> + <p> + William Shenstone, the son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Pen, was born in + November, 1714, at the Leasowes in Hales-Owen, one of those insulated + districts which, in the division of the kingdom, was appended, for some + reason not now discoverable, to a distant county; and which, though + surrounded by Warwickshire and Worcestershire, belongs to Shropshire, + though perhaps thirty miles distant from any other part of it. He learned + to read of an old dame, whom his poem of the "Schoolmistress" has + delivered to posterity; and soon received such delight from books, that he + was always calling for fresh entertainment, and expected that, when any of + the family went to market, a new book should be brought him, which, when + it came, was in fondness carried to bed and laid by him. It is said, that, + when his request had been neglected, his mother wrapped up a piece of wood + of the same form, and pacified him for the night. As he grew older, he + went for a while to the Grammar-school in Hales-Owen, and was placed + afterwards with Mr. Crumpton, an eminent schoolmaster at Solihul, where he + distinguished himself by the quickness of his progress. + </p> + <p> + When he was young (June, 1724) he was deprived of his father, and soon + after (August, 1726) of his grandfather; and was, with his brother, who + died afterwards unmarried, left to the care of his grandmother, who + managed the estate. + </p> + <p> + From school he was sent in 1732 to Pembroke College in Oxford, a society + which for half a century has been eminent for English poetry and elegant + literature. Here it appears that he found delight and advantage; for he + continued his name in the book 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. About the time when he went to + Oxford, the death of his grandmother devolved his affairs to the care of + the Rev. Mr. Dolman, of Brome in Staffordshire, whose attention he always + mentioned with gratitude. At Oxford he employed himself upon English + poetry; and in 1737 published a small Miscellany, without his name. He + then for a time wandered about, to acquaint himself with life, and was + sometimes at London, sometimes at Bath, or any other place of public + resort; but he did not forget his poetry. He published in 1741 his + "Judgment of Hercules," addressed to Mr. Lyttelton, whose interest he + supported with great warmth at an election: this was next year followed by + the "Schoolmistress." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dolman, to whose care he was indebted for his ease and leisure, died + in 1745, and the care of his own fortune now fell upon him. He tried to + escape it awhile, and lived at his house with his tenants, who were + distantly related; but, finding that imperfect possession inconvenient, he + took the whole estate into his own hands, more to the improvement of its + beauty than the increase of its produce. Now was excited his delight in + rural pleasures and his ambition of rural elegance; he began from this + time to point his prospects, to diversify his surface, to entangle his + walks, and to wind his waters, which he did with such judgment and such + fancy as made his little domain the envy of the great and the admiration + of the skilful; a place to be visited by travellers and copied by + designers. Whether to plant a walk in undulating curves, and to place a + bench at every turn where there is an object to catch the view, to make + the water run where it will be heard, and to stagnate where it will be + seen, to leave intervals where the eye will be pleased, and to thicken the + plantation where there is something to be hidden, demands any great powers + of mind, I will not inquire: perhaps a sullen and surly spectator may + think such performances rather the sport than the business of human + reason. But it must be at least confessed that to embellish the form of + Nature is an innocent amusement, and some praise must be allowed, by the + most supercilious observer, to him who does best what such multitudes are + contending to do well. + </p> + <p> + This praise was the praise of Shenstone; but, like all other modes of + felicity, it was not enjoyed without its abatements. Lyttelton was his + neighbour and his rival, whose empire, spacious and opulent, looked with + disdain on the PETTY STATE that APPEARED BEHIND IT. For a while the + inhabitants of Hagley affected to tell their acquaintance of the little + fellow that was trying to make himself admired; but when by degrees the + Leasowes forced themselves into notice, they took care to defeat the + curiosity which they could not suppress by conducting their visitants + perversely to inconvenient points of view, and introducing them at the + wrong end of a walk to detect a deception; injuries of which Shenstone + would heavily complain. Where there is emulation there will be vanity; and + where there is vanity there will be folly. + </p> + <p> + The pleasure of Shenstone was all in his eye; he valued what he valued + merely for its looks. Nothing raised his indignation more than to ask if + there were any fishes in his water. His house was mean, and he did not + improve it; his care was of his grounds. When he came home from his walks, + he might find his floors flooded by a shower through the broken roof; but + could spare no money for its reparation. In time his expenses brought + clamours about him that overpowered the lamb's bleat and the linnet's + song, and his groves were haunted by beings very different from fauns and + fairies. He spent his estate in adorning it, and his death was probably + hastened by his anxieties. He was a lamp that spent its oil in blazing. It + is said that, if he had lived a little longer, he would have been assisted + by a pension: such bounty could not have been ever more properly bestowed; + but that it was ever asked is not certain; it is too certain that it never + was enjoyed. He died at Leasowes, of a putrid fever, about five on Friday + morning, February 11, 1763, and was buried by the side of his brother in + the churchyard of Hales-Owen. + </p> + <p> + He was never married, though he might have obtained the lady, whoever she + was, to whom his "Pastoral Ballad" was addressed. He is represented by his + friend Dodsley as a man of great tenderness and generosity, kind to all + that were within his influence; but, if once offended, not easily + appeased; inattentive to economy, and careless of his expenses; in his + person he was larger than the middle-size, with something clumsy in his + form; very negligent of his clothes, and remarkable for wearing his grey + hair in a particular manner, for he held that the fashion was no rule of + dress, and that every man was to suit his appearance to his natural form. + His mind was not very comprehensive, nor his curiosity active; he had no + value for those parts of knowledge which he had not himself cultivated. + His life was unstained by any crime. The "Elegy on Jesse," which has been + supposed to relate an unfortunate and criminal amour of his own, was known + by his friends to have been suggested by the story of Miss Godfrey in + Richardson's "Pamela." + </p> + <p> + What Gray thought of his character, from the perusal of his Letters, was + this:— + </p> + <p> + "I have read, too, an octavo volume of Shenstone's Letters. Poor man! he + was always wishing for money, for fame, and other distinctions; and his + whole philosophy consisted in living against his will in retirement, and + in a place which his taste had adorned, but which he only enjoyed when + people of note came to see and commend it. His correspondence is about + nothing else but this place and his own writings, with two or three + neighbouring clergymen, who wrote verses too." + </p> + <p> + His poems consist of elegies, odes, and ballads, humorous sallies, and + moral pieces. His conception of an Elegy he has in his Preface very + judiciously and discriminately explained. It is, according to his account, + the effusion of a contemplative mind, sometimes plaintive, and always + serious, and therefore superior to the glitter of slight ornaments. His + compositions suit not ill to this description. His topics of praise are + the domestic virtues, and his thoughts are pure and simple, but wanting + combination; they want variety. The peace of solitude, the innocence of + inactivity, and the unenvied security of an humble station, can fill but a + few pages. That of which the essence is uniformity will be soon described. + His elegies have, therefore, too much resemblance of each other. The lines + are sometimes, such as Elegy requires, smooth and easy; but to this praise + his claim is not constant; his diction is often harsh, improper, and + affected, his words ill-coined or ill-chosen, and his phrase unskilfully + inverted. + </p> + <p> + The Lyric Poems are almost all of the light and airy kind, such as trip + lightly and nimbly along, without the load of any weighty meaning. From + these, however, "Rural Elegance" has some right to be excepted. I once + heard it praised by a very learned lady; and, though the lines are + irregular, and the thoughts diffused with too much verbosity, yet it + cannot be denied to contain both philosophical argument and poetical + spirit. Of the rest I cannot think any excellent; the "Skylark" pleases me + best, which has, however, more of the epigram than of the ode. + </p> + <p> + But the four parts of his "Pastoral Ballad" demand particular notice. I + cannot but regret that it is pastoral: an intelligent reader acquainted + with the scenes of real life sickens at the mention of the CROOK, the + PIPE, the SHEEP, and the KIDS, which it is not necessary to bring forward + to notice; for the poet's art is selection, and he ought to show the + beauties without the grossness of the country life. His stanza seems to + have been chosen in imitation of Rowe's "Despairing Shepherd." In the + first are two passages, to which if any mind denies its sympathy, it has + no acquaintance with love or nature:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I prized every hour that went by, + Beyond all that had pleased me before: + But now they are past, and I sigh, + And I grieve that I prized them no more. + + When forced the fair nymph to forego, + What anguish I felt in my heart! + Yet I thought (but it might not be so) + 'Twas with pain that she saw me depart. + + She gazed, as I slowly withdrew, + My path I could hardly discern; + So sweetly she bade me adieu, + I thought that she bade me return." +</pre> + <p> + In the second this passage has its prettiness; though it be not equal to + the former:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I have found out a gift for my fair: + I have found where the wood pigeons breed: + But let me that plunder forbear, + She will say 'twas a barbarous deed: + + For he ne'er could be true, she averred, + Who could rob a poor bird of its young; + And I loved her the more when I heard + Such tenderness fall from her tongue." +</pre> + <p> + In the third he mentions the common-places of amorous poetry with some + address:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'Tis his with mock passion to glow! + 'Tis his in smooth tales to unfold, + How her face is as bright as the snow, + And her bosom, be sure, is as cold: + + How the nightingales labour the strain, + With the notes of this charmer to vie: + How they vary their accents in vain, + Repine at her triumphs, and die." +</pre> + <p> + In the fourth I find nothing better than this natural strain of Hope:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Alas! from the day that we met, + What hope of an end to my woes, + When I cannot endure to forget + The glance that undid my repose? + + Yet Time may diminish the pain: + The flower, and the shrub, and the tree, + Which I reared for her pleasure in vain, + In time may have comfort for me." +</pre> + <p> + His "Levities" are by their title exempted from the severities of + criticism, yet it may be remarked in a few words that his humour is + sometimes gross, and seldom sprightly. + </p> + <p> + Of the Moral Poems, the first is the "Choice of Hercules," from Xenophon. + The numbers are smooth, the diction elegant, and the thoughts just; but + something of vigour is still to be wished, which it might have had by + brevity and compression. His "Fate of Delicacy" has an air of gaiety, but + not a very pointed and general moral. His blank verses, those that can + read them, may probably find to be like the blank verses of his + neighbours. "Love and Honour" is derived from the old ballad, "Did you not + hear of a Spanish Lady?"—I wish it well enough to wish it were in + rhyme. + </p> + <p> + The "Schoolmistress," of which I know not what claim it has to stand among + the Moral Works, is surely the most pleasing of Shenstone's performances. + The adoption of a particular style, in light and short compositions, + contributes much to the increase of pleasure: we are entertained at once + with two imitations of nature in the sentiments, of the original author in + the style, and between them the mind is kept in perpetual employment. + </p> + <p> + The general recommendation of Shenstone is easiness and simplicity; his + general defect is want of comprehension and variety. Had his mind been + better stored with knowledge, whether he could have been great, I know + not; he could certainly have been agreeable. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + YOUNG. + </h2> + <p> + The following life was written, at my request, by a gentleman (Mr. Herbert + Croft) who had better information than I could easily have obtained; and + the public will perhaps wish that I had solicited and obtained more such + favours from him:— + </p> + <p> + "Dear Sir,—In consequence of our different conversations about + authentic materials for the Life of Young, I send you the following + details:"— + </p> + <p> + Of great men something must always be said to gratify curiosity. Of the + illustrious author of the "Night Thoughts" much has been told of which + there never could have been proofs, and little care appears to have been + taken to tell that of which proofs, with little trouble, might have been + procured. + </p> + <p> + Edward Young was born at Upham, near Winchester, in June, 1681. He was the + son of Edward Young, at that time Fellow of Winchester College, and Rector + of Upham, who was the son of Jo. Young, of Woodhay, in Berkshire, styled + by Wood, GENTLEMAN. In September, 1682, the poet's father was collated to + the prebend of Gillingham Minor, in the church of Sarum, by Bishop Ward. + When Ward's faculties were impaired through age, his duties were + necessarily performed by others. We learn from Wood that, at a visitation + of Sprat's, July the 12th, 1686, the prebendary preached a Latin sermon, + afterwards published, with which the Bishop was so pleased, that he told + the chapter he was concerned to find the preacher had one of the worst + prebends in their Church. Some time after this, in consequence of his + merit and reputation, or of the interest of Lord Bradford, to whom, in + 1702, he dedicated two volumes of sermons, he was appointed chaplain to + King William and Queen Mary, and preferred to the Deanery of Sarum. Jacob, + who wrote in 1720, says, "he was Chaplain and Clerk of the Closet to the + late Queen, who honoured him by standing godmother to the poet." His + Fellowship of Winchester he resigned in favour of a gentleman of the name + of Harris, who married his only daughter. The Dean died at Sarum, after a + short illness, in 1705, in the sixty-third year of his age. On the Sunday + after his decease, Bishop Burnet preached at the cathedral, and began his + sermon with saying, "Death has been of late walking round us, and making + breach upon breach upon us, and has now carried away the head of this body + with a stroke, so that he, whom you saw a week ago distributing the holy + mysteries, is now laid in the dust. But he still lives in the many + excellent directions he has left us both how to live and how to die." + </p> + <p> + The dean placed his son upon the foundation at Winchester College, where + he had himself been educated. At this school Edward Young remained till + the election after his eighteenth birthday, the period at which those upon + the foundation are superannuated. Whether he did not betray his abilities + early in life, or his masters had not skill enough to discover in their + pupil any marks of genius for which he merited reward, or no vacancy at + Oxford offered them an opportunity to bestow upon him the reward provided + for merit by William of Wykeham; certain it is, that to an Oxford + fellowship our poet did not succeed. By chance, or by choice, New College + cannot claim the honour of numbering among its fellows him who wrote the + "Night Thoughts." + </p> + <p> + On the 13th of October, 1703, he was entered an independent member of New + College, that he might live at little expense in the warden's lodgings, + who was a particular friend of his father's, till he should be qualified + to stand for a fellowship at All Souls. In a few months the warden of New + College died. He then removed to Corpus College. The president of this + society, from regard also for his father, invited him thither, in order to + lessen his academical expenses. In 1708 he was nominated to a + law-fellowship at All Souls by Archbishop Tenison, into whose hands it + came by devolution. Such repeated patronage, while it justifies Burnet's + praise of the father, reflects credit on the conduct of the son. The + manner in which it was exerted seems to prove that the father did not + leave behind him much wealth. + </p> + <p> + On the 23rd of April, 1714, Young took his degree of bachelor of civil + laws, and his doctor's degree on the 10th of June, 1719. Soon after he + went to Oxford he discovered, it is said, an inclination for pupils. + Whether he ever commenced tutor is not known. None has hitherto boasted to + have received his academical instruction from the author of "Night + Thoughts." It is probable that his College was proud of him no less as a + scholar than as a poet; for in 1716, when the foundation of the Codrington + Library was laid, two years after he had taken his bachelor's degree, + Young was appointed to speak the Latin oration. This is at least + particular for being dedicated in English "To the Ladies of the Codrington + Family." To these ladies he says "that he was unavoidably flung into a + singularity, by being obliged to write an epistle dedicatory void of + commonplace, and such an one was never published before by any author + whatever; that this practice absolved them from any obligation of reading + what was presented to them; and that the bookseller approved of it, + because it would make people stare, was absurd enough and perfectly + right." Of this oration there is no appearance in his own edition of his + works; and prefixed to an edition by Curll and Tonson, in 1741, is a + letter from Young to Curll, if we may credit Curll, dated December the + 9th, 1739, wherein he says that he has not leisure to review what he + formerly wrote, and adds, "I have not the 'Epistle to Lord Lansdowne.' If + you will take my advice, I would have you omit that, and the oration on + Codrington. I think the collection will sell better without them." + </p> + <p> + There are who relate that, when first Young found himself independent, and + his own master at All Souls, he was not the ornament to religion and + morality which he afterwards became. The authority of his father, indeed, + had ceased, some time before, by his death; and Young was certainly not + ashamed to be patronised by the infamous Wharton. But Wharton befriended + in Young, perhaps, the poet, and particularly the tragedian. If virtuous + authors must be patronised only by virtuous peers, who shall point them + out? Yet Pope is said by Ruffhead to have told Warburton that "Young had + much of a sublime genius, though without common sense; so that his genius, + having no guide, was perpetually liable to degenerate into bombast. This + made him pass a FOOLISH YOUTH, the sport of peers and poets: but his + having a very good heart enabled him to support the clerical character + when he assumed it, first with decency, and afterwards with honour." + </p> + <p> + They who think ill of Young's morality in the early part of his life may + perhaps be wrong; but Tindal could not err in his opinion of Young's + warmth and ability in the cause of religion. Tindal used to spend much of + his time at All Souls. "The other boys," said the atheist, "I can always + answer, because I always know whence they have their arguments, which I + have read a hundred times; but that fellow Young is continually pestering + me with something of his own." + </p> + <p> + After all, Tindal and the censurers of Young may be reconcilable. Young + might, for two or three years, have tried that kind of life, in which his + natural principles would not suffer him to wallow long. If this were so, + he has left behind him not only his evidence in favour of virtue, but the + potent testimony of experience against vice. We shall soon see that one of + his earliest productions was more serious than what comes from the + generality of unfledged poets. + </p> + <p> + Young perhaps ascribed the good fortune of Addison to the "Poem to his + Majesty," presented with a copy of verses, to Somers: and hoped that he + also might soar to wealth and honours on wings of the same kind. His first + poetical flight was when Queen Anne called up to the House of Lords the + sons of the Earls of Northampton and Aylesbury, and added, in one day, ten + others to the number of Peers. In order to reconcile the people to one, at + least, of the new lords, he published, in 1712, "An Epistle to the Right + Honourable George Lord Lansdowne." In this composition the poet pours out + his panegyric with the extravagance of a young man, who thinks his present + stock of wealth will never be exhausted. The poem seems intended also to + reconcile the public to the late peace. This is endeavoured to be done by + showing that men are slain in war, and that in peace "harvests wave, and + commerce swells her sail." If this be humanity, for which he meant it, is + it politics? Another purpose of this epistle appears to have been to + prepare the public for the reception of some tragedy he might have in + hand. His lordship's patronage, he says, will not let him "repent his + passion for the stage;" and the particular praise bestowed on Othello and + Oroonoko looks as if some such character as Zanga was even then in + contemplation. The affectionate mention of the death of his friend + Harrison of New College, at the close of this poem, is an instance of + Young's art, which displayed itself so wonderfully some time afterwards in + the "Night Thoughts," of making the public a party in his private sorrow. + Should justice call upon you to censure this poem, it ought at least to be + remembered that he did not insert it in his works; and that in the letter + to Curll, as we have seen, he advises its omission. The booksellers, in + the late body of English poetry, should have distinguished what was + deliberately rejected by the respective authors. This I shall be careful + to do with regard to Young. "I think," says he, "the following pieces in + FOUR volumes to be the most excusable of all that I have written; and I + wish LESS APOLOGY was less needful for these. As there is no recalling + what is got abroad, the pieces here republished I have revised and + corrected, and rendered them as PARDONABLE as it was in my power to do." + </p> + <p> + Shall the gates of repentance be shut only against literary sinners? + </p> + <p> + When Addison published "Cato" in 1713, Young had the honour of prefixing + to it a recommendatory copy of verses. This is one of the pieces which the + author of the "Night Thoughts" did not republish. + </p> + <p> + On the appearance of his poem on the "Last Day," Addison did not return + Young's compliment; but "The Englishman" of October 29, 1713, which was + probably written by Addison, speaks handsomely of this poem. The "Last + Day" was published soon after the peace. The Vice-Chancellor's imprimatur + (for it was printed at Oxford) is dated the 19th, 1713. From the exordium, + Young appears to have spent some time on the composition of it. While + other bards "with Britain's hero set their souls on fire," he draws, he + says, a deeper scene. Marlborough HAD BEEN considered by Britain as her + HERO; but, when the "Last Day" was published, female cabal had blasted for + a time the laurels of Blenheim. This serious poem was finished by Young as + early as 1710, before he was thirty; for part of it is printed in the + Tatler. It was inscribed to the queen, in a dedication, which, for some + reason, he did not admit into his works. It tells her that his only title + to the great honour he now does himself is the obligation which he + formerly received from her royal indulgence. Of this obligation nothing is + now known, unless he alluded to her being his godmother. He is said indeed + to have been engaged at a settled stipend as a writer for the Court. In + Swift's "Rhapsody on Poetry" are these lines, speaking of the Court:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Whence Gay was banished in disgrace, + Where Pope will never show his face, + Where Y—— must torture his invention + To flatter knaves, or lose his pension." +</pre> + <p> + That Y—— means Young seems clear from four other lines in the + same poem:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Attend, ye Popes, and Youngs, and Gays, + And tune your harps and strew your bays; + Your panegyrics here provide; + You cannot err on flattery's side." +</pre> + <p> + Yet who shall say with certainty that Young was a pensioner? In all modern + periods of this country, have not the writers on one side been regularly + called Hirelings, and on the other Patriots? + </p> + <p> + Of the dedication the complexion is clearly political. It speaks in the + highest terms of the late peace; it gives her Majesty praise indeed for + her victories, but says that the author is more pleased to see her rise + from this lower world, soaring above the clouds, passing the first and + second heavens, and leaving the fixed stars behind her; nor will he lose + her there, he says, but keep her still in view through the boundless + spaces on the other side of creation, in her journey towards eternal + bliss, till he behold the heaven of heavens open, and angels receiving and + conveying her still onward from the stretch of his imagination, which + tires in her pursuit, and falls back again to earth. + </p> + <p> + The queen was soon called away from this lower world, to a place where + human praise or human flattery, even less general than this, are of little + consequence. If Young thought the dedication contained only the praise of + truth, he should not have omitted it in his works. Was he conscious of the + exaggeration of party? Then he should not have written it. The poem itself + is not without a glance towards politics, notwithstanding the subject. The + cry that the Church was in danger had not yet subsided. The "Last Day," + written by a layman, was much approved by the ministry and their friends. + </p> + <p> + Before the queen's death, "The Force of Religion, or Vanquished Love," was + sent into the world. This poem is founded on the execution of Lady Jane + Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford, 1554, a story chosen for the subject + of a tragedy by Edmund Smith, and wrought into a tragedy by Rowe. The + dedication of it to the Countess of Salisbury does not appear in his own + edition. He hopes it may be some excuse for his presumption that the story + could not have been read without thoughts of the Countess of Salisbury, + though it had been dedicated to another. "To behold," he proceeds, "a + person ONLY virtuous, stirs in us a prudent regret; to behold a person + ONLY amiable to the sight, warms us with a religious indignation; but to + turn our eyes to a Countess of Salisbury, gives us pleasure and + improvement; it works a sort of miracle, occasions the bias of our nature + to fall off from sin, and makes our very senses and affections converts to + our religion, and promoters of our duty." His flattery was as ready for + the other sex as for ours, and was at least as well adapted. + </p> + <p> + August the 27th, 1714, Pope writes to his friend Jervas, that he is just + arrived from Oxford; that every one is much concerned for the queen's + death, but that no panegyrics are ready yet for the king. Nothing like + friendship has yet taken place between Pope and Young, for, soon after the + event which Pope mentions, Young published a poem on the queen's death, + and his Majesty's accession to the throne. It is inscribed to Addison, + then secretary to the Lords Justices. Whatever were the obligations which + he had formerly received from Anne, the poet appears to aim at something + of the same sort from George. Of the poem the intention seems to have + been, to show that he had the same extravagant strain of praise for a king + as for a queen. To discover, at the very onset of a foreigner's reign, + that the gods bless his new subjects in such a king is something more than + praise. Neither was this deemed one of his excusable pieces. We do not + find it in his works. + </p> + <p> + Young's father had been well acquainted with Lady Anne Wharton, the first + wife of Thomas Wharton, Esq., afterwards Marquis of Wharton; a lady + celebrated for her poetical talents by Burnet and by Waller. + </p> + <p> + To the Dean of Sarum's visitation sermon, already mentioned, were added + some verses "by that excellent poetess, Mrs. Anne Wharton," upon its being + translated into English, at the instance of Waller by Atwood. Wharton, + after he became ennobled, did not drop the son of his old friend. In him, + during the short time he lived, Young found a patron, and in his dissolute + descendant a friend and a companion. The marquis died in April, 1715. In + the beginning of the next year, the young marquis set out upon his + travels, from which he returned in about a twelvemonth. The beginning of + 1717 carried him to Ireland: where, says the Biographia, "on the score of + his extraordinary qualities, he had the honour done him of being admitted, + though under age, to take his seat in the House of Lords." With this + unhappy character it is not unlikely that Young went to Ireland. From his + letter to Richardson on "Original Composition," it is clear he was, at + some period of his life, in that country. "I remember," says he, in that + letter, speaking of Swift, "as I and others were taking with him an + evening walk, about a mile out of Dublin, he stopped short; we passed on; + but perceiving he did not follow us, I went back, and found him fixed as a + statue, and earnestly gazing upward at a noble elm, which in its uppermost + branches was much withered and decayed. Pointing at it, he said, 'I shall + be like that tree, I shall die at top.'" Is it not probable, that this + visit to Ireland was paid when he had an opportunity of going thither with + his avowed friend and patron? + </p> + <p> + From "The Englishman" it appears that a tragedy by Young was in the + theatre so early as 1713. Yet Busiris was not brought upon Drury Lane + stage till 1719. It was inscribed to the Duke of Newcastle, "because the + late instances he had received of his grace's undeserved and uncommon + favour, in an affair of some consequence, foreign to the theatre, had + taken from him the privilege of choosing a patron." The Dedication he + afterwards suppressed. + </p> + <p> + Busiris was followed in the year 1721 by The Revenge. He dedicated this + famous tragedy to the Duke of Wharton. "Your Grace," says the Dedication, + "has been pleased to make yourself accessory to the following scenes, not + only by suggesting the most beautiful incident in them, but by making all + possible provision for the success of the whole." That his grace should + have suggested the incident to which he alludes, whatever that incident + might have been, is not unlikely. The last mental exertion of the + superannuated young man, in his quarters at Lerida, in Spain, was some + scenes of a tragedy on the story of Mary Queen of Scots. + </p> + <p> + Dryden dedicated "Marriage a la Mode" to Wharton's infamous relation + Rochester, whom he acknowledges not only as the defender of his poetry, + but as the promoter of his fortune. Young concludes his address to Wharton + thus—"My present fortune is his bounty, and my future his care; + which I will venture to say will be always remembered to his honour, since + he, I know, intended his generosity as an encouragement to merit, though + through his very pardonable partiality to one who bears him so sincere a + duty and respect, I happen to receive the benefit of it." That he ever had + such a patron as Wharton, Young took all the pains in his power to conceal + from the world, by excluding this dedication from his works. He should + have remembered that he at the same time concealed his obligation to + Wharton for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INCIDENT in what is surely not his least + beautiful composition. The passage just quoted is, in a poem afterwards + addressed to Walpole, literally copied: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Be this thy partial smile from censure free! + 'Twas meant for merit, though it fell on me." +</pre> + <p> + While Young, who, in his "Love of Fame," complains grievously how often + "dedications wash an AEthiop white," was painting an amiable Duke of + Wharton in perishable prose, Pope was, perhaps, beginning to describe the + "scorn and wonder of his days" in lasting verse. To the patronage of such + a character, had Young studied men as much as Pope, he would have known + how little to have trusted. Young, however, was certainly indebted to it + for something material; and the duke's regard for Young, added to his lust + of praise, procured to All Souls College a donation, which was not + forgotten by the poet when he dedicated The Revenge. + </p> + <p> + It will surprise you to see me cite second Atkins, Case 136, Stiles versus + the Attorney-General, March 14, 1740, as authority for the life of a poet. + But biographers do not always find such certain guides as the oaths of the + persons whom they record. Chancellor Hardwicke was to determine whether + two annuities, granted by the Duke of Wharton to Young, were for legal + considerations. One was dated the 24th March, 1719, and accounted for his + grace's bounty in a style princely and commendable, if not legal—"considering + that the public good is advanced by the encouragement of learning and the + polite arts, and being pleased therein with the attempts of Dr. Young, in + consideration thereof, and of the love I bear him, etc." The other was + dated the 10th of July, 1722. + </p> + <p> + Young, on his examination, swore that he quitted the Exeter family, and + refused an annuity of 100 pounds which had been offered him for life if he + would continue tutor to Lord Burleigh, upon the pressing solicitations of + the Duke of Wharton, and his grace's assurances of providing for him in a + much more ample manner. It also appeared that the duke had given him a + bond for 600 pounds dated the 15th of March, 1721, in consideration of his + taking several journeys, and being at great expenses, in order to be + chosen member of the House of Commons, at the duke's desire, and in + consideration of his not taking two livings of 200 pounds and 400 pounds + in the gift of All Souls College, on his grace's promises of serving and + advancing him in the world. + </p> + <p> + Of his adventures in the Exeter family I am unable to give any account. + The attempt to get into Parliament was at Cirencester, where Young stood a + contested election. His grace discovered in him talents for oratory as + well as for poetry. Nor was this judgment wrong. Young, after he took + orders, became a very popular preacher, and was much followed for the + grace and animation of his delivery. By his oratorical talents he was once + in his life, according to the Biographia, deserted. As he was preaching in + his turn at St. James's, he plainly perceived it was out of his power to + command the attention of his audience. This so affected the feelings of + the preacher, that he sat back in the pulpit, and burst into tears. But we + must pursue his poetical life. + </p> + <p> + In 1719 he lamented the death of Addison, in a letter addressed to their + common friend Tickell. For the secret history of the following lines, if + they contain any, it is now vain to seek: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "IN JOY ONCE JOINED, in sorrow, now, for years— + Partner in grief, and brother of my tears, + Tickell, accept this verse, thy mournful due." +</pre> + <p> + From your account of Tickell it appears that he and Young used to + "communicate to each other whatever verses they wrote, even to the least + things." + </p> + <p> + In 1719 appeared a "Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job." Parker, to + whom it is dedicated, had not long, by means of the seals, been qualified + for a patron. Of this work the author's opinion may be known from his + letter to Curll: "You seem, in the Collection you propose, to have omitted + what I think may claim the first place in it; I mean 'a Translation from + part of Job,' printed by Mr. Tonson." The Dedication, which was only + suffered to appear in Mr. Tonson's edition, while it speaks with + satisfaction of his present retirement, seems to make an unusual struggle + to escape from retirement. But every one who sings in the dark does not + sing from joy. It is addressed, in no common strain of flattery, to a + chancellor, of whom he clearly appears to have had no kind of knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Of his Satires it would not have been possible to fix the dates without + the assistance of first editions, which, as you had occasion to observe in + your account of Dryden, are with difficulty found. We must then have + referred to the poems, to discover when they were written. For these + internal notes of time we should not have referred in vain. The first + Satire laments, that "Guilt's chief foe in Addison is fled." The second, + addressing himself, asks:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Is thy ambition sweating for a rhyme, + Thou unambitious fool, at this late time? + A fool at FORTY is a fool indeed." +</pre> + <p> + The Satires were originally published separately in folio, under the title + of "The Universal Passion." These passages fix the appearance of the first + to about 1725, the time at which it came out. As Young seldom suffered his + pen to dry after he had once dipped it in poetry, we may conclude that he + began his Satires soon after he had written the "Paraphrase on Job." The + last Satire was certainly finished in the beginning of the year 1726. In + December, 1725, the King, in his passage from Helvoetsluys, escaped with + great difficulty from a storm by landing at Rye; and the conclusion of the + Satire turns the escape into a miracle, in such an encomiastic strain of + compliment as poetry too often seeks to pay to royalty. From the sixth of + these poems we learn, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'Midst empire's charms, how Carolina's heart + Glowed with the love of virtue and of art." +</pre> + <p> + Since the grateful poet tells us, in the next couplet, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Her favour is diffused to that degree, + Excess of goodness! it has dawned on me." +</pre> + <p> + Her Majesty had stood godmother, and given her name, to the daughter of + the lady whom Young married in 1731; and had perhaps shown some attention + to Lady Elizabeth's future husband. + </p> + <p> + The fifth Satire, "On Women," was not published till 1727; and the sixth + not till 1728. + </p> + <p> + To these poems, when, in 1728, he gathered them into one publication, he + prefixed a Preface, in which he observes that "no man can converse much in + the world, but at what he meets with he must either be insensible or + grieve, or be angry or smile. Now to smile at it, and turn it into + ridicule," he adds, "I think most eligible, as it hurts ourselves least, + and gives vice and folly the greatest offence. Laughing at the misconduct + of the world will, in a great measure, ease us of any more disagreeable + passion about it. One passion is more effectually driven out by another + than by reason, whatever some teach." So wrote, and so of course thought, + the lively and witty satirist at the grave age of almost fifty, who, many + years earlier in life, wrote the "Last Day." After all, Swift pronounced + of these Satires, that they should either have been more angry or more + merry. + </p> + <p> + Is it not somewhat singular that Young preserved, without any palliation, + this Preface, so bluntly decisive in favour of laughing at the world, in + the same collection of his works which contains the mournful, angry, + gloomy "Night Thoughts!" At the conclusion of the Preface he applies + Plato's beautiful fable of the "Birth of Love" to modern poetry, with the + addition, "that Poetry, like Love, is a little subject to blindness, which + makes her mistake her way to preferments and honours; and that she retains + a dutiful admiration of her father's family; but divides her favours, and + generally lives with her mother's relations." Poetry, it is true, did not + lead Young to preferments or to honours; but was there not something like + blindness in the flattery which he sometimes forced her, and her sister + Prose, to utter? She was always, indeed, taught by him to entertain a most + dutiful admiration of riches; but surely Young, though nearly related to + Poetry, had no connection with her whom Plato makes the mother of Love. + That he could not well complain of being related to Poverty appears + clearly from the frequent bounties which his gratitude records, and from + the wealth which he left behind him. By "The Universal Passion" he + acquired no vulgar fortune—more than three thousand pounds. A + considerable sum had already been swallowed up in the South Sea. For this + loss he took the vengeance of an author. His Muse makes poetical use more + than once of a South Sea Dream. + </p> + <p> + It is related by Mr. Spence, in his "Manuscript Anecdotes," on the + authority of Mr. Rawlinson, that Young, upon the publication of his + "Universal Passion," received from the Duke of Grafton two thousand + pounds; and that, when one of his friends exclaimed, "Two thousand pounds + for a poem!" he said it was the best bargain he ever made in his life, for + the poem was worth four thousand. This story may be true; but it seems to + have been raised from the two answers of Lord Burghley and Sir Philip + Sidney in Spenser's Life. + </p> + <p> + After inscribing his Satires, not perhaps without the hopes of preferments + and honours, to such names as the Duke of Dorset, Mr. Dodington, Mr. + Spencer Compton, Lady Elizabeth Germain, and Sir Robert Walpole, he + returns to plain panegyric. In 1726 he addressed a poem to Sir Robert + Walpole, of which the title sufficiently explains the intention. If Young + must be acknowledged a ready celebrator, he did not endeavour, or did not + choose, to be a lasting one. "The Instalment" is among the pieces he did + not admit into the number of his EXCUSABLE WRITINGS. Yet it contains a + couplet which pretends to pant after the power of bestowing immortality:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Oh! how I long, enkindled by the theme, + In deep eternity to launch thy name!" +</pre> + <p> + The bounty of the former reign seems to have been continued, possibly + increased, in this. Whatever it might have been, the poet thought he + deserved it; for he was not ashamed to acknowledge what, without his + acknowledgment, would now perhaps never have been known:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "My breast, O Walpole, glows with grateful fire. + The streams of royal bounty, turned by thee, + Refresh the dry remains of poesy." +</pre> + <p> + If the purity of modern patriotism will term Young a pensioner, it must at + least be confessed he was a grateful one. + </p> + <p> + The reign of the new monarch was ushered in by Young with "Ocean, an Ode." + The hint of it was taken from the royal speech, which recommended the + increase and the encouragement of the seamen; that they might be "invited, + rather than compelled by force and violence, to enter into the service of + their country"—a plan which humanity must lament that policy has not + even yet been able, or willing, to carry into execution. Prefixed to the + original publication were an "Ode to the King, Pater Patriae," and an + "Essay on Lyric Poetry." It is but justice to confess that he preserved + neither of them; and that the Ode itself, which in the first edition, and + in the last, consists of seventy-three stanzas, in the author's own + edition is reduced to forty-nine. Among the omitted passages is a "Wish," + that concluded the poem, which few would have suspected Young of forming; + and of which few, after having formed it, would confess something like + their shame by suppression. It stood originally so high in the author's + opinion, that he entitled the poem, "Ocean, an Ode. Concluding with a + Wish." This wish consists of thirteen stanzas. The first runs thus:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O may I STEAL + Along the VALE + Of humble life, secure from foes! + My friend sincere, + My judgment clear, + And gentle business my repose!" +</pre> + <p> + The three last stanzas are not more remarkable for just rhymes; but, + altogether, they will make rather a curious page in the life of Young:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Prophetic schemes, + And golden dreams, + May I, unsanguine, cast away! + Have what I HAVE, + And live, not LEAVE, + Enamoured of the present day! + + "My hours my own! + My faults unknown! + My chief revenue in content! + Then leave one BEAM + Of honest FAME! + And scorn the laboured monument! + + "Unhurt my urn + Till that great TURN + When mighty Nature's self shall die, + Time cease to glide, + With human pride, + Sunk in the ocean of eternity!" +</pre> + <p> + It is whimsical that he, who was soon to bid adieu to rhyme, should fix + upon a measure in which rhyme abounds even to satiety. Of this he said, in + his "Essay on Lyric Poetry," prefixed to the poem—"For the more + harmony likewise I chose the frequent return of rhyme, which laid me under + great difficulties. But difficulties overcome give grace and pleasure. Nor + can I account for the PLEASURE OF RHYME IN GENERAL (of which the moderns + are too fond) but from this truth." Yet the moderns surely deserve not + much censure for their fondness of what, by their own confession, affords + pleasure, and abounds in harmony. The next paragraph in his Essay did not + occur to him when he talked of "that great turn" in the stanza just + quoted. "But then the writer must take care that the difficulty is + overcome. That is, he must make rhyme consistent with as perfect sense and + expression as could be expected if he was perfectly free from that + shackle." Another part of this Essay will convict the following stanza of + what every reader will discover in it "involuntary burlesque:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The northern blast, + The shattered mast, + The syrt, the whirlpool, and the rock, + The breaking spout, + The STARS GONE OUT, + The boiling strait, the monster's shock." +</pre> + <p> + But would the English poets fill quite so many volumes if all their + productions were to be tried, like this, by an elaborate essay on each + particular species of poetry of which they exhibit specimens? + </p> + <p> + If Young be not a lyric poet, he is at least a critic in that sort of + poetry; and, if his lyric poetry can be proved bad, it was first proved so + by his own criticism. This surely is candid. + </p> + <p> + Milbourne was styled by Pope "the fairest of critics," only because he + exhibited his own version of "Virgil" to be compared with Dryden's, which + he condemned, and with which every reader had it not otherwise in his + power to compare it. Young was surely not the most unfair of poets for + prefixing to a lyric composition an "Essay on Lyric Poetry," so just and + impartial as to condemn himself. + </p> + <p> + We shall soon come to a work, before which we find indeed no critical + essay, but which disdains to shrink from the touchstone of the severest + critic; and which certainly, as I remember to have heard you say, if it + contains some of the worst, contains also some of the best things in the + language. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the appearance of "Ocean," when he was almost fifty, Young + entered into orders. In April, 1728, not long after he had put on the + gown, he was appointed chaplain to George II. + </p> + <p> + The tragedy of The Brothers, which was already in rehearsal, he + immediately withdrew from the stage. The managers resigned it with some + reluctance to the delicacy of the new clergyman. The Epilogue to The + Brothers, the only appendages to any of his three plays which he added + himself, is, I believe, the only one of the kind. He calls it an + historical Epilogue. Finding that "Guilt's dreadful close his narrow scene + denied," he, in a manner, continues the tragedy in the Epilogue, and + relates how Rome revenged the shade of Demetrius, and punished Perseus + "for this night's deed." + </p> + <p> + Of Young's taking orders something is told by the biographer of Pope, + which places the easiness and simplicity of the poet in a singular light. + When he determined on the Church he did not address himself to Sherlock, + to Atterbury, or to Hare, for the best instructions in theology, but to + Pope, who, in a youthful frolic, advised the diligent perusal of Thomas + Aquinas. With this treasure Young retired from interruption to an obscure + place in the suburbs. His poetical guide to godliness hearing nothing of + him during half a year, and apprehending he might have carried the jest + too far, sought after him, and found him just in time to prevent what + Ruffhead calls "an irretrievable derangement." + </p> + <p> + That attachment to his favourite study, which made him think a poet the + surest guide to his new profession left him little doubt whether poetry + was the surest path to its honours and preferments. Not long indeed after + he took orders he published in prose (1728) "A True Estimate of Human + Life," dedicated, notwithstanding the Latin quotations with which it + abounds, to the Queen; and a sermon preached before the House of Commons, + 1729, on the martyrdom of King Charles, entitled, "An Apology for Princes; + or, the Reverence due to Government." But the "Second Course," the + counterpart of his "Estimate," without which it cannot be called "A True + Estimate," though in 1728 it was announced as "soon to be published," + never appeared, and his old friends the Muses were not forgotten. In 1730 + he relapsed to poetry, and sent into the world "Imperium Pelagi: a Naval + Lyric, written in imitation of Pindar's Spirit, occasioned by his + Majesty's return from Hanover, September, 1729, and the succeeding peace." + It is inscribed to the Duke of Chandos. In the Preface we are told that + the Ode is the most spirited kind of poetry, and that the Pindaric is the + most spirited kind of Ode. "This I speak," he adds, "with sufficient + candour at my own very great peril. But truth has an eternal title to our + confession, though we are sure to suffer by it." Behold, again, the + fairest of poets. Young's "Imperium Pelagi" was ridiculed in Fielding's + "Tom Thumb;" but let us not forget that it was one of his pieces which the + author of the "Night Thoughts" deliberately refused to own. Not long after + this Pindaric attempt he published two Epistles to Pope, "Concerning the + Authors of the Age," 1730. Of these poems one occasion seems to have been + an apprehension lest, from the liveliness of his satires, he should not be + deemed sufficiently serious for promotion in the Church. + </p> + <p> + In July, 1730, he was presented by his College to the Rectory of Welwyn, + in Hertfordshire. In May, 1731, he married Lady Elizabeth Lee, daughter of + the Earl of Lichfield, and widow of Colonel Lee. His connection with this + lady arose from his father's acquaintance, already mentioned, with Lady + Anne Wharton, who was co-heiress of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley in + Oxfordshire. Poetry had lately been taught by Addison to aspire to the + arms of nobility, though not with extraordinary happiness. We may + naturally conclude that Young now gave himself up in some measure to the + comforts of his new connection, and to the expectations of that preferment + which he thought due to his poetical talents, or, at least, to the manner + in which they had so frequently been exerted. + </p> + <p> + The next production of his muse was "The Sea-piece," in two odes. + </p> + <p> + Young enjoys the credit of what is called an "Extempore Epigram on + Voltaire," who, when he was in England, ridiculed, in the company of the + jealous English poet, Milton's allegory of "Sin and Death:" + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "You are so witty, profligate and thin, + At once we think thee Milton, Death, and Sin." +</pre> + <p> + From the following passage in the poetical dedication of his "Sea-piece" + to Voltaire it seems that this extemporaneous reproof, if it must be + extemporaneous (for what few will now affirm Voltaire to have deserved any + reproof), was something longer than a distich, and something more gentle + than the distich just quoted. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "No stranger, sir, though born in foreign climes. + On DORSET Downs, when Milton's page, + With Sin and Death provoked thy rage, + Thy rage provoked who soothed with GENTLE rhymes?" +</pre> + <p> + By "Dorset Downs" he probably meant Mr. Dodington's seat. In Pitt's Poems + is "An Epistle to Dr. Edward Young, at Eastbury, in Dorsetshire, on the + Review at Sarum, 1722." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "While with your Dodington retired you sit, + Charmed with his flowing Burgundy and wit," etc. +</pre> + <p> + Thomson, in his Autumn, addressing Mr. Dodington calls his seat the seat + of the Muses, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Where, in the secret bower and winding walk, + For virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay." +</pre> + <p> + The praises Thomson bestows but a few lines before on Philips, the second, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse, + With British freedom sing the British song," +</pre> + <p> + added to Thomson's example and success, might perhaps induce Young, as we + shall see presently, to write his great work without rhyme. + </p> + <p> + In 1734 he published "The Foreign Address, or the best Argument for Peace, + occasioned by the British Fleet and the Posture of Affairs. Written in the + Character of a Sailor." It is not to be found in the author's four + volumes. He now appears to have given up all hopes of overtaking Pindar, + and perhaps at last resolved to turn his ambition to some original species + of poetry. This poem concludes with a formal farewell to Ode, which few of + Young's readers will regret: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "My shell, which Clio gave, which KINGS APPLAUD, + Which Europe's bleeding genius called abroad, + Adieu!" +</pre> + <p> + In a species of poetry altogether his own he next tried his skill, and + succeeded. + </p> + <p> + Of his wife he was deprived in 1741. Lady Elizabeth had lost, after her + marriage with Young, an amiable daughter, by her former husband, just + after she was married to Mr. Temple, son of Lord Palmerston. Mr. Temple + did not long remain after his wife, though he was married a second time to + a daughter of Sir John Barnard's, whose son is the present peer. Mr. and + Mrs. Temple have generally been considered as Philander and Narcissa. From + the great friendship which constantly subsisted between Mr. Temple and + Young, as well as from other circumstances, it is probable that the poet + had both him and Mrs. Temple in view for these characters; though, at the + same time, some passages respecting Philander do not appear to suit either + Mr. Temple or any other person with whom Young was known to be connected + or acquainted, while all the circumstances relating to Narcissa have been + constantly found applicable to Young's daughter-in-law. At what short + intervals the poet tells us he was wounded by the deaths of the three + persons particularly lamented, none that has read the "Night Thoughts" + (and who has not read them?) needs to be informed. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Insatiate archer! could not one suffice? + Thy shaft flew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain; + And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had filled her horn." +</pre> + <p> + Yet how is it possible that Mr. and Mrs. Temple and Lady Elizabeth Young + could be these three victims, over whom Young has hitherto been pitied for + having to pour the "Midnight Sorrows" of his religious poetry? Mrs. Temple + died in 1736; Mr. Temple four years afterwards, in 1740; and the poet's + wife seven months after Mr. Temple, in 1741. How could the insatiate + archer thrice slay his peace, in these three persons, "ere thrice the moon + had filled her horn." But in the short preface to "The Complaint" he + seriously tells us, "that the occasion of this poem was real, not + fictitious, and that the facts mentioned did naturally pour these moral + reflections on the thought of the writer." It is probable, therefore, that + in these three contradictory lines the poet complains more than the + father-in-law, the friend, or the widower. Whatever names belong to these + facts, or if the names be those generally supposed, whatever heightening a + poet's sorrow may have given the facts; to the sorrow Young felt from them + religion and morality are indebted for the "Night Thoughts." There is a + pleasure sure in sadness which mourners only know! Of these poems the two + or three first have been perused perhaps more eagerly and more frequently + than the rest. When he got as far as the fourth or fifth his original + motive for taking up the pen was answered; his grief was naturally either + diminished or exhausted. We still find the same pious poet, but we hear + less of Philander and Narcissa, and less of the mourner whom he loved to + pity. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Temple died of a consumption at Lyons, on her way to Nice, the year + after her marriage; that is, when poetry relates the fact, "in her bridal + hour." It is more than poetically true that Young accompanied her to the + Continent: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I flew, I snatched her from the rigid North, + And bore her nearer to the sun." +</pre> + <p> + But in vain. Her funeral was attended with the difficulties painted in + such animated colours in "Night the Third." After her death the remainder + of the party passed the ensuing winter at Nice. The poet seems perhaps in + these compositions to dwell with more melancholy on the death of Philander + and Narcissa than of his wife. But it is only for this reason. He who runs + and reads may remember that in the "Night Thoughts" Philander and Narcissa + are often mentioned and often lamented. To recollect lamentations over the + author's wife the memory must have been charged with distinct passages. + This lady brought him one child, Frederick, now living, to whom the Prince + of Wales was godfather. + </p> + <p> + That domestic grief is, in the first instance, to be thanked for these + ornaments to our language it is impossible to deny. Nor would it be common + hardiness to contend that worldly discontent had no hand in these joint + productions of poetry and piety. Yet am I by no means sure that, at any + rate, we should not have had something of the same colour from Young's + pencil, notwithstanding the liveliness of his satires. In so long a life + causes for discontent and occasions for grief must have occurred. It is + not clear to me that his Muse was not sitting upon the watch for the first + which happened. "Night Thoughts" were not uncommon to her, even when first + she visited the poet, and at a time when he himself was remarkable neither + for gravity nor gloominess. In his "Last Day," almost his earliest poem, + he calls her "The Melancholy Maid," + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "whom dismal scenes delight, + Frequent at tombs and in the realms of Night." +</pre> + <p> + In the prayer which concludes the second book of the same poem, he says: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Oh! permit the gloom of solemn night + To sacred thought may forcibly invite. + Oh! how divine to tread the milky way, + To the bright palace of Eternal Day!" +</pre> + <p> + When Young was writing a tragedy, Grafton is said by Spence to have sent + him a human skull, with a candle in it, as a lamp, and the poet is + reported to have used it. What he calls "The TRUE Estimate of Human Life," + which has already been mentioned, exhibits only the wrong side of the + tapestry, and being asked why he did not show the right, he is said to + have replied that he could not. By others it has been told me that this + was finished, but that, before there existed any copy, it was torn in + pieces by a lady's monkey. Still, is it altogether fair to dress up the + poet for the man, and to bring the gloominess of the "Night Thoughts" to + prove the gloominess of Young, and to show that his genius, like the + genius of Swift, was in some measure the sullen inspiration of discontent? + From them who answer in the affirmative it should not be concealed that, + though "Invisibilia non decipiunt" appeared upon a deception in Young's + grounds, and "Ambulantes in horto audierunt vocem Dei" on a building in + his garden, his parish was indebted to the good humour of the author of + the "Night Thoughts" for an assembly and a bowling green. + </p> + <p> + Whether you think with me, I know not; but the famous "De mortuis nil nisi + bonum" always appeared to me to savour more of female weakness than of + manly reason. He that has too much feeling to speak ill of the dead, who, + if they cannot defend themselves, are at least ignorant of his abuse, will + not hesitate by the most wanton calumny to destroy the quiet, the + reputation, the fortune of the living. Yet censure is not heard beneath + the tomb, any more than praise. "De mortuis nil nisi verum—De vivis + nil nisi bonum" would approach much nearer to good sense. After all, the + few handfuls of remaining dust which once composed the body of the author + of the "Night Thoughts" feel not much concern whether Young pass now for a + man of sorrow or for "a fellow of infinite jest." To this favour must come + the whole family of Yorick. His immortal part, wherever that now dwells, + is still less solicitous on this head. But to a son of worth and + sensibility it is of some little consequence whether contemporaries + believe, and posterity be taught to believe, that his debauched and + reprobate life cast a Stygian gloom over the evening of his father's days, + saved him the trouble of feigning a character completely detestable, and + succeeded at last in bringing his "grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." + The humanity of the world, little satisfied with inventing perhaps a + melancholy disposition for the father, proceeds next to invent an argument + in support of their invention, and chooses that Lorenzo should be Young's + own son. "The Biographia," and every account of Young, pretty roundly + assert this to be the fact; of the absolute impossibility of which, the + "Biographia" itself, in particular dates, contains undeniable evidence. + Readers I know there are of a strange turn of mind, who will hereafter + peruse the "Night Thoughts" with less satisfaction; who will wish they had + still been deceived; who will quarrel with me for discovering that no such + character as their Lorenzo ever yet disgraced human nature or broke a + father's heart. Yet would these admirers of the sublime and terrible be + offended should you set them down for cruel and for savage? Of this + report, inhuman to the surviving son, if it be true, in proportion as the + character of Lorenzo is diabolical, where are we to find the proof? + Perhaps it is clear from the poems. + </p> + <p> + From the first line to the last of the "Night Thoughts" no one expression + can be discovered which betrays anything like the father. In the "Second + Night" I find an expression which betrays something else—that + Lorenzo was his friend; one, it is possible, of his former companions; one + of the Duke of Wharton's set. The poet styles him "gay friend;" an + appellation not very natural from a pious incensed father to such a being + as he paints Lorenzo, and that being his son. But let us see how he has + sketched this dreadful portrait, from the sight of some of whose features + the artist himself must have turned away with horror. A subject more + shocking, if his only child really sat to him, than the crucifixion of + Michael Angelo; upon the horrid story told of which Young composed a short + poem of fourteen lines in the early part of his life, which he did not + think deserved to be republished. In the "First Night" the address to the + poet's supposed son is:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Lorenzo, Fortune makes her court to thee." +</pre> + <p> + In the "Fifth Night:"— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And burns Lorenzo still for the sublime + Of life? to hang his airy nest on high?" +</pre> + <p> + Is this a picture of the son of the Rector of Welwyn? "Eighth Night:"— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "In foreign realms (for thou hast travelled far)"— +</pre> + <p> + which even now does not apply to his son. In "Night Five:"— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "So wept Lorenzo fair Clarissa's fate, + Who gave that angel-boy on whom he dotes, + And died to give him, orphaned in his birth!" +</pre> + <p> + At the beginning of the "Fifth Night" we find:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Lorenzo, to recriminate is just, + I grant the man is vain who writes for praise." +</pre> + <p> + But, to cut short all inquiry; if any one of these passages, if any + passage in the poems, be applicable, my friend shall pass for Lorenzo. The + son of the author of the "Night Thoughts" was not old enough, when they + were written, to recriminate or to be a father. The "Night Thoughts" were + begun immediately after the mournful event of 1741. The first "Nights" + appear, in the books of the Company of Stationers, as the property of + Robert Dodsley, in 1742. The Preface to "Night Seven" is dated July 7th, + 1744. The marriage, in consequence of which the supposed Lorenzo was born, + happened in May, 1731. Young's child was not born till June, 1733. In + 1741, this Lorenzo, this finished infidel, this father to whose education + Vice had for some years put the last hand, was only eight years old. An + anecdote of this cruel sort, so open to contradiction, so impossible to be + true, who could propagate? Thus easily are blasted the reputation of the + living and of the dead. "Who, then, was Lorenzo?" exclaim the readers I + have mentioned. If we cannot be sure that he was his son, which would have + been finely terrible, was he not his nephew, his cousin? These are + questions which I do not pretend to answer. For the sake of human nature, + I could wish Lorenzo to have been only the creation of the poet's fancy: + like the Quintus of Anti Lucretius, "quo nomine," says Polignac, "quemvis + Atheum intellige." That this was the case many expressions in the "Night + Thoughts" would seem to prove, did not a passage in "Night Eight" appear + to show that he had somebody in his eye for the groundwork at least of the + painting. Lovelace or Lorenzo may be feigned characters; but a writer does + not feign a name of which he only gives the initial letter:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Tell not Calista. She will laugh thee dead, + Or send thee to her hermitage with L—-." +</pre> + <p> + The "Biographia," not satisfied with pointing out the son of Young, in + that son's lifetime, as his father's Lorenzo, travels out of its way into + the history of the son, and tells of his having been forbidden his college + at Oxford for misbehaviour. How such anecdotes, were they true, tend to + illustrate the life of Young, it is not easy to discover. Was the son of + the author of the "Night Thoughts," indeed, forbidden his college for a + time, at one of our Universities? The author of "Paradise Lost" is by some + supposed to have been disgracefully ejected from the other. From juvenile + follies who is free? But, whatever the "Biographia" chooses to relate, the + son of Young experienced no dismission from his college, either lasting or + temporary. Yet, were nature to indulge him with a second youth, and to + leave him at the same time the experience of that which is past, he would + probably spend it differently—who would not?—he would + certainly be the occasion of less uneasiness to his father. But, from the + same experience, he would as certainly, in the same case, be treated + differently by his father. + </p> + <p> + Young was a poet: poets, with reverence be it spoken, do not make the best + parents. Fancy and imagination seldom deign to stoop from their heights; + always stoop unwillingly to the low level of common duties. Aloof from + vulgar life, they pursue their rapid flight beyond the ken of mortals, and + descend not to earth but when compelled by necessity. The prose of + ordinary occurrences is beneath the dignity of poets. He who is connected + with the author of the "Night Thoughts" only by veneration for the Poet + and the Christian may be allowed to observe that Young is one of those + concerning whom, as you remark in your account of Addison, it is proper + rather to say "nothing that is false than all that is true." But the son + of Young would almost sooner, I know, pass for a Lorenzo than see himself + vindicated, at the expense of his father's memory, from follies which, if + it may be thought blameable in a boy to have committed them, it is surely + praiseworthy in a man to lament and certainly not only unnecessary, but + cruel in a biographer to record. + </p> + <p> + Of the "Night Thoughts," notwithstanding their author's professed + retirement, all are inscribed to great or to growing names. He had not yet + weaned himself from earls and dukes, from the Speakers of the House of + Commons, Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and Chancellors of the + Exchequer. In "Night Eight" the politician plainly betrays himself:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Think no post needful that demands a knave: + When late our civil helm was shifting hands, + So P—- thought: think better if you can." +</pre> + <p> + Yet it must be confessed that at the conclusion of "Night Nine," weary + perhaps of courting earthly patrons, he tells his soul— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Henceforth + Thy PATRON he, whose diadem has dropped + You gems of Heaven; Eternity thy prize; + And leave the racers of the world their own." +</pre> + <p> + The "Fourth Night" was addressed by "a much-indebted Muse" to the + Honourable Mr. Yorke, now Lord Hardwicke, who meant to have laid the Muse + under still greater obligation, by the living of Shenfield, in Essex, if + it had become vacant. The "First Night" concludes with this passage:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Dark, though not blind, like thee, Meonides; + Or, Milton, thee. Ah! could I reach your strain; + Or his who made Meonides our own! + Man too he sung. Immortal man I sing. + Oh had he pressed his theme, pursued the track + Which opens out of darkness into day! + Oh, had he mounted on his wing of fire, + Soared, where I sink, and sung immortal man— + How had it blest mankind, and rescued me!" +</pre> + <p> + To the author of these lines was dedicated, in 1756, the first volume of + an "Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope," which attempted, whether + justly or not, to pluck from Pope his "Wing of Fire," and to reduce him to + a rank at least one degree lower than the first class of English poets. If + Young accepted and approved the dedication, he countenanced this attack + upon the fame of him whom he invokes as his Muse. + </p> + <p> + Part of "paper-sparing" Pope's Third Book of the "Odyssey," deposited in + the Museum, is written upon the back of a letter signed "E. Young," which + is clearly the handwriting of our Young. The letter, dated only May 2nd, + seems obscure; but there can be little doubt that the friendship he + requests was a literary one, and that he had the highest literary opinion + of Pope. The request was a prologue, I am told. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "May the 2nd. +</pre> + <p> + "DEAR SIR;—Having been often from home, I know not if you have done + me the favour of calling on me. But, be that as it will, I much want that + instance of your friendship I mentioned in my last; a friendship I am very + sensible I can receive from no one but yourself. I should not urge this + thing so much but for very particular reasons; nor can you be at a loss to + conceive how a 'trifle of this nature' may be of serious moment to me; and + while I am in hopes of the great advantage of your advice about it, I + shall not be so absurd as to make any further step without it. I know you + are much engaged, and only hope to hear of you at your entire leisure. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I am, sir, your most faithful + "and obedient servant, + "E. YOUNG." +</pre> + <p> + Nay, even after Pope's death, he says in "Night Seven:"— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Pope, who could'st make immortals, art thou dead?" +</pre> + <p> + Either the "Essay," then, was dedicated to a patron who disapproved its + doctrine, which I have been told by the author was not the case; or Young + appears, in his old age, to have bartered for a dedication an opinion + entertained of his friend through all that part of life when he must have + been best able to form opinions. From this account of Young, two or three + short passages, which stand almost together in "Night Four," should not be + excluded. They afford a picture, by his own hand, from the study of which + my readers may choose to form their own opinion of the features of his + mind and the complexion of his life. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ah me! the dire effect + Of loitering here, of death defrauded long; + Of old so gracious (and let that suffice), + MY VERY MASTER KNOWS ME NOT. + I've been so long remembered I'm forgot. + * * + When in his courtiers' ears I pour my plaint, + They drink it as the Nectar of the Great; + And squeeze my hand, and beg me come to-morrow. + * * + Twice told the period spent on stubborn Troy, + Court favour, yet untaken, I BESIEGE. + * * + If this song lives, Posterity shall know + One, though in Britain born, with courtiers bred, + Who thought, even gold might come a day too late; + Nor on his subtle deathbed planned his scheme + For future vacancies in Church or State." +</pre> + <p> + Deduct from the writer's age "twice told the period spent on stubborn + Troy," and you will still leave him more than forty when he sate down to + the miserable siege of court-favour. He has before told us— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A fool at forty is a fool indeed." +</pre> + <p> + After all, the siege seems to have been raised only in consequence of what + the general thought his "deathbed." By these extraordinary poems, written + after he was sixty, of which I have been led to say so much, I hope, by + the wish of doing justice to the living and the dead, it was the desire of + Young to be principally known. He entitled the four volumes which he + published himself, "The Works of the Author of the Night Thoughts." While + it is remembered that from these he excluded many of his writings, let it + not be forgotten that the rejected pieces contained nothing prejudicial to + the cause of virtue or of religion. Were everything that Young ever wrote + to be published, he would only appear perhaps in a less respectable light + as a poet, and more despicable as a dedicator; he would not pass for a + worse Christian or for a worse man. This enviable praise is due to Young. + Can it be claimed by every writer? His dedications, after all, he had + perhaps no right to suppress. They all, I believe, speak, not a little to + the credit of his gratitude, of favours received; and I know not whether + the author, who has once solemnly printed an acknowledgment of a favour, + should not always print it. Is it to the credit or to the discredit of + Young, as a poet, that of his "Night Thoughts" the French are particularly + fond? + </p> + <p> + Of the "Epitaph on Lord Aubrey Beauclerk," dated 1740, all I know is, that + I find it in the late body of English poetry, and that I am sorry to find + it there. Notwithstanding the farewell which he seemed to have taken in + the "Night Thoughts" of everything which bore the least resemblance to + ambition, he dipped again in politics. In 1745 he wrote "Reflections on + the Public Situation of the Kingdom, addressed to the Duke of Newcastle;" + indignant, as it appears, to behold + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "—-a pope-bred Princeling crawl ashore, + And whistle cut-throats, with those swords that scraped + Their barren rocks for wretched sustenance, + To cut his passage to the British throne." +</pre> + <p> + This political poem might be called a "Night Thought;" indeed, it was + originally printed as the conclusion of the "Night Thoughts," though he + did not gather it with his other works. + </p> + <p> + Prefixed to the second edition of Howe's "Devout Meditations" is a letter + from Young, dated January 19, 1752, addressed to Archibald Macauly, Esq., + thanking him for the book, "which," he says, "he shall never lay far out + of his reach; for a greater demonstration of a sound head and a sincere + heart he never saw." + </p> + <p> + In 1753, when The Brothers had lain by him above thirty years, it appeared + upon the stage. If any part of his fortune had been acquired by servility + of adulation, he now determined to deduct from it no inconsiderable sum, + as a gift to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. To this sum he + hoped the profits of The Brothers would amount. In his calculation he was + deceived; but by the bad success of his play the Society was not a loser. + The author made up the sum he originally intended, which was a thousand + pounds, from his own pocket. + </p> + <p> + The next performance which he printed was a prose publication, entitled + "The Centaur Not Fabulous, in Six Letters to a Friend on the Life in + Vogue." The conclusion is dated November 29, 1754. In the third letter is + described the death-bed of the "gay, young, noble, ingenious, + accomplished, and most wretched Altamont." His last words were—"My + principles have poisoned my friend, my extravagance has beggared my boy, + my unkindness has murdered my wife!" Either Altamont and Lorenzo were the + twin production of fancy, or Young was unlucky enough to know two + characters who bore no little resemblance to each other in perfection of + wickedness. Report has been accustomed to call Altamont Lord Euston. + </p> + <p> + "The Old Man's Relapse," occasioned by an Epistle to Walpole, if written + by Young, which I much doubt, must have been written very late in life. It + has been seen, I am told, in a Miscellany published thirty years before + his death. In 1758 he exhibited "The Old Man's Relapse," in more than + words, by again becoming a dedicator, and publishing a sermon addressed to + the king. + </p> + <p> + The lively letter in prose, on "Original Composition," addressed to + Richardson, the author of "Clarissa," appeared in 1759. Though he despairs + "of breaking through the frozen obstructions of age and care's incumbent + cloud into that flow of thought and brightness of expression which + subjects so polite require," yet it is more like the production of + untamed, unbridled youth, than of jaded fourscore. Some sevenfold volumes + put him in mind of Ovid's sevenfold channels of the Nile at the + conflagration:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "—ostia septem + Pulverulenta vocant, septem sine flumine valles." +</pre> + <p> + Such leaden labours are like Lycurgus's iron money, which was so much less + in value than in bulk, that it required barns for strong boxes, and a yoke + of oxen to draw five hundred pounds. If there is a famine of invention in + the land, we must travel, he says, like Joseph's brethren, far for food, + we must visit the remote and rich ancients. But an inventive genius may + safely stay at home; that, like the widow's cruse, is divinely replenished + from within, and affords us a miraculous delight. He asks why it should + seem altogether impossible that Heaven's latest editions of the human mind + may be the most correct and fair? And Jonson, he tells us, was very + learned, as Samson was very strong, to his own hurt. Blind to the nature + of tragedy, he pulled down all antiquity on his head, and buried himself + under it. Is this "care's incumbent cloud," or "the frozen obstructions of + age?" In this letter Pope is severely censured for his "fall from Homer's + numbers, free as air, lofty and harmonious as the spheres, into childish + shackles and tinkling sounds; for putting Achilles into petticoats a + second time:" but we are told that the dying swan talked over an epic plan + with Young a few weeks before his decease. Young's chief inducement to + write this letter was, as he confesses, that he might erect a monumental + marble to the memory of an old friend. He, who employed his pious pen for + almost the last time in thus doing justice to the exemplary death-bed of + Addison, might probably, at the close of his own life, afford no unuseful + lesson for the deaths of others. In the postscript he writes to Richardson + that he will see in his next how far Addison is an original. But no other + letter appears. + </p> + <p> + The few lines which stand in the last edition, as "sent by Lord Melcombe + to Dr. Young not long before his lordship's death," were indeed so sent, + but were only an introduction to what was there meant by "The Muse's + Latest Spark." The poem is necessary, whatever may be its merit, since the + Preface to it is already printed. Lord Melcombe called his Tusculum "La + Trappe":— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Love thy country, wish it well, + Not with too intense a care; + 'Tis enough, that, when it fell, + Thou its ruin didst not share. + + Envy's censure, Flattery's praise, + With unmoved indifference view; + Learn to tread life's dangerous maze, + With unerring Virtue's clue. + + Void of strong desire and fear, + Life's void ocean trust no more; + Strive thy little bark to steer + With the tide, but near the shore. + + Thus prepared, thy shortened sail + Shall, whene'er the winds increase, + Seizing each propitious gale, + Waft thee to the Port of Peace. + + Keep thy conscience from offence, + And tempestuous passions free, + So, when thou art called from hence, + Easy shall thy passage be; + + Easy shall thy passage be, + Cheerful thy allotted stay, + Short the account 'twixt God and thee; + Hope shall meet thee on the way: + + Truth shall lead thee to the gate, + Mercy's self shall let thee in, + Where its never-changing state, + Full perfection, shall begin." +</pre> + <p> + The poem was accompanied by a letter. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "La Trappe, the 27th of October, 1761 +</pre> + <p> + "DEAR SIR,—You seemed to like the ode I sent you for your amusement; + I now send it you as a present. If you please to accept of it, and are + willing that our friendship should be known when we are gone, you will be + pleased to leave this among those of your own papers that may possibly see + the light by a posthumous publication. God send us health while we stay, + and an easy journey!—My dear Dr. Young, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours, most cordially, + "MELCOMBE." +</pre> + <p> + In 1762, a short time before his death, Young published "Resignation." + Notwithstanding the manner in which it was really forced from him by the + world, criticism has treated it with no common severity. If it shall be + thought not to deserve the highest praise, on the other side of fourscore, + by whom, except by Newton and by Waller, has praise been merited? + </p> + <p> + To Mrs. Montagu, the famous champion of Shakespeare, I am indebted for the + history of "Resignation." Observing that Mrs. Boscawen, in the midst of + her grief for the loss of the admiral, derived consolation from the + perusal of the "Night Thoughts," Mrs. Montagu proposed a visit to the + author. From conversing with Young, Mrs. Boscawen derived still further + consolation; and to that visit she and the world were indebted for this + poem. It compliments Mrs. Montagu in the following lines:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yet write I must. A lady sues: + How shameful her request! + My brain in labour with dull rhyme, + Hers teeming with the best!" +</pre> + <p> + And again— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A friend you have, and I the same, + Whose prudent, soft address + Will bring to life those healing thoughts + Which died in your distress. + That friend, the spirit of my theme + Extracting for your ease, + Will leave to me the dreg, in thoughts + Too common; such as these." +</pre> + <p> + By the same lady I was enabled to say, in her own words, that Young's + unbounded genius appeared to greater advantage in the companion than even + in the author; that the Christian was in him a character still more + inspired, more enraptured, more sublime, than the poet; and that, in his + ordinary conversation— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "—letting down the golden chain from high, + He drew his audience upward to the sky." +</pre> + <p> + Notwithstanding Young had said, in his "Conjectures on Original + Composition," that "blank verse is verse unfallen, uncursed—verse + reclaimed, re-enthroned in the true language of the gods;" notwithstanding + he administered consolation to his own grief in this immortal language, + Mrs. Boscawen was comforted in rhyme. + </p> + <p> + While the poet and the Christian were applying this comfort, Young had + himself occasion for comfort, in consequence of the sudden death of + Richardson, who was printing the former part of the poem. Of Richardson's + death he says— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When heaven would kindly set us free, + And earth's enchantment end; + It takes the most effectual means, + And robs us of a friend." +</pre> + <p> + To "Resignation" was prefixed an apology for its appearance, to which more + credit is due than to the generality of such apologies, from Young's + unusual anxiety that no more productions of his old age should disgrace + his former fame. In his will, dated February, 1760, he desires of his + executors, IN A PARTICULAR MANNER, that all his manuscript books and + writings, whatever, might be burned, except his book of accounts. In + September, 1764, he added a kind of codicil, wherein he made it his dying + entreaty to his housekeeper, to whom he left 1,000 pounds, "that all his + manuscripts might be destroyed as soon as he was dead, which would greatly + oblige her deceased FRIEND." + </p> + <p> + It may teach mankind the uncertainty of wordly friendships to know that + Young, either by surviving those he loved, or by outliving their + affections, could only recollect the names of two FRIENDS, his housekeeper + and a hatter, to mention in his will; and it may serve to repress that + testamentary pride, which too often seeks for sounding names and titles, + to be informed that the author of the "Night Thoughts" did not blush to + leave a legacy to his "friend Henry Stevens, a hatter at the Temple-gate." + Of these two remaining friends, one went before Young. But, at + eighty-four, "where," as he asks in The Centaur, "is that world into which + we were born?" The same humility which marked a hatter and a housekeeper + for the friends of the author of the "Night Thoughts," had before bestowed + the same title on his footman, in an epitaph in his "Churchyard" upon + James Baker, dated 1749; which I am glad to find in the late collection of + his works. Young and his housekeeper were ridiculed, with more ill-nature + than wit, in a kind of novel published by Kidgell in 1755, called "The + Card," under the names of Dr. Elwes and Mrs. Fusby. In April, 1765, at an + age to which few attain, a period was put to the life of Young. He had + performed no duty for three or four years, but he retained his intellects + to the last. + </p> + <p> + Much is told in the "Biographia," which I know not to have been true, of + the manner of his burial; of the master and children of a charity-school, + which he founded in his parish, who neglected to attend their benefactor's + corpse; and a bell which was not caused to toll as often as upon those + occasions bells usually toll. Had that humanity, which is here lavished + upon things of little consequence either to the living or to the dead, + been shown in its proper place to the living, I should have had less to + say about Lorenzo. They who lament that these misfortunes happened to + Young, forget the praise he bestows upon Socrates, in the Preface to + "Night Seven," for resenting his friend's request about his funeral. + During some part of his life Young was abroad, but I have not been able to + learn any particulars. In his seventh Satire he says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When, after battle, I the field have SEEN + Spread o'er with ghastly shapes which once were men." +</pre> + <p> + It is known, also, that from this or from some other field he once + wandered into the camp with a classic in his hand, which he was reading + intently; and had some difficulty to prove that he was only an absent + poet, and not a spy. + </p> + <p> + The curious reader of Young's life will naturally inquire to what it was + owing, that though he lived almost forty years after he took orders, which + included one whole reign uncommonly long, and part of another, he was + never thought worthy of the least preferment. The author of the "Night + Thoughts" ended his days upon a living which came to him from his college + without any favour, and to which he probably had an eye when he determined + on the Church. To satisfy curiosity of this kind is, at this distance of + time, far from easy. The parties themselves know not often, at the + instant, why they are neglected, or why they are preferred. The neglect of + Young is by some ascribed to his having attached himself to the Prince of + Wales, and to his having preached an offensive sermon at St. James's. It + has been told me that he had two hundred a year in the late reign, by the + patronage of Walpole; and that, whenever any one reminded the king of + Young, the only answer was, "he has a pension." All the light thrown on + this inquiry, by the following letter from Secker, only serves to show at + what a late period of life the author of the "Night Thoughts" solicited + preferment:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Deanery of St. Paul's, July 8, 1758. +</pre> + <p> + "GOOD DR. YOUNG,—I have long wondered that more suitable notice of + your great merit hath not been taken by persons in power. But how to + remedy the omission I see not. No encouragement hath ever been given me to + mention things of this nature to his majesty. And therefore, in all + likelihood, the only consequence of doing it would be weakening the little + influence which else I may possibly have on some other occasions. Your + fortune and your reputation set you above the need of advancement; and + your sentiments, above that concern for it, on your own account, which, on + that of the public, is sincerely felt by + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your loving Brother, THO. CANT." +</pre> + <p> + At last, at the age of fourscore, he was appointed, in 1761, Clerk of the + Closet to the Princess Dowager. One obstacle must have stood not a little + in the way of that preferment after which his whole life seems to have + panted. Though he took orders, he never entirely shook off politics. He + was always the lion of his master Milton, "pawing to get free his hinder + parts." By this conduct, if he gained some friends, he made many enemies. + Again: Young was a poet; and again, with reverence be it spoken, poets by + profession do not always make the best clergymen. If the author of the + "Night Thoughts" composed many sermons, he did not oblige the public with + many. Besides, in the latter part of his life, Young was fond of holding + himself out for a man retired from the world. But he seemed to have + forgotten that the same verse which contains "oblitus meorum," contains + also "obliviscendus et illis." The brittle chain of worldly friendship and + patronage is broken as effectually, when one goes beyond the length of it, + as when the other does. To the vessel which is sailing from the shore, it + only appears that the shore also recedes; in life it is truly thus. He who + retires from the world will find himself, in reality, deserted as fast, if + not faster, by the world. The public is not to be treated as the coxcomb + treats his mistress; to be threatened with desertion, in order to increase + fondness. + </p> + <p> + Young seems to have been taken at his word. Notwithstanding his frequent + complaints of being neglected, no hand was reached out to pull him from + that retirement of which he declared himself enamoured. Alexander assigned + no palace for the residence of Diogenes, who boasted his surly + satisfaction with his tub. Of the domestic manners and petty habits of the + author of the "Night Thoughts," I hoped to have given you an account from + the best authority; but who shall dare to say, To-morrow I will be wise or + virtuous, or to-morrow I will do a particular thing? Upon inquiring for + his housekeeper, I learned that she was buried two days before I reached + the town of her abode. + </p> + <p> + In a letter from Tscharner, a noble foreigner, to Count Haller, Tscharner + says, he has lately spent four days with Young at Welwyn, where the author + tastes all the ease and pleasure mankind can desire. "Everything about him + shows the man, each individual being placed by rule. All is neat without + art. He is very pleasant in conversation, and extremely polite." This, and + more, may possibly be true; but Tscharner's was a first visit, a visit of + curiosity and admiration, and a visit which the author expected. + </p> + <p> + Of Edward Young an anecdote which wanders among readers is not true, that + he was Fielding's Parson Adams. The original of that famous painting was + William Young, who was a clergyman. He supported an uncomfortable + existence by translating for the booksellers from Greek, and, if he did + not seem to be his own friend, was at least no man's enemy. Yet the + facility with which this report has gained belief in the world argues, + were it not sufficiently known that the author of the "Night Thoughts" + bore some resemblance to Adams. The attention which Young bestowed upon + the perusal of books is not unworthy imitation. When any passage pleased + him he appears to have folded down the leaf. On these passages he bestowed + a second reading. But the labours of man are too frequently vain. Before + he returned to much of what he had once approved he died. Many of his + books, which I have seen, are by those notes of approbation so swelled + beyond their real bulk, that they will hardly shut. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame! + Earth's highest station ends in HERE HE LIES! + And DUST TO DUST concludes her noblest song!" +</pre> + <p> + The author of these lines is not without his 'Hic jacet.' By the good + sense of his son it contains none of that praise which no marble can make + the bad or the foolish merit; which, without the direction of stone or a + turf, will find its way, sooner or later, to the deserving. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + M. S. + Optimi parentis + EDWARDI YOUNG, LL.D. +Hujus Ecclesiae rect. et Elizabethae faem. praenob + Conjugis ejus amantissimae + Pio et gratissimo animo hoc marmor posuit + F. Y. + Filius superstes. +</pre> + <p> + Is it not strange that the author of the "Night Thoughts" has inscribed no + monument to the memory of his lamented wife? Yet what marble will endure + as long as the poems? + </p> + <p> + Such, my good friend, is the account which I have been able to collect of + the great Young. That it may be long before anything like what I have just + transcribed be necessary for you, is the sincere wish of, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dear Sir, your greatly obliged Friend, + HERBERT CROFT, Jun. + Lincoln's Inn, Sept., 1780. +</pre> + <p> + P.S.—This account of Young was seen by you in manuscript, you know, + sir, and, though I could not prevail on you to make any alteration, you + insisted on striking out one passage, because it said that if I did not + wish you to live long for your sake, I did for the sake of myself and of + the world. But this postscript you will not see before the printing of it, + and I will say here, in spite of you, how I feel myself honoured and + bettered by your friendship, and that if I do credit to the Church, after + which I always longed, and for which I am now going to give in exchange + the bar, though not at so late a period of life as Young took orders, it + will be owing, in no small measure, to my having had the happiness of + calling the author of "The Rambler" my friend. + </p> + <p> + H. C. Oxford, Oct., 1782. + </p> + <p> + Of Young's Poems it is difficult to give any general character, for he has + no uniformity of manner; one of his pieces has no great resemblance to + another. He began to write early and continued long, and at different + times had different modes of poetical excellence in view. His numbers are + sometimes smooth and sometimes rugged; his style is sometimes concatenated + and sometimes abrupt, sometimes diffusive and sometimes concise. His plan + seems to have started in his mind at the present moment, and his thoughts + appear the effect of chance, sometimes adverse and sometimes lucky, with + very little operation of judgment. He was not one of those writers whom + experience improves, and who, observing their own faults, become gradually + correct. His poem on the "Last Day," his first great performance, has an + equability and propriety, which he afterwards either never endeavoured or + never attained. Many paragraphs are noble, and few are mean, yet the whole + is languid; the plan is too much extended, and a succession of images + divides and weakens the general conception, but the great reason why the + reader is disappointed is that the thought of the LAST DAY makes every man + more than poetical by spreading over his mind a general obscurity of + sacred horror, that oppresses distinction and disdains expression. His + story of "Jane Grey" was never popular. It is written with elegance + enough, but Jane is too heroic to be pitied. + </p> + <p> + "The Universal Passion" is indeed a very great performance. It is said to + be a series of epigrams, but, if it be, it is what the author intended; + his endeavour was at the production of striking distichs and pointed + sentences, and his distichs have the weight of solid sentiments, and his + points the sharpness of resistless truth. His characters are often + selected with discernment and drawn with nicety; his illustrations are + often happy, and his reflections often just. His species of satire is + between those of Horace and Juvenal, and he has the gaiety of Horace + without his laxity of numbers, and the morality of Juvenal with greater + variation of images. He plays, indeed, only on the surface of life; he + never penetrates the recesses of the mind, and therefore the whole power + of his poetry is exhausted by a single perusal; his conceits please only + when they surprise. To translate he never condescended, unless his + "Paraphrase on Job" may be considered as a version, in which he has not, I + think, been unsuccessful; he indeed favoured himself by choosing those + parts which most easily admit the ornaments of English poetry. He had + least success in his lyric attempts, in which he seems to have been under + some malignant influence; he is always labouring to be great, and at last + is only turgid. + </p> + <p> + In his "Night Thoughts" he has exhibited a very wide display of original + poetry, variegated with deep reflections and striking allusions, a + wilderness of thought, in which the fertility of fancy scatters flowers of + every hue and of every odour. This is one of the few poems in which blank + verse could not be changed for rhyme but with disadvantage. The wild + diffusion of the sentiments and the digressive sallies of imagination + would have been compressed and restrained by confinement to rhyme. The + excellence of this work is not exactness but copiousness; particular lines + are not to be regarded; the power is in the whole, and in the whole there + is a magnificence like that ascribed to Chinese plantation, the + magnificence of vast extent and endless diversity. + </p> + <p> + His last poem was the "Resignation," in which he made, as he was + accustomed, an experiment of a new mode of writing, and succeeded better + than in his "Ocean" or his "Merchant." It was very falsely represented as + a proof of decaying faculties. There is Young in every stanza, such as he + often was in the highest vigour. His tragedies, not making part of the + collection, I had forgotten, till Mr. Stevens recalled them to my + thoughts, by remarking, that he seemed to have one favourite catastrophe, + as his three plays all concluded with lavish suicide, a method by which, + as Dryden remarked, a poet easily rids his scene of persons whom he wants + not to keep alive. In Busiris there are the greatest ebullitions of + imagination, but the pride of Busiris is such as no other man can have, + and the whole is too remote from known life to raise either grief, terror, + or indignation. The Revenge approaches much nearer to human practices and + manners, and therefore keeps possession of the stage; the first design + seems suggested by Othello, but the reflections, the incidents, and the + diction, are original. The moral observations are so introduced and so + expressed as to have all the novelty that can be required. Of The Brothers + I may be allowed to say nothing, since nothing was ever said of it by the + public. It must be allowed of Young's poetry that it abounds in thought, + but without much accuracy or selection. When he lays hold of an + illustration he pursues it beyond expectation, sometimes happily, as in + his parallel of Quicksilver with Pleasure, which I have heard repeated + with approbation by a lady, of whose praise he would have been justly + proud, and which is very ingenious, very subtle, and almost exact; but + sometimes he is less lucky, as when, in his "Night Thoughts," having it + dropped into his mind that the orbs, floating in space, might be called + the CLUSTER of creation, he thinks of a cluster of grapes, and says, that + they all hang on the great vine, drinking the "nectareous juice of + immortal life." His conceits are sometimes yet less valuable. In the "Last + Day" he hopes to illustrate the reassembly of the atoms that compose the + human body at the "Trump of Doom" by the collection of bees into a swarm + at the tinkling of a pan. The Prophet says of Tyre that "her merchants are + princes." Young says of Tyre in his "Merchant," + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Her merchants princes, and each DECK A THRONE." +</pre> + <p> + Let burlesque try to go beyond him. + </p> + <p> + He has the trick of joining the turgid and familiar: to buy the alliance + of Britain, "Climes were paid down." Antithesis is his favourite, "They + for kindness hate:" and "because she's right, she's ever in the wrong." + His versification is his own; neither his blank nor his rhyming lines have + any resemblance to those of former writers; he picks up no hemistichs, he + copies no favourite expressions; he seems to have laid up no stores of + thought or diction, but to owe all to the fortuitous suggestions of the + present moment. Yet I have reason to believe that, when once he had formed + a new design, he then laboured it with very patient industry; and that he + composed with great labour and frequent revisions. His verses are formed + by no certain model; he is no more like himself in his different + productions than he is like others. He seems never to have studied + prosody, nor to have had any direction but from his own ear. But with all + his defects, he was a man of genius and a poet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MALLET. + </h2> + <p> + Of David Mallet, having no written memorial, I am able to give no other + account than such as is supplied by the unauthorised loquacity of common + fame, and a very slight personal knowledge. He was by his original one of + the Macgregors, a clan that became, about sixty years ago, under the + conduct of Robin Roy, so formidable and so infamous for violence and + robbery, that the name was annulled by a legal abolition; and when they + were all to denominate themselves anew, the father, I suppose, of this + author, called himself Malloch. + </p> + <p> + David Malloch was, by the penury of his parents, compelled to be Janitor + of the High School at Edinburgh, a mean office of which he did not + afterwards delight to hear. But he surmounted the disadvantages of his + birth and fortune; for, when the Duke of Montrose applied to the College + of Edinburgh for a tutor to educate his sons, Malloch was recommended; and + I never heard that he dishonoured his credentials. When his pupils were + sent to see the world, they were entrusted to his care; and having + conducted them round the common circle of modish travels, he returned with + them to London, where, by the influence of the family in which he resided, + he naturally gained admission to many persons of the highest rank, and the + highest character—to wits, nobles, and statesmen. Of his works, I + know not whether I can trace the series. His first production was, + "William and Margaret;" of which, though it contains nothing very striking + or difficult, he has been envied the reputation; and plagiarism has been + boldly charged, but never proved. Not long afterwards he published the + "Excursion" (1728); a desultory and capricious view of such scenes of + nature as his fancy led him, or his knowledge enabled him, to describe. It + is not devoid of poetical spirit. Many of his images are striking, and + many of the paragraphs are elegant. The cast of diction seems to be copied + from Thomson, whose "Seasons" were then in their full blossom of + reputation. He has Thomson's beauties and his faults. His poem on "Verbal + Criticism" (1733) was written to pay court to Pope, on a subject which he + either did not understand, or willingly misrepresented; and is little more + than an improvement, or rather expansion, of a fragment which Pope printed + in a miscellany long before he engrafted it into a regular poem. There is + in this piece more pertness than wit, and more confidence than knowledge. + The versification is tolerable, nor can criticism allow it a higher + praise. + </p> + <p> + His first tragedy was Eurydice, acted at Drury Lane in 1731; of which I + know not the reception nor the merit, but have heard it mentioned as a + mean performance. He was not then too high to accept a prologue and + epilogue from Aaron Hill, neither of which can be much commended. Having + cleared his tongue from his native pronunciation so as to be no longer + distinguished as a Scot, he seems inclined to disencumber himself from all + adherences of his original, and took upon him to change his name from + Scotch Malloch to English Mallet, without any imaginable reason of + preference which the eye or ear can discover. What other proofs he gave of + disrespect to his native country I know not; but it was remarked of him + that he was the only Scot whom Scotchmen did not commend. About this time + Pope, whom he visited familiarly, published his "Essay on Man," but + concealed the author; and, when Mallet entered one day, Pope asked him + slightly what there was new. Mallet told him that the newest piece was + something called an "Essay on Man," which he had inspected idly, and + seeing the utter inability of the author, who had neither skill in writing + nor knowledge of the subject, had tossed it away. Pope, to punish his + self-conceit, told him the secret. + </p> + <p> + A new edition of the works of Bacon being prepared (1740) for the press, + Mallet was employed to prefix a Life, which he has written with elegance, + perhaps with some affectation; but with so much more knowledge of history + than of science, that, when he afterwards undertook the "Life of + Marlborough," Warburton remarked that he might perhaps forget that + Marlborough was a general, as he had forgotten that Bacon was a + philosopher. + </p> + <p> + When the Prince of Wales was driven from the palace, and, setting himself + at the head of the opposition, kept a separate court, he endeavoured to + increase his popularity by the patronage of literature, and made Mallet + his under-secretary, with a salary of two hundred pounds a year; Thomson + likewise had a pension; and they were associated in the composition of The + Masque of Alfred, which in its original state was played at Cliefden in + 1740; it was afterwards almost wholly changed by Mallet, and brought upon + the stage at Drury Lane in 1751, but with no great success. Mallet, in a + familiar conversation with Garrick, discoursing of the diligence which he + was then exerting upon the "Life of Marlborough," let him know that in the + series of great men quickly to be exhibited he should FIND A NICHE for the + hero of the theatre. Garrick professed to wonder by what artifice he could + be introduced: but Mallet let him know that, by a dexterous anticipation, + he should fix him in a conspicuous place. "Mr. Mallet," says Garrick, in + his gratitude of exultation, "have you left off to write for the stage?" + Mallet then confessed that he had a drama in his hands. Garrick promised + to act it; and "Alfred" was produced. + </p> + <p> + The long retardation of the life of the Duke of Marlborough shows, with + strong conviction, how little confidence can be placed on posthumous + renown. When he died, it was soon determined that his story should be + delivered to posterity; and the papers supposed to contain the necessary + information were delivered to Lord Molesworth, who had been his favourite + in Flanders. When Molesworth died, the same papers were transferred with + the same design to Sir Richard Steele, who, in some of his exigencies, put + them in pawn. They remained with the old duchess, who in her will assigned + the task to Glover and Mallet, with a reward of a thousand pounds, and a + prohibition to insert any verses. Glover rejected, I suppose, with + disdain, the legacy, and devolved the whole work upon Mallet; who had from + the late Duke of Marlborough a pension to promote his industry, and who + talked of the discoveries which he had made; but left not, when he died, + any historical labours behind him. While he was in the Prince's service he + published Mustapha with a prologue by Thomson, not mean, but far inferior + to that which he had received from Mallet for Agamemnon. The epilogue, + said to be written by a friend, was composed in haste by Mallet, in the + place of one promised, which was never given. This tragedy was dedicated + to the Prince his master. It was acted at Drury Lane in 1739, and was well + received, but was never revived. In 1740 he produced, as has been already + mentioned, The Masque of Alfred, in conjunction with Thomson. For some + time afterwards he lay at rest. After a long interval his next work was + "Amyntor and Theodora" (1747), a long story in blank verse; in which it + cannot be denied that there is copiousness and elegance of language, + vigour of sentiment, and imagery well adapted to take possession of the + fancy. But it is blank verse. This he sold to Vaillant for one hundred and + twenty pounds. The first sale was not great, and it is now lost in + forgetfulness. + </p> + <p> + Mallet, by address or accident, perhaps by his dependence on the Prince, + found his way to Bolingbroke, a man whose pride and petulance made his + kindness difficult to gain or keep, and whom Mallet was content to court + by an act which I hope was unwillingly performed. When it was found that + Pope clandestinely printed an unauthorised pamphlet called the "Patriot + King," Bolingbroke in a fit of useless fury resolved to blast his memory, + and employed Mallet (1749) as the executioner of his vengeance. Mallet had + not virtue, or had not spirit, to refuse the office; and was rewarded, not + long after, with the legacy of Lord Bolingbroke's works. + </p> + <p> + Many of the political pieces had been written during the opposition to + Walpole, and given to Francklin, as he supposed, in perpetuity. These, + among the rest, were claimed by the will. The question was referred to + arbitrators; but, when they decided against Mallet, he refused to yield to + the award; and, by the help of Millar the bookseller, published all that + he could find, but with success very much below his expectation. + </p> + <p> + In 1775[sic], his masque of Britannia was acted at Drury Lane, and his + tragedy of Elvira in 1763; in which year he was appointed keeper of the + book of entries for ships in the port of London. In the beginning of the + last war, when the nation was exasperated by ill success, he was employed + to turn the public vengeance upon Byng, and wrote a letter of accusation + under the character of a "Plain Man." The paper was with great industry + circulated and dispersed; and he, for his seasonable intervention, had a + considerable pension bestowed upon him, which he retained to his death. + Towards the end of his life he went with his wife to France; but after a + while, finding his health declining, he returned alone to England, and + died in April, 1765. He was twice married, and by his first wife had + several children. One daughter, who married an Italian of rank named + Cilesia, wrote a tragedy called Almida, which was acted at Drury Lane. His + second wife was the daughter of a nobleman's steward, who had a + considerable fortune, which she took care to retain in her own hands. His + stature was diminutive, but he was regularly formed; his appearance, till + he grew corpulent, was agreeable, and he suffered it to want no + recommendation that dress could give it. His conversation was elegant and + easy. The rest of his character may, without injury to his memory, sink + into silence. As a writer, he cannot be placed in any high class. There is + no species of composition in which he was eminent. His dramas had their + day, a short day, and are forgotten: his blank verse seems to my ear the + echo of Thomson. His "Life of Bacon" is known, as it is appended to + Bacon's volumes, but is no longer mentioned. His works are such as a + writer, bustling in the world, showing himself in public, and emerging + occasionally from time to time into notice, might keep alive by his + personal influence; but which, conveying little information, and giving no + great pleasure, must soon give way, as the succession of things produces + new topics of conversation and other modes of amusement. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AKENSIDE. + </h2> + <p> + Mark Akenside was born on the 9th of November, 1721, at + Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His father Mark was a butcher, of the Presbyterian + sect; his mother's name was Mary Lumsden. He received the first part of + his education at the grammar-school of Newcastle; and was afterwards + instructed by Mr. Wilson, who kept a private academy. At the age of + eighteen he was sent to Edinburgh that he might qualify himself for the + office of a dissenting minister, and received some assistance from the + fund which the dissenters employ in educating young men of scanty fortune. + But a wider view of the world opened other scenes, and prompted other + hopes: he determined to study physic, and repaid that contribution, which + being received for a different purpose, he justly thought it dishonourable + to retain. Whether, when he resolved not to be a dissenting minister, he + ceased to be a dissenter, I know not. He certainly retained an unnecessary + and outrageous zeal for what he called and thought liberty; a zeal which + sometimes disguises from the world, and not rarely from the mind which it + possesses, an envious desire of plundering wealth or degrading greatness; + and of which the immediate tendency is innovation and anarchy, an + impetuous eagerness to subvert and confound, with very little care what + shall be established. + </p> + <p> + Akenside was one of those poets who have felt very early the motions of + genius, and one of those students who have very early stored their + memories with sentiments and images. Many of his performances were + produced in his youth; and his greatest work, "The Pleasures of + Imagination," appeared in 1744. I have heard Dodsley, by whom it was + published, relate that when the copy was offered him, the price demanded + for it, which was a hundred and twenty pounds, being such as he was not + inclined to give precipitately, he carried the work to Pope, who, having + looked into it, advised him not to make a niggardly offer; for "this was + no every-day writer." + </p> + <p> + In 1741 he went to Leyden in pursuit of medical knowledge; and three years + afterwards (May 16, 1744) became Doctor of Physic, having, according to + the custom of the Dutch Universities, published a thesis or dissertation. + The subject which he chose was "The Original and Growth of the Human + Foetus;" in which he is said to have departed, with great judgment, from + the opinion then established, and to have delivered that which has been + since confirmed and received. + </p> + <p> + Akenside was a young man, warm with every notion that by nature or + accident had been connected with the sound of liberty, and, by an + eccentricity which such dispositions do not easily avoid, a lover of + contradiction, and no friend to anything established. He adopted + Shaftesbury's foolish assertion of the efficacy of ridicule for the + discovery of truth. For this he was attacked by Warburton, and defended by + Dyson; Warburton afterwards reprinted his remarks at the end of his + dedication to the Freethinkers. The result of all the arguments which have + been produced in a long and eager discussion of this idle question may + easily be collected. If ridicule be applied to any position as the test of + truth it will then become a question whether such ridicule be just; and + this can only be decided by the application of truth, as the test of + ridicule. Two men fearing, one a real, and the other a fancied danger, + will be for a while equally exposed to the inevitable consequences of + cowardice, contemptuous censure, and ludicrous representation; and the + true state of both cases must be known before it can be decided whose + terror is rational and whose is ridiculous; who is to be pitied, and who + to be despised. Both are for a while equally exposed to laughter, but both + are not therefore equally contemptible. In the revisal of his poem, though + he died before he had finished it, he omitted the lines which had given + occasion to Warburton's objections. He published, soon after his return + from Leyden (1745), his first collection of odes; and was impelled by his + rage of patriotism to write a very acrimonious epistle to Pulteney, whom + he stigmatises, under the name of Curio, as the betrayer of his country. + Being now to live by his profession, he first commenced physician at + Northampton, where Dr. Stonehouse then practised, with such reputation and + success, that a stranger was not likely to gain ground upon him. Akenside + tried the contest a while; and, having deafened the place with clamours + for liberty, removed to Hampstead, where he resided more than two years, + and then fixed himself in London, the proper place for a man of + accomplishments like his. At London he was known as a poet, but was still + to make his way as a physician; and would perhaps have been reduced to + great exigencies but that Mr. Dyson, with an ardour of friendship that has + not many examples, allowed him three hundred pounds a year. Thus + supported, he advanced gradually in medical reputation, but never attained + any great extent of practice or eminence of popularity. A physician in a + great city seems to be the mere plaything of fortune; his degree of + reputation is, for the most part, totally casual—they that employ + him know not his excellence; they that reject him know not his deficience. + By any acute observer who had looked on the transactions of the medical + world for half a century a very curious book might be written on the + "Fortune of Physicians." + </p> + <p> + Akenside appears not to have been wanting to his own success: he placed + himself in view by all the common methods; he became a Fellow of the Royal + Society; he obtained a degree at Cambridge; and was admitted into the + College of Physicians; he wrote little poetry, but published from time to + time medical essays and observations; he became physician to St. Thomas's + Hospital; he read the Gulstonian Lectures in Anatomy; but began to give, + for the Croonian Lecture, a history of the revival of learning, from which + he soon desisted; and in conversation he very eagerly forced himself into + notice by an ambitious ostentation of elegance and literature. His + "Discourse on the Dysentery" (1764) was considered as a very conspicuous + specimen of Latinity, which entitled him to the same height of place among + the scholars as he possessed before among the wits; and he might perhaps + have risen to a greater elevation of character but that his studies were + ended with his life by a putrid fever June 23, 1770, in the forty-ninth + year of his age. + </p> + <p> + Akenside is to be considered as a didactic and lyric poet. His great work + is the "Pleasures of Imagination," a performance which, published as it + was at the age of twenty-three, raised expectations that were not amply + satisfied. It has undoubtedly a just claim to very particular notice as an + example of great felicity of genius, and uncommon aptitude of + acquisitions, of a young mind stored with images, and much exercised in + combining and comparing them. With the philosophical or religious tenets + of the author I have nothing to do; my business is with his poetry. The + subject is well chosen, as it includes all images that can strike or + please, and thus comprises every species of poetical delight. The only + difficulty is in the choice of examples and illustrations; and it is not + easy in such exuberance of matter to find the middle point between penury + and satiety. The parts seem artificially disposed, with sufficient + coherence, so as that they cannot change their places without injury to + the general design. His images are displayed with such luxuriance of + expression that they are hidden, like Butler's Moon, by a "Veil of Light;" + they are forms fantastically lost under superfluity of dress. Pars minima + est ipsa puella sui. The words are multiplied till the sense is hardly + perceived; attention deserts the mind, and settles in the ear. The reader + wanders through the gay diffusion, sometimes amazed, and sometimes + delighted; but, after many turnings in the flowery labyrinth, comes out as + he went in. He remarked little, and laid hold on nothing. To his + versification justice requires that praise should not be denied. In the + general fabrication of his lines he is perhaps superior to any other + writer of blank verse; his flow is smooth, and his pauses are musical; but + the concatenation of his verses is commonly too long continued, and the + full close does not occur with sufficient frequency. The sense is carried + on through a long intertexture of complicated clauses, and, as nothing is + distinguished, nothing is remembered. + </p> + <p> + The exemption which blank verse affords from the necessity of closing the + sense with the couplet betrays luxuriant and active minds into such + self-indulgence that they pile image upon image, ornament upon ornament, + and are not easily persuaded to close the sense at all. Blank verse will + therefore, I fear, be too often found in description exuberant, in + argument loquacious, and in narration tiresome. His diction is certainly + poetical, as it is not prosaic; and elegant, as it is not vulgar. He is to + be commended as having fewer artifices of disgust than most of his + brethren of the blank song. He rarely either recalls old phrases, or + twists his metre into harsh inversions. The sense, however, of his words + is strained when "he views the Ganges from Alpine heights"—that is, + from mountains like the Alps. And the pedant surely intrudes (but when was + blank verse without pedantry?) when he tells how "Planets ABSOLVE the + stated round of Time." + </p> + <p> + It is generally known to the readers of poetry that he intended to revise + and augment this work, but died before he had completed his design. The + reformed work as he left it, and the additions which he had made, are very + properly retained in the late collection. He seems to have somewhat + contracted his diffusion; but I know not whether he has gained in + closeness what he has lost in splendour. In the additional book the "Tale + of Solon" is too long. One great defect of this poem is very properly + censured by Mr. Walker, unless it may be said in his defence that what he + has omitted was not properly in his plan. "His picture of man is grand and + beautiful, but unfinished. The immortality of the soul, which is the + natural consequence of the appetites and powers she is invested with, is + scarcely once hinted throughout the poem. This deficiency is amply + supplied by the masterly pencil of Dr. Young, who, like a good + philosopher, has invincibly proved the immortality of man from the + grandeur of his conceptions and the meanness and misery of his state; for + this reason a few passages are selected from the 'Night Thoughts,' which, + with those from Akenside, seem to form a complete view of the powers, + situation, and end of man."—"Exercises for Improvement in + Elocution," p. 66. + </p> + <p> + His other poems are now to be considered; but a short consideration will + despatch them. It is not easy to guess why he addicted himself so + diligently to lyric poetry, having neither the ease and airiness of the + lighter, nor the vehemence and elevation of the grander ode. When he lays + his ill-fated hand upon his harp his former powers seem to desert him; he + has no longer his luxuriance of expression or variety of images. His + thoughts are cold, and his words inelegant. Yet such was his love of + lyrics that, having written with great vigour and poignancy his "Epistle + to Curio," he transformed it afterwards into an ode disgraceful only to + its author. + </p> + <p> + Of his odes nothing favourable can be said; the sentiments commonly want + force, nature, or novelty; the diction is sometimes harsh and uncouth, the + stanzas ill-constructed and unpleasant, and the rhymes dissonant or + unskilfully disposed, too distant from each other, or arranged with too + little regard to established use, and therefore perplexing to the ear, + which in a short composition has not time to grow familiar with an + innovation. To examine such compositions singly cannot be required; they + have doubtless brighter and darker parts; but, when they are once found to + be generally dull, all further labour may be spared, for to what use can + the work be criticised that will not be read? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GRAY. + </h2> + <p> + Thomas Gray, the son of Mr. Philip Gray, a scrivener of London, was born + in Cornhill, November 26, 1716. His grammatical education he received at + Eton, under the care of Mr. Antrobus, his mother's brother, then assistant + to Dr. George, and when he left school, in 1734, entered a pensioner at + Peterhouse, in Cambridge. The transition from the school to the college + is, to most young scholars, the time from which they date their years of + manhood, liberty, and happiness; but Gray seems to have been very little + delighted with academical gratifications; he liked at Cambridge neither + the mode of life nor the fashion of study, and lived sullenly on to the + time when his attendance on lectures was no longer required. As he + intended to profess the common law, he took no degree. When he had been at + Cambridge about five years, Mr. Horace Walpole, whose friendship he had + gained at Eton, invited him to travel with him as his companion. They + wandered through France into Italy; and Gray's "Letters" contain a very + pleasing account of many parts of their journey. But unequal friendships + are easily dissolved; at Florence they quarrelled and parted; and Mr. + Walpole is now content to have it told that it was by his fault. If we + look, however, without prejudice on the world, we shall find that men + whose consciousness of their own merit sets them above the compliances of + servility are apt enough in their association with superiors to watch + their own dignity with troublesome and punctilious jealousy, and in the + fervour of independence to exact that attention which they refuse to pay. + Part they did, whatever was the quarrel; and the rest of their travels was + doubtless more unpleasant to them both. Gray continued his journey in a + manner suitable to his own little fortune, with only an occasional + servant. He returned to England in September, 1741, and in about two + months afterwards buried his father, who had, by an injudicious waste of + money upon a new house, so much lessened his fortune that Gray thought + himself too poor to study the law. He therefore retired to Cambridge, + where he soon after became Bachelor of Civil Law, and where, without + liking the place or its inhabitants, or professing to like them, he + passed, except a short residence at London, the rest of his life. About + this time he was deprived of Mr. West, the son of a chancellor of Ireland, + a friend on whom he appears to have set a high value, and who deserved his + esteem by the powers which he shows in his "Letters" and in the "Ode to + May," which Mr. Mason has preserved, as well as by the sincerity with + which, when Gray sent him part of Agrippina, a tragedy that he had just + begun, he gave an opinion which probably intercepted the progress of the + work, and which the judgment of every reader will confirm. It was + certainly no loss to the English stage that Agrippina was never finished. + In this year (1742) Gray seems to have applied himself seriously to + poetry; for in this year were produced the "Ode to Spring," his "Prospect + of Eton," and his "Ode to Adversity." He began likewise a Latin poem, "De + Principiis Cogitandi." + </p> + <p> + It may be collected from the narrative of Mr. Mason that his first + ambition was to have excelled in Latin poetry; perhaps it were reasonable + to wish that he had prosecuted his design; for though there is at present + some embarrassment in his phrase, and some harshness in his lyric numbers, + his copiousness of language is such as very few possess; and his lines, + even when imperfect, discover a writer whom practice would have made + skilful. He now lived on at Peterhouse, very little solicitous what others + did or thought, and cultivated his mind and enlarged his views without any + other purpose than of improving and amusing himself, when Mr. Mason, being + elected Fellow of Pembroke Hall, brought him a companion who was + afterwards to be his editor, and whose fondness and fidelity has kindled + in him a zeal of admiration which cannot be reasonably expected from the + neutrality of a stranger and the coldness of a critic. In this retirement + he wrote (1747) an ode on the "Death of Mr. Walpole's Cat;" and the year + afterwards attempted a poem of more importance, on "Government and + Education," of which the fragments which remain have many excellent lines. + His next production (1750) was his far-famed "Elegy in the Churchyard," + which, finding its way into a magazine, first, I believe, made him known + to the public. + </p> + <p> + An invitation from Lady Cobham about this time gave occasion to an odd + composition called "A Long Story," which adds little to Gray's character. + Several of his pieces were published (1753) with designs by Mr. Bentley; + and, that they might in some form or other make a book, only one side of + each leaf was printed. I believe the poems and the plates recommended each + other so well that the whole impression was soon bought. This year he lost + his mother. Some time afterwards (1756) some young men of the college, + whose chambers were near his, diverted themselves with disturbing him by + frequent and troublesome noises, and, as is said, by pranks yet more + offensive and contemptuous. This insolence, having endured it awhile, he + represented to the governors of the society, among whom perhaps he had no + friends; and finding his complaint little regarded, removed himself to + Pembroke Hall. + </p> + <p> + In 1759 he published "The Progress of Poetry" and "The Bard," two + compositions at which the readers of poetry were at first content to gaze + in mute amazement. Some that tried them confessed their inability to + understand them, though Warburton said that they were understood as well + as the works of Milton and Shakespeare, which it is the fashion to admire. + Garrick wrote a few lines in their praise. Some hardy champions undertook + to rescue them from neglect; and in a short time many were content to be + shown beauties which they could not see. + </p> + <p> + Gray's reputation was now so high that, after the death of Cibber, he had + the honour of refusing the laurel, which was then bestowed on Mr. + Whitehead. His curiosity, not long after, drew him away from Cambridge to + a lodging near the Museum, where he resided near three years, reading and + transcribing, and, so far as can be discovered, very little affected by + two odes on "Oblivion" and "Obscurity," in which his lyric performances + were ridiculed with much contempt and much ingenuity. When the Professor + of Modern History at Cambridge died, he was, as he says, "cockered and + spirited up," till he asked it of Lord Bute, who sent him a civil refusal; + and the place was given to Mr. Brocket, the tutor of Sir James Lowther. + His constitution was weak, and, believing that his health was promoted by + exercise and change of place, he undertook (1765) a journey into Scotland, + of which his account, so far as it extends, is very curious and elegant; + for, as his comprehension was ample, his curiosity extended to all the + works of art, all the appearances of nature, and all the monuments of past + events. He naturally contracted a friendship with Dr. Beattie, whom he + found a poet, a philosopher, and a good man. The Mareschal College at + Aberdeen offered him a degree of Doctor of Laws, which, having omitted to + take it at Cambridge, he thought it decent to refuse. What he had formerly + solicited in vain was at last given him without solicitation. The + Professorship of History became again vacant, and he received (1768) an + offer of it from the Duke of Grafton. He accepted, and retained, it to his + death; always designing lectures, but never reading them; uneasy at his + neglect of duty, and appeasing his uneasiness with designs of reformation, + and with a resolution which he believed himself to have made of resigning + the office if he found himself unable to discharge it. Ill-health made + another journey necessary, and he visited (1769) Westmoreland and + Cumberland. He that reads his epistolary narration wishes that, to travel, + and to tell his travels, had been more of his employment; but it is by + studying at home that we must obtain the ability of travelling with + intelligence and improvement. His travels and his studies were now near + their end. The gout, of which he had sustained many weak attacks, fell + upon his stomach, and, yielding to no medicines, produced strong + convulsions, which (July 30, 1771) terminated in death. His character I am + willing to adopt, as Mr. Mason has done, from a letter written to my + friend Mr. Boswell by the Rev. Mr. Temple, rector of St. Gluvias in + Cornwall; and am as willing as his warmest well-wisher to believe it true:— + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he was the most learned man in Europe. He was equally acquainted + with the elegant and profound parts of science, and that not + superficially, but thoroughly. He knew every branch of history, both + natural and civil; had read all the original historians of England, + France, and Italy; and was a great antiquarian. Criticism, metaphysics, + morals, politics, made a principal part of his study; voyages and travels + of all sorts were his favourite amusements; and he had a fine taste in + painting, prints, architecture, and gardening. With such a fund of + knowledge, his conversation must have been equally instructing and + entertaining; but he was also a good man, a man of virtue and humanity. + There is no character without some speck, some imperfection; and I think + the greatest defect in his was an affectation in delicacy, or rather + effeminacy, and a visible fastidiousness, or contempt and disdain of his + inferiors in science. He also had, in some degree, that weakness which + disgusted Voltaire so much in Mr. Congreve: though he seemed to value + others chiefly according to the progress they had made in knowledge, yet + he could not bear to be considered merely as a man of letters; and, though + without birth or fortune or station, his desire was to be looked upon as a + private independent gentleman, who read for his amusement. Perhaps it may + be said, What signifies so much knowledge, when it produced so little? Is + it worth taking so much pains to leave no memorial but a few poems? But + let it be considered that Mr. Gray was to others at least innocently + employed; to himself certainly beneficially. His time passed agreeably; he + was every day making some new acquisition in science; his mind was + enlarged, his heart softened, his virtue strengthened; the world and + mankind were shown to him without a mask; and he was taught to consider + everything as trifling and unworthy of the attention of a wise man except + the pursuit of knowledge and practice of virtue in that state wherein God + hath placed us." + </p> + <p> + To this character Mr. Mason has added a more particular account of Gray's + skill in zoology. He has remarked that Gray's effeminacy was affected most + "before those whom he did not wish to please;" and that he is unjustly + charged with making knowledge his sole reason of preference, as he paid + his esteem to none whom he did not likewise believe to be good. + </p> + <p> + What has occurred to me from the slight inspection of his letters in which + my undertaking has engaged me is, that his mind had a large grasp; that + his curiosity was unlimited, and his judgment cultivated; that he was a + man likely to love much where he loved at all; but that he was fastidious + and hard to please. His contempt, however, is often employed, where I hope + it will be approved, upon scepticism and infidelity. His short account of + Shaftesbury (author of the "Characteristics") I will insert:— + </p> + <p> + "You say you cannot conceive how Lord Shaftesbury came to be a philosopher + in vogue; I will tell you: first, he was a lord; secondly, he was as vain + as any of his readers; thirdly, men are very prone to believe what they do + not understand; fourthly, they will believe anything at all, provided they + are under no obligation to believe it; fifthly, they love to take a new + road, even when that road leads nowhere; sixthly, he was reckoned a fine + writer, and seems always to mean more than he said. Would you have any + more reasons? An interval of about forty years has pretty well destroyed + the charm. A dead lord ranks with commoners; vanity is no longer + interested in the matter, for a new road has become an old one." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Mason has added, from his own knowledge, that though Gray was poor he + was not eager of money, and that out of the little that he had he was very + willing to help the necessitous. As a writer, he had this peculiarity—that + he did not write his pieces first rudely, and then correct them, but + laboured every line as it arose in the train of composition; and he had a + notion, not very peculiar, that he could not write but at certain times, + or at happy moments—a fantastic foppery to which my kindness for a + man of learning and virtue wishes him to have been superior. + </p> + <p> + Gray's poetry is now to be considered; and I hope not to be looked on as + an enemy to his name if I confess that I contemplate it with less pleasure + than his Life. His ode "On Spring" has something poetical, both in the + language and the thought; but the language is too luxuriant, and the + thoughts have nothing new. There has of late arisen a practice of giving + to adjectives derived from substantives the termination of participles; + such as the CULTURED plain, the DAISIED bank; but I was sorry to see, in + the lines of a scholar like Gray, the HONIED Spring. The morality is + natural, but too stale; the conclusion is pretty. + </p> + <p> + The poem "On the Cat" was doubtless by its author considered as a trifle, + but it is not a happy trifle. In the first stanza, "the azure flowers THAT + blow" show resolutely a rhyme is sometimes made when it cannot easily be + found. Selima, the cat, is called a nymph, with some violence both to + language and sense; but there is no good use made of it when it is done; + for of the two lines + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "What female heart can gold despise? + What cat's averse to fish?" +</pre> + <p> + the first relates merely to the nymph, and the second only to the cat. The + sixth stanza contains a melancholy truth, that "a favourite has no + friend;" but the last ends in a pointed sentence of no relation to the + purpose. If WHAT GLISTERED had been GOLD, the cat would not have gone into + the water; and if she had, would not less have been drowned. + </p> + <p> + "The Prospect of Eton College" suggests nothing to Gray which every + beholder does not equally think and feel. His supplication to Father + Thames to tell him who drives the hoop or tosses the ball is useless and + puerile. Father Thames has no better means of knowing than himself. His + epithet "buxom health" is not elegant; he seems not to understand the + word. Gray thought his language more poetical as it was more remote from + common use. Finding in Dryden "honey redolent of spring," an expression + that reaches the utmost limits of our language, Gray drove it a little + more beyond common apprehension by making "gales" to be "redolent of joy + and youth." + </p> + <p> + Of the "Ode on Adversity," the hint was at first taken from "O Diva, + gratum quae regis Antium;" but Gray has excelled his original by the + variety of his sentiments, and by their moral application. Of this piece, + at once poetical and rational, I will not by slight objections violate the + dignity. + </p> + <p> + My process has now brought me to the WONDERFUL "Wonder of Wonders," the + two Sister Odes, by which, though either vulgar ignorance or common sense + at first universally rejected them, many have been since persuaded to + think themselves delighted. I am one of those that are willing to be + pleased, and therefore would gladly find the meaning of the first stanza + of the "Progress of Poetry." Gray seems in his rapture to confound the + images of spreading sound and running water. A "stream of music" may be + allowed; but where does "music," however "smooth and strong," after having + visited the "verdant vales, roll down the steep amain," so as that "rocks + and nodding groves rebellow to the roar"? If this be said of music, it is + nonsense; if it be said of water, it is nothing to the purpose. The second + stanza, exhibiting Mars' car and Jove's eagle, is unworthy of further + notice. Criticism disdains to chase a schoolboy to his common-places. To + the third it may likewise be objected that it is drawn from mythology, + though such as may be more easily assimilated to real life. Idalia's + "velvet green" has something of cant. An epithet or metaphor drawn from + Nature ennobles Art; an epithet or metaphor drawn from Art degrades + Nature. Gray is too fond of words arbitrarily compounded. "Many-twinkling" + was formerly censured as not analogical; we may say "many-spotted," but + scarcely "many-spotting." This stanza, however, has something pleasing. Of + the second ternary of stanzas, the first endeavours to tell something, and + would have told it, had it not been crossed by Hyperion; the second + describes well enough the universal prevalence of poetry; but I am afraid + that the conclusion will not rise from the premises. The caverns of the + North and the plains of Chili are not the residences of "glory and + generous shame." But that poetry and virtue go always together is an + opinion so pleasing that I can forgive him who resolves to think it true. + The third stanza sounds big with "Delphi," and "AEgean," and "Ilissus," + and "Meander," and "hallowed fountains," and "solemn sound;" but in all + Gray's odes there is a kind of cumbrous splendour which we wish away. His + position is at last false. In the time of Dante and Petrarch, from whom we + derive our first school of poetry, Italy was overrun by "tyrant power" and + "coward vice;" nor was our state much better when we first borrowed the + Italian arts. Of the third ternary, the first gives a mythological birth + of Shakespeare. What is said of that mighty genius is true, but it is not + said happily; the real effects of this poetical power are put out of sight + by the pomp of machinery. Where truth is sufficient to fill the mind, + fiction is worse than useless; the counterfeit debases the genuine. His + account of Milton's blindness, if we suppose it caused by study in the + formation of his poem (a supposition surely allowable), is poetically + true, and happily imagined. But the CAR of Dryden, with his TWO COURSERS, + has nothing in it peculiar; it is a car in which any other rider may be + placed. + </p> + <p> + "The Bard" appears, at the first view, to be, as Algarotti and others have + remarked, an imitation of the prophecy of Nereus. Algarotti thinks it + superior to its original; and, if preference depends only on the imagery + and animation of the two poems, his judgment is right. There is in "The + Bard" more force, more thought, and more variety. But to copy is less than + to invent, and the copy has been unhappily produced at a wrong time. The + fiction of Horace was to the Romans credible; but its revival disgusts us + with apparent and unconquerable falsehood. INCREDULUS ODI. To select a + singular event, and swell it to a giant's bulk by fabulous appendages of + spectres and predictions, has little difficulty; for he that forsakes the + probable may always find the marvellous. And it has little use; we are + affected only as we believe; we are improved only as we find something to + be imitated or declined. I do not see that "The Bard" promotes any truth, + moral or political. His stanzas are too long, especially his epodes; the + ode is finished before the ear has learned its measures, and consequently + before it can receive pleasure from their consonance and recurrence. Of + the first stanza the abrupt beginning has been celebrated; but technical + beauties can give praise only to the inventor. It is in the power of any + man to rush abruptly upon his subject that has read the ballad of "Johnny + Armstrong," + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Is there ever a man in all Scotland—?" +</pre> + <p> + The initial resemblances or alliterations, "ruin, ruthless," "helm or + hauberk," are below the grandeur of a poem that endeavours at sublimity. + In the second stanza the Bard is well described, but in the third we have + the puerilities of obsolete mythology. When we are told that "Cadwallo + hushed the stormy main," and that "Modred made huge Plinlimmon bow his + cloud-topped head," attention recoils from the repetition of a tale that, + even when it was first heard, was heard with scorn. The WEAVING of the + WINDING-SHEET he borrowed, as he owns, from the Northern Bards, but their + texture, however, was very properly the work of female powers, as the act + of spinning the thread of life in another mythology. Theft is always + dangerous; Gray has made weavers of slaughtered bards by a fiction + outrageous and incongruous. They are then called upon to "Weave the warp + and weave the woof," perhaps with no great propriety, for it is by + crossing the WOOF with the WARP that men weave the WEB or piece, and the + first line was dearly bought by the admission of its wretched + correspondent, "Give ample room and verge enough." He has, however, no + other line as bad. The third stanza of the second ternary is commended, I + think, beyond its merit. The personification is indistinct. THIRST and + HUNGER are not alike, and their features, to make the imagery perfect, + should have been discriminated. We are told in the same stanza how "towers + are fed." But I will no longer look for particular faults; yet let it be + observed that the ode might have been concluded with an action of better + example, but suicide is always to be had without expense of thought. + </p> + <p> + These odes are marked by glittering accumulations of ungraceful ornaments, + they strike rather than please; the images are magnified by affectation; + the language is laboured into harshness. The mind of the writer seems to + work with unnatural violence. "Double, double, toil and trouble." He has a + kind of strutting dignity, and is tall by walking on tiptoe. His art and + his struggle are too visible, and there is too little appearance of ease + and nature. To say that he has no beauties would be unjust; a man like + him, of great learning and great industry, could not but produce something + valuable. When he pleases least, it can only be said that a good design + was ill directed. His translations of Northern and Welsh poetry deserve + praise; the imagery is preserved, perhaps often improved, but the language + is unlike the language of other poets. In the character of his Elegy I + rejoice to concur with the common reader, for by the common sense of + readers uncorrupted with literary prejudices, after all the refinements of + subtlety and the dogmatism of learning, must be finally decided all claim + to poetical honours. The "Churchyard" abounds with images which find a + mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an + echo. The four stanzas, beginning "Yet even these bones," are to me + original; I have never seen the notions in any other place, yet he that + reads them here persuades himself that he has always felt them. Had Gray + written often thus, it had been vain to blame and useless to praise him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LYTTELTON. + </h2> + <p> + George Lyttelton, the son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley, in + Worcestershire, was born in 1709. He was educated at Eton, where he was so + much distinguished that his exercises were recommended as models to his + schoolfellows. From Eton he went to Christchurch, where he retained the + same reputation of superiority, and displayed his abilities to the public + in a poem on "Blenheim." He was a very early writer both in verse and + prose. His "Progress of Love" and his "Persian Letters" were both written + when he was very young, and, indeed, the character of a young man is very + visible in both. The verses cant of shepherds and flocks, and crooks + dressed with flowers; and the letters have something of that indistinct + and headstrong ardour for liberty which a man of genius always catches + when he enters the world, and always suffers to cool as he passes forward. + He stayed not long in Oxford, for in 1728 he began his travels, and saw + France and Italy. When he returned he obtained a seat in Parliament, and + soon distinguished himself among the most eager opponents of Sir Robert + Walpole, though his father, who was Commissioner of the Admiralty, always + voted with the Court. For many years the name of George Lyttelton was seen + in every account of every debate in the House of Commons. He opposed the + standing army; he opposed the excise; he supported the motion for + petitioning the king to remove Walpole. His zeal was considered by the + courtiers not only as violent but as acrimonious and malignant, and when + Walpole was at last hunted from his places, every effort was made by his + friends, and many friends he had, to exclude Lyttelton from the secret + committee. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Wales, being (1737) driven from St. James's, kept a separate + court, and opened his arms to the opponents of the Ministry. Mr. Lyttelton + became his Secretary, and was supposed to have great influence in the + direction of his conduct. He persuaded his master, whose business it was + now to be popular, that he would advance his character by patronage. + Mallet was made Under Secretary, with 200 pounds, and Thomson had a + pension of 100 pounds a year. For Thomson, Lyttelton always retained his + kindness, and was able at last to place him at ease. Moore courted his + favour by an apologetical poem called the "Trial of Selim," for which he + was paid with kind words, which, as is common, raised great hopes, that + were at last disappointed. + </p> + <p> + Lyttelton now stood in the first rank of Opposition, and Pope, who was + incited, it is not easy to say how, to increase the clamour against the + Ministry, commended him among the other patriots. This drew upon him the + reproaches of Fox, who in the House imputed to him as a crime his intimacy + with a lampooner so unjust and licentious. Lyttelton supported his friend; + and replied that he thought it an honour to be received into the + familiarity of so great a poet. While he was thus conspicuous he married + (1741) Miss Lucy Fortescue, of Devonshire, by whom he had a son, the late + Lord Lyttelton, and two daughters, and with whom he appears to have lived + in the highest degree of connubial felicity; but human pleasures are + short; she died in childbed about five years afterwards, and he solaced + his grief by writing a long poem to her memory. He did not, however, + condemn himself to perpetual solitude and sorrow, for after a while he was + content to seek happiness again by a second marriage with the daughter of + Sir Robert Rich, but the experiment was unsuccessful. At length, after a + long struggle, Walpole gave way, and honour and profit were distributed + among his conquerors. Lyttelton was made (1744) one of the Lords of the + Treasury, and from that time was engaged in supporting the schemes of the + Ministry. + </p> + <p> + Politics did not, however, so much engage him as to withhold his thoughts + from things of more importance. He had, in the pride of juvenile + confidence, with the help of corrupt conversation, entertained doubts of + the truth of Christianity; but he thought the time now come when it was no + longer fit to doubt or believe by chance, and applied himself seriously to + the great question. His studies, being honest, ended in conviction. He + found that religion was true, and what he had learned he endeavoured to + teach (1747) by "Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul," a treatise + to which infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious answer. + This book his father had the happiness of seeing, and expressed his + pleasure in a letter which deserves to be inserted:— + </p> + <p> + "I have read your religious treatise with infinite pleasure and + satisfaction. The style is fine and clear, the arguments close, cogent, + and irresistible. May the King of Kings, whose glorious cause you have so + well defended, reward your pious labours, and grant that I may be found + worthy, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to be an eye-witness of that + happiness which I don't doubt he will bountifully bestow upon you. In the + meantime I shall never cease glorifying God for having endowed you with + such useful talents, and giving me so good a son. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate father, + "THOMAS LYTTELTON." +</pre> + <p> + A few years afterwards (1751), by the death of his father, he inherited a + baronet's title, with a large estate, which, though perhaps he did not + augment, he was careful to adorn by a house of great elegance and expense, + and by much attention to the decoration of his park. As he continued his + activity in Parliament, he was gradually advancing his claim to profit and + preferment; and accordingly was made in time (1754) Cofferer and Privy + Councillor: this place he exchanged next year for the great office of + Chancellor of the Exchequer—an office, however, that required some + qualifications which he soon perceived himself to want. The year after, + his curiosity led him into Wales; of which he has given an account, + perhaps rather with too much affectation of delight, to Archibald Bower, a + man of whom he has conceived an opinion more favourable than he seems to + have deserved, and whom, having once espoused his interest and fame he was + never persuaded to disown. Bower, whatever was his moral character, did + not want abilities. Attacked as he was by a universal outcry, and that + outcry, as it seems, the echo of truth, he kept his ground; at last, when + his defences began to fail him, he sallied out upon his adversaries, and + his adversaries retreated. + </p> + <p> + About this time Lyttelton published his "Dialogues of the Dead," which + were very eagerly read, though the production rather, as it seems, of + leisure than of study—rather effusions than compositions. The names + of his persons too often enable the reader to anticipate their + conversation; and when they have met, they too often part without any + conclusion. He has copied Fenelon more than Fontenelle. When they were + first published they were kindly commended by the "Critical Reviewers;" + and poor Lyttelton, with humble gratitude, returned, in a note which I + have read, acknowledgments which can never be proper, since they must be + paid either for flattery or for justice. + </p> + <p> + When, in the latter part of the last reign, the inauspicious commencement + of the war made the dissolution of the Ministry unavoidable, Sir George + Lyttelton, losing with the rest his employment, was recompensed with a + peerage; and rested from political turbulence in the House of Lords. + </p> + <p> + His last literary production was his "History of Henry the Second," + elaborated by the searches and deliberations of twenty years, and + published with such anxiety as only vanity can dictate. The story of this + publication is remarkable. The whole work was printed twice over, a great + part of it three times, and many sheets four or five times. The + booksellers paid for the first impression; but the changes and repeated + operations of the press were at the expense of the author, whose ambitious + accuracy is known to have cost him at least a thousand pounds. He began to + print in 1755. Three volumes appeared in 1764, a second edition of them in + 1767, a third edition in 1768, and the conclusion in 1771. + </p> + <p> + Andrew Reid, a man not without considerable abilities and not unacquainted + with letters or with life, undertook to persuade Lyttelton, as he had + persuaded himself, that he was master of the secret of punctuation; and, + as fear begets credulity, he was employed, I know not at what price, to + point the pages of "Henry the Second." The book was at last pointed and + printed, and sent into the world. Lyttelton took money for his copy, of + which, when he had paid the pointer, he probably gave the rest away; for + he was very liberal to the indigent. When time brought the History to a + third edition, Reid was either dead or discarded; and the superintendence + of typography and punctuation was committed to a man originally a + comb-maker, but then known by the style of Doctor. Something uncommon was + probably expected, and something uncommon was at last done; for to the + Doctor's edition is appended, what the world had hardly seen before, a + list of errors in nineteen pages. + </p> + <p> + But to politics and literature there must be an end. Lord Lyttelton had + never the appearance of a strong or of a healthy man; he had a slender, + uncompacted frame, and a meagre face; he lasted, however, sixty years, and + was then seized with his last illness. Of his death a very affecting and + instructive account has been given by his physician, which will spare me + the task of his moral character:— + </p> + <p> + "On Sunday evening the symptoms of his lordship's disorder, which for a + week past had alarmed us, put on a fatal appearance, and his lordship + believed himself to be a dying man. From this time he suffered from + restlessness rather than pain; though his nerves were apparently much + fluttered, his mental faculties never seemed stronger, when he was + thoroughly awake. His lordship's bilious and hepatic complaints seemed + alone not equal to the expected mournful event; his long want of sleep, + whether the consequence of the irritation in the bowels, or, which is more + probable, of causes of a different kind, accounts for his loss of + strength, and for his death, very sufficiently. Though his lordship wished + his approaching dissolution not to be lingering, he waited for it with + resignation. He said, 'It is a folly, a keeping me in misery, now to + attempt to prolong life;' yet he was easily persuaded, for the + satisfaction of others, to do or take anything thought proper for him. On + Saturday he had been remarkably better, and we were not without some hopes + of his recovery. + </p> + <p> + "On Sunday, about eleven in the forenoon, his lordship sent for me, and + said he felt a great hurry, and wished to have a little conversation with + me, in order to divert it. He then proceeded to open the fountain of that + heart, from whence goodness had so long flowed, as from a copious spring. + 'Doctor,' said he, 'you shall be my confessor: when I first set out in the + world I had friends who endeavoured to shake my belief in the Christian + religion. I saw difficulties which staggered me, but I kept my mind open + to conviction. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity, studied with + attention, made me a most firm and persuaded believer of the Christian + religion. I have made it the rule of my life, and it is the ground of my + future hopes. I have erred and sinned; but have repented, and never + indulged any vicious habit. In politics and public life I have made public + good the rule of my conduct. I never gave counsels which I did not at the + time think the best. I have seen that I was sometimes in the wrong, but I + did not err designedly. I have endeavoured in private life to do all the + good in my power, and never for a moment could indulge malicious or unjust + designs upon any person whatsoever.' + </p> + <p> + "At another time he said, 'I must leave my soul in the same state it was + in before this illness; I find this a very inconvenient time for + solicitude about anything.' + </p> + <p> + "On the evening, when the symptoms of death came on, he said, 'I shall + die; but it will not be your fault.' When Lord and Lady Valentia came to + see his lordship, he gave them his solemn benediction, and said, 'Be good, + be virtuous, my lord; you must come to this.' Thus he continued giving his + dying benediction to all around him. On Monday morning a lucid interval + gave some small hopes, but these vanished in the evening; and he continued + dying, but with very little uneasiness, till Tuesday morning, August 22, + when, between seven and eight o'clock, he expired, almost without a + groan." + </p> + <p> + His lordship was buried at Hagley, and the following inscription is cut on + the side of his lady's monument:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "This unadorned stone was placed here by the particular + desire and express directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE LORD LYTTELTON, + who died August 22, 1773, aged 64." +</pre> + <p> + Lord Lyttelton's Poems are the works of a man of literature and judgment, + devoting part of his time to versification. They have nothing to be + despised, and little to be admired. Of his "Progress of Love," it is + sufficient blame to say that it is pastoral. His blank verse in "Blenheim" + has neither much force nor much elegance. His little performances, whether + songs or epigrams, are sometimes sprightly, and sometimes insipid. His + epistolary pieces have a smooth equability, which cannot much tire, + because they are short, but which seldom elevates or surprises. But from + this censure ought to be excepted his "Advice to Belinda," which, though + for the most part written when he was very young, contains much truth and + much prudence, very elegantly and vigorously expressed, and shows a mind + attentive to life, and a power of poetry which cultivation might have + raised to excellence. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, +Young, and Others, by Samuel Johnson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE POETS *** + +***** This file should be named 4678-h.htm or 4678-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/7/4678/ + +Produced by Les Bowler, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young, and Others + +Author: Samuel Johnson + +Commentator: Henry Morley + +Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4678] +Posting Date: January 8, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE POETS *** + + + + +Produced by Les Bowler + + + + + +LIVES OF THE POETS: GAY, THOMSON, YOUNG, and OTHERS + +By Samuel Johnson + + +Contents. + + Introduction by Henry Morley. + + William King. + Charles Montague, Earl of Halifax. + Dr. Thomas Parnell. + Samuel Garth. + Nicholas Rowe. + John Gay. + Thomas Tickell. + William Somervil[l]e. + James Thomson. + Dr. Isaac Watts. + Ambrose Philips. + Gilbert West. + William Collins. + John Dyer. + William Shenstone. + Edward Young. + David Mallet. + Mark Akenside. + Thomas Gray. + George Lyttelton. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This volume contains a record of twenty lives, of which only one--that +of Edward Young--is treated at length. It completes our edition of +Johnson's Lives of the Poets, from which a few only of the briefest and +least important have been omitted. + +The eldest of the Poets here discussed were Samuel Garth, Charles +Montague (Lord Halifax), and William King, who were born within the +years 1660-63. Next in age were Addison's friend Ambrose Philips, +and Nicholas Rowe the dramatist, who was also the first editor of +Shakespeare's plays after the four folios had appeared. Ambrose Philips +and Rowe were born in 1671 and 1673, and Isaac Watts in 1674. Thomas +Parnell, born in 1679, would follow next, nearly of like age with Young, +whose birth-year was 1681. Pope's friend John Gay was of Pope's age, +born in 1688, two years later than Addison's friend Thomas Tickell, who +was born in 1686. Next in the course of years came, in 1692, William +Somerville, the author of "The Chace." John Dyer, who wrote "Grongar +Hill," and James Thomson, who wrote the "Seasons," were both born in the +year 1700. They were two of three poets--Allan Ramsay, the third--who, +almost at the same time, wrote verse instinct with a fresh sense of +outward Nature which was hardly to be found in other writers of +that day. David Mallet, Thomson's college-friend and friend of +after-years--who shares with Thomson the curiosity of critics who would +decide which of them wrote "Rule Britannia"--was of Thomson's age. + +The other writers of whose lives Johnson here gives his note were men +born in the beginning of the eighteenth century: Gilbert West, the +translator of Pindar, in 1706; George Lyttelton, in 1709. William +Shenstone, whose sense of Nature, although true, was mixed with the +conventions of his time, and who once asked a noble friend to open a +waterfall in the garden upon which the poet spent his little patrimony, +was born in 1714; Thomas Gray, in 1716; William Collins, in 1720; and +Mark Akenside, in 1721. In Collins, while he lived with loss of reason, +Johnson, who had fears for himself, took pathetic interest. Akenside +could not interest him much. Akenside made his mark when young with "The +Pleasures of Imagination," a good poem, according to the fashion of the +time, when read with due consideration as a young man's first venture +for fame. He spent much of the rest of his life in overloading it with +valueless additions. The writer who begins well should let well alone, +and, instead of tinkering at bygone work, follow the course of his own +ripening thought. He should seek new ways of doing worthy service in the +years of labour left to him. + +H. M. + + + + +KING. + + +William King was born in London in 1663; the son of Ezekiel King, a +gentleman. He was allied to the family of Clarendon. + +From Westminster School, where he was a scholar on the foundation under +the care of Dr. Busby, he was at eighteen elected to Christ Church +in 1681; where he is said to have prosecuted his studies with so much +intenseness and activity, that before he was eight years' standing he +had read over, and made remarks upon, twenty-two thousand odd hundred +books and manuscripts. The books were certainly not very long, the +manuscripts not very difficult, nor the remarks very large; for the +calculator will find that he despatched seven a day for every day of +his eight years; with a remnant that more than satisfies most other +students. He took his degree in the most expensive manner, as a GRAND +COMPOUNDER; whence it is inferred that he inherited a considerable +fortune. + +In 1688, the same year in which he was made Master of Arts, he published +a confutation of Varillas's account of Wickliffe; and, engaging in the +study of the civil law, became Doctor in 1692, and was admitted advocate +at Doctors' Commons. + +He had already made some translations from the French, and written some +humorous and satirical pieces; when, in 1694, Molesworth published his +"Account of Denmark," in which he treats the Danes and their monarch +with great contempt; and takes the opportunity of insinuating those wild +principles by which he supposes liberty to be established, and by +which his adversaries suspect that all subordination and government is +endangered. + +This book offended Prince George; and the Danish Minister presented a +memorial against it. The principles of its author did not please Dr. +King; and therefore he undertook to confute part, and laugh at the rest. +The controversy is now forgotten: and books of this kind seldom live +long when interest and resentment have ceased. + +In 1697 he mingled in the controversy between Boyle and Bentley; and was +one of those who tried what wit could perform in opposition to learning, +on a question which learning only could decide. + +In 1699 was published by him "A Journey to London," after the method of +Dr. Martin Lister, who had published "A Journey to Paris." And in +1700 he satirised the Royal Society--at least, Sir Hans Sloane, their +president--in two dialogues, intituled "The Transactioner." + +Though he was a regular advocate in the courts of civil and canon law, +he did not love his profession, nor, indeed, any kind of business which +interrupted his voluptuary dreams or forced him to rouse from that +indulgence in which only he could find delight. His reputation as a +civilian was yet maintained by his judgments in the Courts of Delegates, +and raised very high by the address and knowledge which he discovered in +1700, when he defended the Earl of Anglesea against his lady, afterwards +Duchess of Buckinghamshire, who sued for a divorce and obtained it. + +The expense of his pleasures, and neglect of business, had now lessened +his revenues; and he was willing to accept of a settlement in Ireland, +where, about 1702, he was made Judge of the Admiralty, Commissioner +of the Prizes, Keeper of the Records in Birmingham's Tower, and +Vicar-General to Dr. Marsh, the primate. + +But it is vain to put wealth within the reach of him who will not +stretch out his hand to take it. King soon found a friend, as idle and +thoughtless as himself, in Upton, one of the judges, who had a pleasant +house called Mountown, near Dublin, to which King frequently retired; +delighting to neglect his interest, forget his cares, and desert his +duty. + +Here he wrote "Mully of Mountown," a poem; by which, though +fanciful readers in the pride of sagacity have given it a poetical +interpretation, was meant originally no more than it expressed, as it +was dictated only by the author's delight in the quiet of Mountown. + +In 1708, when Lord Wharton was sent to govern Ireland, King returned to +London, with his poverty, his idleness, and his wit; and published +some essays, called "Useful Transactions." His "Voyage to the Island of +Cajamai" is particularly commended. He then wrote the "Art of Love," a +poem remarkable, notwithstanding its title, for purity of sentiment; and +in 1709 imitated Horace in an "Art of Cookery," which he published with +some letters to Dr. Lister. + +In 1710 he appeared as a lover of the Church, on the side of +Sacheverell; and was supposed to have concurred at least in the +projection of the Examiner. His eyes were open to all the operations of +Whiggism; and he bestowed some strictures upon Dr. Kennet's adulatory +sermon at the funeral of the Duke of Devonshire. + +"The History of the Heathen Gods," a book composed for schools, was +written by him in 1711. The work is useful, but might have been produced +without the powers of King. The same year he published "Rufinus," an +historical essay; and a poem intended to dispose the nation to think as +he thought of the Duke of Marlborough and his adherents. + +In 1711, competence, if not plenty, was again put into his power. +He was, without the trouble of attendance or the mortification of a +request, made Gazetteer. Swift, Freind, Prior, and other men of the same +party, brought him the key of the Gazetteer's office. He was now again +placed in a profitable employment, and again threw the benefit away. +An Act of Insolvency made his business at that time particularly +troublesome; and he would not wait till hurry should be at an end, +but impatiently resigned it, and returned to his wonted indigence and +amusements. + +One of his amusements at Lambeth, where he resided, was to mortify +Dr. Tenison, the archbishop, by a public festivity on the surrender of +Dunkirk to Hill; an event with which Tenison's political bigotry did +not suffer him to be delighted. King was resolved to counteract his +sullenness, and at the expense of a few barrels of ale filled the +neighbourhood with honest merriment. + +In the autumn of 1712 his health declined; he grew weaker by degrees, +and died on Christmas Day. Though his life had not been without +irregularity, his principles were pure and orthodox, and his death was +pious. + +After this relation it will be naturally supposed that his poems +were rather the amusements of idleness than efforts of study; that he +endeavoured rather to divert than astonish; that his thoughts seldom +aspired to sublimity; and that, if his verse was easy and his images +familiar, he attained what he desired. His purpose is to be merry; but +perhaps, to enjoy his mirth, it may be sometimes necessary to think well +of his opinions. + + + + +HALIFAX. + + +The life of the Earl of Halifax was properly that of an artful and +active statesman, employed in balancing parties, contriving expedients, +and combating opposition, and exposed to the vicissitudes of advancement +and degradation; but in this collection poetical merit is the claim to +attention; and the account which is here to be expected may properly be +proportioned, not to his influence in the State, but to his rank among +the writers of verse. + +Charles Montague was born April 16, 1661, at Horton, in +Northamptonshire, the son of Mr. George Montague, a younger son of +the Earl of Manchester. He was educated first in the country, and then +removed to Westminster, where, in 1677, he was chosen a King's Scholar, +and recommended himself to Busby by his felicity in extemporary +epigrams. He contracted a very intimate friendship with Mr. Stepney; and +in 1682, when Stepney was elected at Cambridge, the election of Montague +being not to proceed till the year following, he was afraid lest by +being placed at Oxford he might be separated from his companion, and +therefore solicited to be removed to Cambridge, without waiting for the +advantages of another year. + +It seemed indeed time to wish for a removal, for he was already a +schoolboy of one-and-twenty. + +His relation, Dr. Montague, was then Master of the college in which he +was placed a Fellow-Commoner, and took him under his particular care. +Here he commenced an acquaintance with the great Newton, which continued +through his life, and was at last attested by a legacy. + +In 1685 his verses on the death of King Charles made such an impression +on the Earl of Dorset that he was invited to town, and introduced by +that universal patron to the other wits. In 1687 he joined with Prior +in "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," a burlesque of Dryden's "Hind +and Panther." He signed the invitation to the Prince of Orange, and sat +in the Convention. He about the same time married the Countess Dowager +of Manchester, and intended to have taken Orders; but, afterwards +altering his purpose, he purchased for 1,500 pounds the place of one of +the clerks of the Council. + +After he had written his epistle on the victory of the Boyne, his patron +Dorset introduced him to King William with this expression, "Sir, I have +brought a MOUSE to wait on your Majesty." To which the King is said to +have replied, "You do well to put me in the way of making a MAN of him;" +and ordered him a pension of 500 pounds. This story, however current, +seems to have been made after the event. The King's answer implies a +greater acquaintance with our proverbial and familiar diction than King +William could possibly have attained. + +In 1691, being member of the House of Commons, he argued warmly in +favour of a law to grant the assistance of counsel in trials for high +treason; and in the midst of his speech falling into some confusion, was +for a while silent; but, recovering himself, observed, "how reasonable +it was to allow counsel to men called as criminals before a court of +justice, when it appeared how much the presence of that assembly could +disconcert one of their own body." + +After this he rose fast into honours and employments, being made one of +the Commissioners of the Treasury, and called to the Privy Council. In +1694 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the next year engaged +in the great attempt of the recoinage, which was in two years happily +completed. In 1696 he projected the GENERAL FUND and raised the credit +of the Exchequer; and after inquiry concerning a grant of Irish Crown +lands, it was determined by a vote of the Commons that Charles Montague, +Esq., HAD DESERVED HIS MAJESTY'S FAVOUR. In 1698, being advanced to the +first Commission of the Treasury, he was appointed one of the regency in +the King's absence: the next year he was made Auditor of the Exchequer, +and the year after created Baron Halifax. He was, however, impeached by +the Commons; but the Articles were dismissed by the Lords. + +At the accession of Queen Anne he was dismissed from the Council; and in +the first Parliament of her reign was again attacked by the Commons, and +again escaped by the protection of the Lords. In 1704 he wrote an answer +to Bromley's speech against occasional conformity. He headed the inquiry +into the danger of the Church. In 1706 he proposed and negotiated +the Union with Scotland; and when the Elector of Hanover received the +Garter, after the Act had passed for securing the Protestant Succession, +he was appointed to carry the ensigns of the Order to the Electoral +Court. He sat as one of the judges of Sacheverell, but voted for a mild +sentence. Being now no longer in favour, he contrived to obtain a writ +for summoning the Electoral Prince to Parliament as Duke of Cambridge. + +At the Queen's death he was appointed one of the regents; and at the +accession of George I. was made Earl of Halifax, Knight of the Garter, +and First Commissioner of the Treasury, with a grant to his nephew of +the reversion of the Auditorship of the Exchequer. More was not to be +had, and this he kept but a little while; for on the 19th of May, 1715, +he died of an inflammation of his lungs. + +Of him, who from a poet became a patron of poets, it will be readily +believed that the works would not miss of celebration. Addison began +to praise him early, and was followed or accompanied by other poets; +perhaps by almost all, except Swift and Pope, who forbore to flatter +him in his life, and after his death spoke of him--Swift with slight +censure, and Pope, in the character of Bufo, with acrimonious contempt. + +He was, as Pope says, "fed with dedications;" for Tickell affirms that +no dedication was unrewarded. To charge all unmerited praise with the +guilt of flattery, and to suppose that the encomiast always knows and +feels the falsehoods of his assertions, is surely to discover great +ignorance of human nature and human life. In determinations depending +not on rules, but on experience and comparison, judgment is always in +some degree subject to affection. Very near to admiration is the wish to +admire. + +Every man willingly gives value to the praise which he receives, +and considers the sentence passed in his favour as the sentence of +discernment. We admire in a friend that understanding that selected +us for confidence; we admire more, in a patron, that judgment which, +instead of scattering bounty indiscriminately, directed it to us; and, +if the patron be an author, those performances which gratitude forbids +us to blame, affection will easily dispose us to exalt. + +To these prejudices, hardly culpable, interest adds a power always +operating, though not always, because not willingly, perceived. The +modesty of praise wears gradually away; and perhaps the pride of +patronage may be in time so increased that modest praise will no longer +please. + +Many a blandishment was practised upon Halifax which he would never have +known had he no other attractions than those of his poetry, of which +a short time has withered the beauties. It would now be esteemed no +honour, by a contributor to the monthly bundles of verses, to be told +that, in strains either familiar or solemn, he sings like Montague. + + + + +PARNELL. + + +The life of Dr. Parnell is a task which I should very willingly decline, +since it has been lately written by Goldsmith, a man of such variety of +powers, and such felicity of performance, that he always seemed to do +best that which he was doing; a man who had the art of being minute +without tediousness, and general without confusion; whose language was +copious without exuberance, exact without constraint, and easy without +weakness. + +What such an author has told, who would tell again? I have made an +abstract from his larger narrative; and have this gratification from my +attempt, that it gives me an opportunity of paying due tribute to the +memory of Goldsmith. + +Thomas Parnell was the son of a Commonwealthsman of the same name, who, +at the Restoration, left Congleton, in Cheshire, where the family +had been established for several centuries, and, settling in Ireland, +purchased an estate, which, with his lands in Cheshire, descended to the +poet, who was born at Dublin in 1679; and, after the usual education at +a grammar school, was, at the age of thirteen, admitted into the College +where, in 1700, he became Master of Arts; and was the same year ordained +a deacon, though under the canonical age, by a dispensation from the +Bishop of Derry. + +About three years afterwards he was made a priest and in 1705 Dr. Ashe, +the Bishop of Clogher, conferred upon him the archdeaconry of Clogher. +About the same time he married Mrs. Anne Minchin, an amiable lady, by +whom he had two sons, who died young, and a daughter, who long survived +him. + +At the ejection of the Whigs, in the end of Queen Anne's reign, Parnell +was persuaded to change his party, not without much censure from those +whom he forsook, and was received by the new Ministry as a valuable +reinforcement. When the Earl of Oxford was told that Dr. Parnell waited +among the crowd in the outer room, he went, by the persuasion of Swift, +with his Treasurer's staff in his hand, to inquire for him, and to bid +him welcome; and, as may be inferred from Pope's dedication, admitted +him as a favourite companion to his convivial hours, but, as it seems +often to have happened in those times to the favourites of the great, +without attention to his fortune, which, however, was in no great need +of improvement. + +Parnell, who did not want ambition or vanity, was desirous to make +himself conspicuous, and to show how worthy he was of high preferment. +As he thought himself qualified to become a popular preacher, he +displayed his elocution with great success in the pulpits of London; +but the Queen's death putting an end to his expectations, abated his +diligence; and Pope represents him as falling from that time into +intemperance of wine. That in his latter life he was too much a lover of +the bottle, is not denied; but I have heard it imputed to a cause more +likely to obtain forgiveness from mankind, the untimely death of a +darling son; or, as others tell, the loss of his wife, who died (1712) +in the midst of his expectations. + +He was now to derive every future addition to his preferments from +his personal interest with his private friends, and he was not long +unregarded. He was warmly recommended by Swift to Archbishop King, +who gave him a prebend in 1713; and in May, 1716, presented him to the +vicarage of Finglass, in the diocese of Dublin, worth 400 pounds a year. +Such notice from such a man inclines me to believe that the vice of +which he has been accused was not gross or not notorious. + +But his prosperity did not last long. His end, whatever was its cause, +was now approaching. He enjoyed his preferment little more than a year; +for in July, 1717, in his thirty-eighth year, he died at Chester on his +way to Ireland. + +He seems to have been one of those poets who take delight in writing. He +contributed to the papers of that time, and probably published more than +he owned. He left many compositions behind him, of which Pope selected +those which he thought best, and dedicated them to the Earl of Oxford. +Of these Goldsmith has given an opinion, and his criticism it is seldom +safe to contradict. He bestows just praise upon "The Rise of Woman," +"The Fairy Tale," and "The Pervigilium Veneris;" but has very properly +remarked that in "The Battle of Mice and Frogs" the Greek names have +not in English their original effect. He tells us that "The Bookworm" is +borrowed from Beza; but he should have added with modern applications: +and when he discovers that "Gay Bacchus" is translated from Augurellus, +he ought to have remarked that the latter part is purely Parnell's. +Another poem, "When Spring Comes On," is, he says, taken from the +French. I would add that the description of "Barrenness," in his verses +to Pope, was borrowed from Secundus; but lately searching for the +passage which I had formerly read, I could not find it. "The Night Piece +on Death" is indirectly preferred by Goldsmith to Gray's "Churchyard;" +but, in my opinion, Gray has the advantage in dignity, variety, and +originality of sentiment. He observes that the story of "The Hermit" is +in More's "Dialogues" and Howell's "Letters," and supposes it to have +been originally Arabian. + +Goldsmith has not taken any notice of "The Elegy to the Old Beauty," +which is perhaps the meanest; nor of "The Allegory on Man," the happiest +of Parnell's performances. The hint of "The Hymn to Contentment" I +suspect to have been borrowed from Cleveland. + +The general character of Parnell is not great extent of comprehension +or fertility of mind. Of the little that appears, still less is his own. +His praise must be derived from the easy sweetness of his diction: in +his verses there is more happiness than pains; he is sprightly without +effort, and always delights, though he never ravishes; everything is +proper, yet everything seems casual. If there is some appearance of +elaboration in "The Hermit," the narrative, as it is less airy, is less +pleasing. Of his other compositions it is impossible to say whether they +are the productions of nature, so excellent as not to want the help of +art, or of art so refined as to resemble nature. + +This criticism relates only to the pieces published by Pope. Of the +large appendages which I find in the last edition, I can only say that +I know not whence they came, nor have ever inquired whither they are +going. They stand upon the faith of the compilers. + + + + +GARTH. + + +Samuel Garth was of a good family in Yorkshire, and from some school in +his own county became a student at Peter House, in Cambridge, where he +resided till he became Doctor of Physic on July the 7th, 1691. He was +examined before the College at London on March the 12th, 1691-2, and +admitted Fellow June 26th, 1693. He was soon so much distinguished +by his conversation and accomplishments as to obtain very extensive +practice; and, if a pamphlet of those times may be credited, had the +favour and confidence of one party, as Radcliffe had of the other. He is +always mentioned as a man of benevolence; and it is just to suppose that +his desire of helping the helpless disposed him to so much zeal for "The +Dispensary;" an undertaking of which some account, however short, is +proper to be given. + +Whether what Temple says be true, that physicians have had more learning +than the other faculties, I will not stay to inquire; but I believe +every man has found in physicians great liberality and dignity of +sentiment, very prompt effusion of beneficence, and willingness to +exert a lucrative art where there is no hope of lucre. Agreeably to this +character, the College of Physicians, in July, 1687, published an +edict, requiring all the Fellows, Candidates, and Licentiates to give +gratuitous advice to the neighbouring poor. This edict was sent to the +Court of Aldermen; and, a question being made to whom the appellation +of the POOR should be extended, the College answered that it should be +sufficient to bring a testimonial from the clergyman officiating in the +parish where the patient resided. + +After a year's experience the physicians found their charity frustrated +by some malignant opposition, and made to a great degree vain by the +high price of physic; they therefore voted, in August, 1688, that the +laboratory of the College should be accommodated to the preparation of +medicines, and another room prepared for their reception; and that the +contributors to the expense should manage the charity. + +It was now expected that the apothecaries would have undertaken the care +of providing medicines; but they took another course. Thinking the whole +design pernicious to their interest, they endeavoured to raise a faction +against it in the College, and found some physicians mean enough +to solicit their patronage by betraying to them the counsels of the +College. The greater part, however, enforced by a new edict, in 1694, +the former order of 1687, and sent it to the Mayor and Aldermen, who +appointed a committee to treat with the College and settle the mode of +administering the charity. + +It was desired by the aldermen that the testimonials of churchwardens +and overseers should be admitted; and that all hired servants, and +all apprentices to handicraftsmen, should be considered as POOR. This +likewise was granted by the College. + +It was then considered who should distribute the medicines, and who +should settle their prices. The physicians procured some apothecaries to +undertake the dispensation, and offered that the warden and company of +the apothecaries should adjust the price. This offer was rejected; and +the apothecaries who had engaged to assist the charity were considered +as traitors to the company, threatened with the imposition of +troublesome offices, and deterred from the performance of their +engagements. The apothecaries ventured upon public opposition, and +presented a kind of remonstrance against the design to the committee of +the City, which the physicians condescended to confute: and at last the +traders seem to have prevailed among the sons of trade; for the proposal +of the College having been considered, a paper of approbation was drawn +up, but postponed and forgotten. + +The physicians still persisted; and in 1696 a subscription was raised by +themselves according to an agreement prefixed to "The Dispensary." The +poor were, for a time, supplied with medicines; for how long a time I +know not. The medicinal charity, like others, began with ardour, but +soon remitted, and at last died gradually away. + +About the time of the subscription begins the action of "The +Dispensary." The poem, as its subject was present and popular, +co-operated with passions and prejudices then prevalent, and, with +such auxiliaries to its intrinsic merit, was universally and liberally +applauded. It was on the side of charity against the intrigues of +interest; and of regular learning against licentious usurpation of +medical authority, and was therefore naturally favoured by those who +read and can judge of poetry. + +In 1697 Garth spoke that which is now called "The Harveian Oration;" +which the authors of "The Biographia" mention with more praise than the +passage quoted in their notes will fully justify. Garth, speaking of +the mischiefs done by quacks, has these expressions: "Non tamen telis +vulnerat ista agyrtarum colluvies, sed theriaca quadam magis perniciosa, +non pyrio, sed pulvere nescio quo exotico certat, non globulis plumbeis, +sed pilulis aeque lethalibus interficit." This was certainly thought +fine by the author, and is still admired by his biographer. In October, +1702, he became one of the censors of the College. + +Garth, being an active and zealous Whig, was a member of the Kit-Cat +Club, and, by consequence, familiarly known to all the great men of that +denomination. In 1710, when the government fell into other hands, he +writ to Lord Godolphin, on his dismission, a short poem, which was +criticised in the Examiner, and so successfully either defended or +excused by Mr. Addison that, for the sake of the vindication, it ought +to be preserved. + +At the accession of the present family his merits were acknowledged and +rewarded. He was knighted with the sword of his hero, Marlborough; and +was made Physician-in-Ordinary to the King, and Physician-General to the +army. He then undertook an edition of Ovid's "Metamorphoses," translated +by several hands; which he recommended by a preface, written with more +ostentation than ability; his notions are half-formed, and his materials +immethodically confused. This was his last work. He died January 18th, +1717-18, and was buried at Harrow-on-the-Hill. + +His personal character seems to have been social and liberal. He +communicated himself through a very wide extent of acquaintance; and +though firm in a party, at a time when firmness included virulence, yet +he imparted his kindness to those who were not supposed to favour his +principles. He was an early encourager of Pope, and was at once the +friend of Addison and of Granville. He is accused of voluptuousness and +irreligion; and Pope, who says that "if ever there was a good Christian, +without knowing himself to be so, it was Dr. Garth," seems not able to +deny what he is angry to hear and loth to confess. + +Pope afterwards declared himself convinced that Garth died in the +communion of the Church of Rome, having been privately reconciled. It +is observed by Lowth that there is less distance than is thought between +scepticism and Popery; and that a mind wearied with perpetual doubt, +willingly seeks repose in the bosom of an infallible Church. + +His poetry has been praised at least equally to its merit. In "The +Dispensary" there is a strain of smooth and free versification; but few +lines are eminently elegant. No passages fall below mediocrity, and few +rise much above it. The plan seems formed without just proportion to the +subject; the means and end have no necessary connection. Resnel, in his +preface to Pope's Essay, remarks that Garth exhibits no discrimination +of characters; and that what any one says might, with equal propriety, +have been said by another. The general design is, perhaps, open to +criticism; but the composition can seldom be charged with inaccuracy +or negligence. The author never slumbers in self-indulgence; his full +vigour is always exerted; scarcely a line is left unfinished; nor is it +easy to find an expression used by constraint, or a thought imperfectly +expressed. It was remarked by Pope, that "The Dispensary" had been +corrected in every edition, and that every change was an improvement. It +appears, however, to want something of poetical ardour, and something +of general delectation; and therefore, since it has been no longer +supported by accidental and intrinsic popularity, it has been scarcely +able to support itself. + + + + +ROWE. + + +Nicholas Rowe was born at Little Beckford, in Bedfordshire, in 1673. His +family had long possessed a considerable estate, with a good house, +at Lambertoun in Devonshire. The ancestor from whom he descended in a +direct line received the arms borne by his descendants for his bravery +in the Holy War. His father, John Rowe, who was the first that quitted +his paternal acres to practise any part of profit, professed the law, +and published Benlow's and Dallison's Reports in the reign of James the +Second, when, in opposition to the notions then diligently propagated +of dispensing power, he ventured to remark how low his authors rated +the prerogative. He was made a serjeant, and died April 30, 1692. He was +buried in the Temple church. + +Nicholas was first sent to a private school at Highgate; and, being +afterwards removed to Westminster, was at twelve years chosen one of the +King's Scholars. His master was Busby, who suffered none of his scholars +to let their powers lie useless; and his exercises in several languages +are said to have been written with uncommon degrees of excellence, +and yet to have cost him very little labour. At sixteen he had, in his +father's opinion, made advances in learning sufficient to qualify him +for the study of law, and was entered a student of the Middle Temple, +where for some time he read statutes and reports with proficiency +proportionate to the force of his mind, which was already such that +he endeavoured to comprehend law, not as a series of precedents, or +collection of positive precepts, but as a system of rational government +and impartial justice. When he was nineteen, he was, by the death of +his father, left more to his own direction, and probably from that time +suffered law gradually to give way to poetry. At twenty-five he produced +the Ambitious Step-Mother, which was received with so much favour that +he devoted himself from that time wholly to elegant literature. + +His next tragedy (1702) was Tamerlane, in which, under the name of +Tamerlane, he intended to characterise King William, and Louis the +Fourteenth under Bajazet. The virtues of Tamerlane seem to have been +arbitrarily assigned him by his poet, for I know not that history gives +any other qualities than those which make a conqueror. The fashion, +however, of the time was to accumulate upon Louis all that can raise +horror and detestation; and whatever good was withheld from him, that +it might not be thrown away was bestowed upon King William. This was the +tragedy which Rowe valued most, and that which probably, by the help of +political auxiliaries, excited most applause; but occasional poetry must +often content itself with occasional praise. Tamerlane has for a long +time been acted only once a year, on the night when King William landed. +Our quarrel with Louis has been long over; and it now gratifies neither +zeal nor malice to see him painted with aggravated features, like a +Saracen upon a sign. + +The Fair Penitent, his next production (1703), is one of the most +pleasing tragedies on the stage, where it still keeps its turns of +appearing, and probably will long keep them, for there is scarcely any +work of any poet at once so interesting by the fable, and so delightful +by the language. The story is domestic, and therefore easily received +by the imagination, and assimilated to common life; the diction is +exquisitely harmonious, and soft or sprightly as occasion requires. + +The character of Lothario seems to have been expanded by Richardson into +Lovelace; but he has excelled his original in the moral effect of the +fiction. Lothario, with gaiety which cannot be hated, and bravery which +cannot be despised, retains too much of the spectator's kindness. It +was in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once esteem and +detestation, to make virtuous resentment overpower all the benevolence +which wit, elegance, and courage, naturally excite; and to lose at last +the hero in the villain. The fifth act is not equal to the former; the +events of the drama are exhausted, and little remains but to talk of +what is past. It has been observed that the title of the play does not +sufficiently correspond with the behaviour of Calista, who at last +shows no evident signs of repentance, but may be reasonably suspected of +feeling pain from detection rather than from guilt, and expresses more +shame than sorrow, and more rage than shame. + +His next (1706) was Ulysses; which, with the common fate of mythological +stories, is now generally neglected. We have been too early acquainted +with the poetical heroes to expect any pleasure from their revival; to +show them as they have already been shown, is to disgust by repetition; +to give them new qualities, or new adventures, is to offend by violating +received notions. + +"The Royal Convert" (1708) seems to have a better claim to longevity. +The fable is drawn from an obscure and barbarous age, to which fictions +are more easily and properly adapted; for when objects are imperfectly +seen, they easily take forms from imagination. The scene lies among +our ancestors in our own country, and therefore very easily catches +attention. Rodogune is a personage truly tragical, of high spirit, and +violent passions, great with tempestuous dignity, and wicked with a soul +that would have been heroic if it had been virtuous. The motto seems to +tell that this play was not successful. + +Rowe does not always remember what his characters require. In Tamerlane +there is some ridiculous mention of the God of Love; and Rodogune, a +savage Saxon, talks of Venus and the eagle that bears the thunder of +Jupiter. + +This play discovers its own date, by a prediction of the Union, in +imitation of Cranmer's prophetic promises to Henry VIII. The anticipated +blessings of union are not very naturally introduced, nor very happily +expressed. He once (1706) tried to change his hand. He ventured on a +comedy, and produced the Biter, with which, though it was unfavourably +treated by the audience, he was himself delighted; for he is said to +have sat in the house laughing with great vehemence, whenever he had, in +his own opinion, produced a jest. But finding that he and the public had +no sympathy of mirth, he tried at lighter scenes no more. + +After the Royal Convert (1714) appeared Jane Shore, written, as its +author professes, IN IMITATION OF SHAKESPEARE'S STYLE. In what he +thought himself an imitator of Shakespeare it is not easy to conceive. +The numbers, the diction, the sentiments, and the conduct, everything +in which imitation can consist, are remote in the utmost degree from +the manner of Shakespeare, whose dramas it resembles only as it is an +English story, and as some of the persons have their names in history. +This play, consisting chiefly of domestic scenes and private distress, +lays hold upon the heart. The wife is forgiven because she repents, and +the husband is honoured because he forgives. This, therefore, is one of +those pieces which we still welcome on the stage. + +His last tragedy (1715) was Lady Jane Grey. This subject had been +chosen by Mr. Smith, whose papers were put into Rowe's hands such as +he describes them in his preface. This play has likewise sunk into +oblivion. From this time he gave nothing more to the stage. + +Being by a competent fortune exempted from any necessity of combating +his inclination, he never wrote in distress, and therefore does not +appear to have ever written in haste. His works were finished to his own +approbation, and bear few marks of negligence or hurry. It is remarkable +that his prologues and epilogues are all his own, though he sometimes +supplied others; he afforded help, but did not solicit it. + +As his studies necessarily made him acquainted with Shakespeare, and +acquaintance produced veneration, he undertook (1709) an edition of his +works, from which he neither received much praise, nor seems to have +expected it; yet I believe those who compare it with former copies will +find that he has done more than he promised; and that, without the pomp +of notes or boasts of criticism, many passages are happily restored. He +prefixed a life of the author, such as tradition, then almost expiring, +could supply, and a preface, which cannot be said to discover much +profundity or penetration. He at least contributed to the popularity of +his author. He was willing enough to improve his fortune by other arts +than poetry. He was under-secretary for three years when the Duke of +Queensberry was Secretary of State, and afterwards applied to the Earl +of Oxford for some public employment. Oxford enjoined him to study +Spanish; and when, some time afterwards, he came again, and said that he +had mastered it, dismissed him with this congratulation, "Then, sir, I +envy you the pleasure of reading 'Don Quixote' in the original." + +This story is sufficiently attested; but why Oxford, who desired to +be thought a favourer of literature, should thus insult a man of +acknowledged merit, or how Rowe, who was so keen a Whig that he did not +willingly converse with men of the opposite party, could ask preferment +from Oxford, it is not now possible to discover. Pope, who told the +story, did not say on what occasion the advice was given; and, though +he owned Rowe's disappointment, doubted whether any injury was intended +him, but thought it rather Lord Oxford's ODD WAY. + +It is likely that he lived on discontented through the rest of Queen +Anne's reign; but the time came at last when he found kinder friends. At +the accession of King George he was made Poet-Laureate--I am afraid, by +the ejection of poor Nahum Tate, who (1716) died in the Mint, where he +was forced to seek shelter by extreme poverty. He was made likewise one +of the land-surveyors of the customs of the Port of London. The Prince +of Wales chose him Clerk of his Council; and the Lord Chancellor Parker, +as soon as he received the seals, appointed him, unasked, Secretary +of the Presentations. Such an accumulation of employments undoubtedly +produced a very considerable revenue. + +Having already translated some parts of Lucan's "Pharsalia," which had +been published in the Miscellanies, and doubtless received many praises, +he undertook a version of the whole work, which he lived to finish, +but not to publish. It seems to have been printed under the care of +Dr. Welwood, who prefixed the author's life, in which is contained the +following character:-- + +"As to his person, it was graceful and well made; his face regular, +and of a manly beauty. As his soul was well lodged, so its rational and +animal faculties excelled in a high degree. He had a quick and fruitful +invention, a deep penetration, and a large compass of thought, with +singular dexterity and easiness in making his thoughts to be understood. +He was master of most parts of polite learning, especially the classical +authors, both Greek and Latin; understood the French, Italian, and +Spanish languages, and spoke the first fluently, and the other two +tolerably well. He had likewise read most of the Greek and Roman +histories in their original languages, and most that are wrote +in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. He had a good taste in +philosophy; and, having a firm impression of religion upon his mind, he +took great delight in divinity and ecclesiastical history, in both of +which he made great advances in the times he retired into the country, +which was frequent. He expressed on all occasions his full persuasion +of the truth of revealed religion; and, being a sincere member of the +Established Church himself, he pitied, but condemned not, those that +dissented from it. He abhorred the principles of persecuting men upon +the account of their opinions in religion; and, being strict in his +own, he took it not upon him to censure those of another persuasion. +His conversation was pleasant, witty, and learned, without the least +tincture of affectation or pedantry; and his inimitable manner of +diverting and enlivening the company made it impossible for any one to +be out of humour when he was in it. Envy and detraction seemed to be +entirely foreign to his constitution; and whatever provocations he +met with at any time, he passed them over without the least thought of +resentment or revenge. As Homer had a Zoilus, so Mr. Rowe had sometimes +his; for there were not wanting malevolent people, and pretenders to +poetry too, that would now and then bark at his best performances; but +he was so conscious of his own genius, and had so much good-nature, as +to forgive them, nor could he ever be tempted to return them an answer. + +"The love of learning and poetry made him not the less fit for business, +and nobody applied himself closer to it when it required his attendance. +The late Duke of Queensberry, when he was Secretary of State, made him +his secretary for public affairs; and when that truly great man came +to know him well, he was never so pleased as when Mr. Rowe was in +his company. After the duke's death, all avenues were stopped to his +preferment; and during the rest of that reign he passed his time with +the Muses and his books, and sometimes the conversation of his friends. +When he had just got to be easy in his fortune, and was in a fair way to +make it better, death swept him away, and in him deprived the world of +one of the best men, as well as one of the best geniuses, of the age. +He died like a Christian and a philosopher, in charity with all mankind, +and with an absolute resignation to the will of God. He kept up his +good-humour to the last; and took leave of his wife and friends, +immediately before his last agony, with the same tranquillity of mind, +and the same indifference for life, as though he had been upon taking +but a short journey. He was twice married--first to a daughter of +Mr. Parsons, one of the auditors of the revenue; and afterwards to a +daughter of Mr. Devenish, of a good family in Dorsetshire. By the first +he had a son; and by the second a daughter, married afterwards to Mr. +Fane. He died 6th December, 1718, in the forty-fifth year of his age, +and was buried on the 19th of the same month in Westminster Abbey, in +the aisle where many of our English poets are interred, over against +Chaucer, his body being attended by a select number of his friends, and +the dean and choir officiating at the funeral." + +To this character, which is apparently given with the fondness of a +friend, may be added the testimony of Pope, who says, in a letter to +Blount, "Mr. Rowe accompanied me, and passed a week in the Forest. I +need not tell you how much a man of his turn entertained me; but I must +acquaint you, there is a vivacity and gaiety of disposition, almost +peculiar to him, which make it impossible to part from him without that +uneasiness which generally succeeds all our pleasure." + +Pope has left behind him another mention of his companion less +advantageous, which is thus reported by Dr. Warburton:-- + +"Rowe, in Mr. Pope's opinion, maintained a decent character, but had no +heart. Mr. Addison was justly offended with some behaviour which arose +from that want, and estranged himself from him, which Rowe felt +very severely. Mr. Pope, their common friend, knowing this, took an +opportunity, at some juncture of Mr. Addison's advancement, to tell him +how poor Rowe was grieved at his displeasure, and what satisfaction he +expressed at Mr. Addison's good fortune, which he expressed so naturally +that he (Mr. Pope) could not but think him sincere. Mr. Addison replied, +'I do not suspect that he feigned; but the levity of his heart is such, +that he is struck with any new adventure, and it would affect him just +in the same manner if he heard I was going to be hanged.' Mr. Pope said +he could not deny but Mr. Addison understood Rowe well." + +This censure time has not left us the power of confirming or refuting; +but observation daily shows that much stress is not to be laid on +hyperbolical accusations and pointed sentences, which even he that +utters them desires to be applauded rather than credited. Addison can +hardly be supposed to have meant all that he said. Few characters can +bear the microscopic scrutiny of wit quickened by anger; and, perhaps, +the best advice to authors would be, that they should keep out of the +way of one another. + +Rowe is chiefly to be considered as a tragic writer and a translator. In +his attempt at comedy he failed so ignominiously that his Biter is not +inserted in his works: and his occasional poems and short compositions +are rarely worthy either praise or censure, for they seem the casual +sports of a mind seeking rather to amuse its leisure than to exercise +its powers. In the construction of his dramas there is not much art; he +is not a nice observer of the unities. He extends time and varies places +as his convenience requires. To vary the place is not, in my opinion, +any violation of nature, if the change be made between the acts, for it +is no less easy for the spectator to suppose himself at Athens in the +second act, than at Thebes in the first; but to change the scene, as is +done by Rowe, in the middle of an act, is to add more acts to the +play, since an act is so much of the business as is transacted without +interruption. Rowe, by this licence, easily extricates himself from +difficulties; as in Jane Grey, when we have been terrified with all the +dreadful pomp of public execution; and are wondering how the heroine +or the poet will proceed, no sooner has Jane pronounced some prophetic +rhymes than--pass and be gone--the scene closes, and Pembroke and +Gardiner are turned out upon the stage. + +I know not that there can be found in his plays any deep search into +nature, any accurate discriminations of kindred qualities, or nice +display of passion in its progress; all is general and undefined. Nor +does he much interest or affect the auditor, except in Jane Shore, +who is always seen and heard with pity. Alicia is a character of empty +noise, with no resemblance to real sorrow or to natural madness. + +Whence, then, has Rowe his reputation? From the reasonableness and +propriety of some of his scenes, from the elegance of his diction, and +the suavity of his verse. He seldom moves either pity or terror, but +he often elevates the sentiments; he seldom pierces the breast, but +he always delights the ear, and often improves the understanding. His +translation of the "Golden Verses," and of the first book of Quillet's +poem, have nothing in them remarkable. The "Golden Verses" are tedious. + +The version of Lucan is one of the greatest productions of English +poetry, for there is perhaps none that so completely exhibits the +genius and spirit of the original. Lucan is distinguished by a kind +of dictatorial or philosophic dignity, rather, as Quintilian observes, +declamatory than poetical; full of ambitious morality and pointed +sentences, comprised in vigorous and animated lines. This character Rowe +has very diligently and successfully preserved. His versification, +which is such as his contemporaries practised, without any attempt at +innovation or improvement, seldom wants either melody or force. His +author's sense is sometimes a little diluted by additional infusions, +and sometimes weakened by too much expansion. But such faults are to +be expected in all translations, from the constraint of measures and +dissimilitude of languages. The "Pharsalia" of Rowe deserves more notice +than it obtains, and as it is more read will be more esteemed. + + + + +GAY. + + +John Gay, descended from an old family that had been long in possession +of the manor of Goldworthy, in Devonshire, was born in 1688, at or near +Barnstaple, where he was educated by Mr. Luck, who taught the school of +that town with good reputation, and, a little before he retired from it, +published a volume of Latin and English verses. Under such a master he +was likely to form a taste for poetry. Being born without prospect +of hereditary riches, he was sent to London in his youth, and placed +apprentice with a silk mercer. How long he continued behind the +counter, or with what degree of softness and dexterity he received and +accommodated the ladies, as he probably took no delight in telling +it, is not known. The report is that he was soon weary of either the +restraint or servility of his occupation, and easily persuaded his +master to discharge him. + +The Duchess of Monmouth, remarkable for inflexible perseverance in her +demand to be treated as a princess, in 1712 took Gay into her service +as secretary: by quitting a shop for such service he might gain leisure, +but he certainly advanced little in the boast of independence. Of his +leisure he made so good use that he published next year a poem on "Rural +Sports," and inscribed it to Mr. Pope, who was then rising fast into +reputation. Pope was pleased with the honour, and when he became +acquainted with Gay, found such attractions in his manners and +conversation that he seems to have received him into his inmost +confidence; and a friendship was formed between them which lasted to +their separation by death, without any known abatement on either part. +Gay was the general favourite of the whole association of wits; but they +regarded him as a playfellow rather than a partner, and treated him with +more fondness than respect. + +Next year he published "The Shepherd's Week," six English pastorals, in +which the images are drawn from real life, such as it appears among the +rustics in parts of England remote from London. Steele, in some papers +of the Guardian, had praised Ambrose Philips as the pastoral writer +that yielded only to Theocritus, Virgil, and Spenser. Pope, who had also +published pastorals, not pleased to be overlooked, drew up a comparison +of his own compositions with those of Philips, in which he covertly gave +himself the preference, while he seemed to disown it. Not content with +this, he is supposed to have incited Gay to write "The Shepherd's Week," +to show that, if it be necessary to copy nature with minuteness, rural +life must be exhibited such as grossness and ignorance have made it. +So far the plan was reasonable; but the pastorals are introduced by a +Proeme, written with such imitation as they could attain of obsolete +language, and, by consequence, in a style that was never spoken nor +written in any language or in any place. But the effect of reality +and truth became conspicuous, even when the intention was to show them +grovelling and degraded. These pastorals became popular, and were read +with delight as just representations of rural manners and occupations by +those who had no interest in the rivalry of the poets, nor knowledge of +the critical dispute. + +In 1713 he brought a comedy called The Wife of Bath upon the stage, but +it received no applause; he printed it, however, and seventeen years +after, having altered it and, as he thought, adapted it more to the +public taste, he offered it again to the town; but, though he was +flushed with the success of the Beggar's Opera, had the mortification to +see it again rejected. + +In the last year of Queen Anne's life Gay was made secretary to the Earl +of Clarendon, Ambassador to the Court of Hanover. This was a station +that naturally gave him hopes of kindness from every party; but the +Queen's death put an end to her favours, and he had dedicated his +"Shepherd's Week" to Bolingbroke, which Swift considered as the crime +that obstructed all kindness from the House of Hanover. He did not, +however, omit to improve the right which his office had given him to the +notice of the Royal Family. On the arrival of the Princess of Wales he +wrote a poem, and obtained so much favour that both the Prince and the +Princess went to see his What D'ye Call It, a kind of mock tragedy, +in which the images were comic and the action grave; so that, as Pope +relates, Mr. Cromwell, who could not hear what was said, was at a loss +how to reconcile the laughter of the audience with the solemnity of the +scene. + +Of this performance the value certainly is but little; but it was one +of the lucky trifles that give pleasure by novelty, and was so much +favoured by the audience that envy appeared against it in the form of +criticism; and Griffin, a player, in conjunction with Mr. Theobald, a +man afterwards more remarkable, produced a pamphlet called "The Key to +the What D'ye Call It," "which," says Gay, "calls me a blockhead, and +Mr. Pope a knave." + +But fortune has always been inconstant. Not long afterwards (1717) he +endeavoured to entertain the town with Three Hours after Marriage, a +comedy written, as there is sufficient reason for believing, by the +joint assistance of Pope and Arbuthnot. One purpose of it was to bring +into contempt Dr. Woodward, the fossilist, a man not really or justly +contemptible. It had the fate which such outrages deserve. The scene +in which Woodward was directly and apparently ridiculed, by the +introduction of a mummy and a crocodile, disgusted the audience, and the +performance was driven off the stage with general condemnation. + +Gay is represented as a man easily incited to hope, and deeply depressed +when his hopes were disappointed. This is not the character of a hero, +but it may naturally imply something more generally welcome, a soft and +civil companion. Whoever is apt to hope good from others is diligent +to please them; but he that believes his powers strong enough to force +their own way, commonly tries only to please himself. He had been simple +enough to imagine that those who laughed at the What D'ye Call It would +raise the fortune of its author, and, finding nothing done, sunk into +dejection. His friends endeavoured to divert him. The Earl of Burlington +sent him (1716) into Devonshire, the year after Mr. Pulteney took him +to Aix, and in the following year Lord Harcourt invited him to his seat, +where, during his visit, two rural lovers were killed with lightning, as +is particularly told in Pope's "Letters." + +Being now generally known, he published (1720) his poems by +subscription, with such success that he raised a thousand pounds, and +called his friends to a consultation what use might be best made of +it. Lewis, the steward of Lord Oxford, advised him to intrust it to the +Funds, and live upon the interest; Arbuthnot bade him to intrust it +to Providence, and live upon the principal; Pope directed him, and was +seconded by Swift, to purchase an annuity. + +Gay in that disastrous year had a present from young Craggs of some +South Sea Stock, and once supposed himself to be master of twenty +thousand pounds. His friends persuaded him to sell his share; but he +dreamed of dignity and splendour, and could not bear to obstruct his +own fortune. He was then importuned to sell as much as would purchase a +hundred a year for life, "which," says Penton, "will make you sure of +a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton every day." This counsel was +rejected; the profit and principal were lost, and Gay sunk under the +calamity so low that his life became in danger. By the care of his +friends, among whom Pope appears to have shown particular tenderness, +his health was restored; and, returning to his studies, he wrote a +tragedy called The Captives, which he was invited to read before the +Princess of Wales. When the hour came, he saw the Princess and her +ladies all in expectation, and, advancing with reverence too great for +any other attention, stumbled at a stool, and, falling forwards, threw +down a weighty Japan screen. The Princess started, the ladies screamed, +and poor Gay, after all the disturbance, was still to read his play. + +The fate of The Captives, which was acted at Drury Lane in 1723-4, I +know not; but he now thought himself in favour, and undertook (1726) +to write a volume of "Fables" for the improvement of the young Duke of +Cumberland. For this he is said to have been promised a reward, which he +had doubtless magnified with all the wild expectations of indigence and +vanity. + +Next year the Prince and Princess became King and Queen, and Gay was +to be great and happy; but on the settlement of the household, he found +himself appointed gentleman usher to the Princess Louisa. By this offer +he thought himself insulted, and sent a message to the Queen that he +was too old for the place. There seem to have been many machinations +employed afterwards in his favour, and diligent court was paid to Mrs. +Howard, afterwards Countess of Suffolk, who was much beloved by the King +and Queen, to engage her interest for his promotion; but solicitation, +verses, and flatteries were thrown away; the lady heard them, and did +nothing. All the pain which he suffered from neglect, or, as he perhaps +termed it, the ingratitude of the Court, may be supposed to have been +driven away by the unexampled success of the Beggar's Opera. This play, +written in ridicule of the musical Italian drama, was first offered +to Cibber and his brethren at Drury Lane and rejected: it being then +carried to Rich, had the effect, as was ludicrously said, of making Gay +RICH and Rich GAY. Of this lucky piece, as the reader cannot but wish +to know the original and progress, I have inserted the relation which +Spence has given in Pope's words:-- + +"Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay what an odd pretty sort of +a thing a Newgate Pastoral might make. Gay was inclined to try at such a +thing for some time; but afterwards thought it would be better to write +a comedy on the same plan. This was what gave rise to the Beggar's +Opera. He began on it, and when first he mentioned it to Swift, the +doctor did not much like the project. As he carried it on, he showed +what he wrote to both of us, and we now and then gave a correction, or a +word or two of advice; but it was wholly of his own writing. When it was +done, neither of us thought it would succeed. We showed it to Congreve, +who, after reading it over, said it would either take greatly or be +damned confoundedly. We were all, at the first night of it, in +great uncertainty of the event, till we were very much encouraged by +overhearing the Duke of Argyll, who sat in the next box to us, say, +'It will do--it must do! I see it in the eyes of them.' This was a good +while before the first act was over, and so gave us ease soon; for that +Duke (besides his own good taste) has a particular knack, as any one now +living, in discovering the taste of the public. He was quite right in +this, as usual; the good-nature of the audience appeared stronger and +stronger every act, and ended in a clamour of applause." + +Its reception is thus recorded in the notes to the "Dunciad":-- + +"This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known. +Besides being acted in London sixty-three days without interruption, +and renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread into all the +great towns of England; was played in many places to the thirtieth and +fortieth time; at Bath and Bristol fifty, etc. It made its progress into +Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where it was performed twenty-four days +successively. The ladies carried about with them the favourite songs of +it in fans, and houses were furnished with it in screens. The fame of +it was not confined to the author only. The person who acted Polly, till +then obscure, became all at once the favourite of the town; her pictures +were engraved and sold in great numbers; her life written, books of +letters and verses to her published, and pamphlets made even of her +sayings and jests. Furthermore, it drove out of England (for that +season) the Italian Opera, which had carried all before it for ten +years." + +Of this performance, when it was printed, the reception was different, +according to the different opinions of its readers. Swift commended it +for the excellence of its morality, as a piece that "placed all kinds of +vice in the strongest and most odious light;" but others, and among them +Dr. Herring, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, censured it as giving +encouragement, not only to vice, but to crimes, by making a highwayman +the hero and dismissing him at last unpunished. It has been even said +that after the exhibition of the Beggar's Opera the gangs of robbers +were evidently multiplied. + +Both these decisions are surely exaggerated. The play, like many others, +was plainly written only to divert, without any moral purpose, and is +therefore not likely to do good; nor can it be conceived, without more +speculation than life requires or admits, to be productive of much evil. +Highwaymen and housebreakers seldom frequent the playhouse, or mingle in +any elegant diversion; nor is it possible for any one to imagine that he +may rob with safety, because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage. +This objection, however, or some other rather political than moral, +obtained such prevalence that when Gay produced a second part under the +name of Polly, it was prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain; and he was +forced to recompense his repulse by a subscription, which is said to +have been so liberally bestowed that what he called oppression ended in +profit. The publication was so much favoured that though the first part +gained him four hundred pounds, near thrice as much was the profit +of the second. He received yet another recompense for this supposed +hardship, in the affectionate attention of the Duke and Duchess of +Queensberry, into whose house he was taken, and with whom he passed the +remaining part of his life. The Duke, considering his want of economy, +undertook the management of his money, and gave it to him as he wanted +it. But it is supposed that the discountenance of the Court sunk deep +into his heart, and gave him more discontent than the applauses or +tenderness of his friends could overpower. He soon fell into his old +distemper, an habitual colic, and languished, though with many intervals +of ease and cheerfulness, till a violent fit at last seized him and +carried him to the grave, as Arbuthnot reported, with more precipitance +than he had ever known. He died on the 4th of December, 1732, and was +buried in Westminster Abbey. The letter which brought an account of +his death to Swift, was laid by for some days unopened, because when he +received it, he was impressed with the preconception of some misfortune. + +After his death was published a second volume of "Fables," more +political than the former. His opera of Achilles was acted, and the +profits were given to two widow sisters, who inherited what he left, +as his lawful heirs; for he died without a will, though he had gathered +three thousand pounds. There have appeared likewise under his name a +comedy called the Distressed Wife, and the Rehearsal at Gotham, a piece +of humour. + +The character given him by Pope is this, that "he was a natural man, +without design, who spoke what he thought, and just as he thought it," +and that "he was of a timid temper, and fearful of giving offence to the +great;" which caution, however, says Pope, was of no avail. + +As a poet he cannot be rated very high. He was, I once heard a female +critic remark, "of a lower order." He had not in any great degree the +MENS DIVINIOR, the dignity of genius. Much, however, must be allowed +to the author of a new species of composition, though it be not of the +highest kind. We owe to Gay the ballad opera, a mode of comedy which at +first was supposed to delight only by its novelty, but has now, by the +experience of half a century, been found so well accommodated to +the disposition of a popular audience that it is likely to keep long +possession of the stage. Whether this new drama was the product of +judgment or of luck, the praise of it must be given to the inventor; and +there are many writers read with more reverence to whom such merit or +originality cannot be attributed. + +His first performance, the Rural Sports, is such as was easily planned +and executed; it is never contemptible, nor ever excellent. The Fan is +one of those mythological fictions which antiquity delivers ready to the +hand, but which, like other things that lie open to every one's use, +are of little value. The attention naturally retires from a new tale of +Venus, Diana, and Minerva. + +His "Fables" seem to have been a favourite work; for, having published +one volume, he left another behind him. Of this kind of Fables the +author does not appear to have formed any distinct or settled notion. +Phaedrus evidently confounds them with Tales, and Gay both with Tales +and Allegorical Prosopopoeias. A Fable or Apologue, such as is now under +consideration, seems to be, in its genuine state, a narrative in which +beings irrational, and sometimes inanimate, arbores loquuntur, non +tantum ferae, are, for the purpose of moral instruction, feigned to act +and speak with human interests and passions. To this description the +compositions of Gay do not always conform. For a fable he gives now and +then a tale, or an abstracted allegory; and from some, by whatever name +they may be called, it will be difficult to extract any moral principle. +They are, however, told with liveliness, the versification is smooth, +and the diction, though now and then a little constrained by the measure +or the rhyme, is generally happy. + +To "Trivia" may be allowed all that it claims; it is sprightly, various, +and pleasant. The subject is of that kind which Gay was by nature +qualified to adorn, yet some of his decorations may be justly wished +away. An honest blacksmith might have done for Patty what is performed +by Vulcan. The appearance of Cloacina is nauseous and superfluous; a +shoe-boy could have been produced by the casual cohabitation of mere +mortals. Horace's rule is broken in both cases; there is no +dignus vindice nodus, no difficulty that required any supernatural +interposition. A patten may be made by the hammer of a mortal, and a +bastard may be dropped by a human strumpet. On great occasions, and on +small, the mind is repelled by useless and apparent falsehood. + +Of his little poems the public judgment seems to be right; they +are neither much esteemed nor totally despised. The story of "The +Apparition" is borrowed from one of the tales of Poggio. Those that +please least are the pieces to which Gulliver gave occasion, for who can +much delight in the echo of an unnatural fiction? + +"Dione" is a counterpart to "Amynta" and "Pastor Fido" and other trifles +of the same kind, easily imitated, and unworthy of imitation. What the +Italians call comedies from a happy conclusion, Gay calls a tragedy from +a mournful event, but the style of the Italians and of Gay is equally +tragical. There is something in the poetical Arcadia so remote from +known reality and speculative possibility that we can never support its +representation through a long work. A pastoral of an hundred lines may +be endured, but who will hear of sheep and goats, and myrtle bowers and +purling rivulets, through five acts? Such scenes please barbarians in +the dawn of literature, and children in the dawn of life, but will be +for the most part thrown away as men grow wise and nations grow learned. + + + + +TICKELL. + + +Thomas Tickell, the son of the Rev. Richard Tickell, was born in 1686, +at Bridekirk, in Cumberland, and in 1701 became a member of Queen's +College in Oxford; in 1708 he was made Master of Arts, and two years +afterwards was chosen Fellow, for which, as he did not comply with the +statutes by taking orders, he obtained a dispensation from the Crown. He +held his fellowship till 1726, and then vacated it by marrying, in that +year, at Dublin. + +Tickell was not one of those scholars who wear away their lives in +closets; he entered early into the world and was long busy in public +affairs, in which he was initiated under the patronage of Addison, whose +notice he is said to have gained by his verses in praise of Rosamond. +To those verses it would not have been just to deny regard, for they +contain some of the most elegant encomiastic strains; and among the +innumerable poems of the same kind it will be hard to find one with +which they need to fear a comparison. It may deserve observation that +when Pope wrote long afterwards in praise of Addison, he has copied--at +least, has resembled--Tickell. + + "Let joy salute fair Rosamonda's shade, + And wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely maid. + While now perhaps with Dido's ghost she roves, + And hears and tells the story of their loves, + Alike they mourn, alike they bless their fate, + Since Love, which made them wretched, made them great. + Nor longer that relentless doom bemoan, + Which gained a Virgil and an Addison."--TICKELL. + + + "Then future ages with delight shall see + How Plato's, Bacon's, Newton's, looks agree; + Or in fair series laurelled bards be shown, + A Virgil there, and here an Addison."--POPE. + +He produced another piece of the same kind at the appearance of Cato, +with equal skill, but not equal happiness. + +When the Ministers of Queen Anne were negotiating with France, Tickell +published "The Prospect of Peace," a poem of which the tendency was +to reclaim the nation from the pride of conquest to the pleasures +of tranquillity. How far Tickell, whom Swift afterwards mentioned as +Whiggissimus, had then connected himself with any party, I know not; +this poem certainly did not flatter the practices, or promote the +opinions, of the men by whom he was afterwards befriended. + +Mr. Addison, however he hated the men then in power, suffered his +friendship to prevail over his public spirit, and gave in the Spectator +such praises of Tickell's poem that when, after having long wished +to peruse it, I laid hold of it at last, I thought it unequal to the +honours which it had received, and found it a piece to be approved +rather than admired. But the hope excited by a work of genius, being +general and indefinite, is rarely gratified. It was read at that with so +much favour that six editions were sold. + +At the arrival of King George, he sang "The Royal Progress," which, +being inserted in the Spectator, is well known, and of which it is just +to say that it is neither high nor low. + +The poetical incident of most importance in Tickell's life was his +publication of the first book of the "Iliad," as translated by himself, +an apparent opposition to Pope's "Homer," of which the first part made +its entrance into the world at the same time. Addison declared that the +rival versions were both good, but that Tickell's was the best that ever +was made; and with Addison, the wits, his adherents and followers, were +certain to concur. Pope does not appear to have been much dismayed, +"for," says he, "I have the town--that is, the mob--on my side." But he +remarks "that it is common for the smaller party to make up in diligence +what they want in numbers. He appeals to the people as his proper +judges, and if they are not inclined to condemn him, he is in little +care about the highflyers at Button's." + +Pope did not long think Addison an impartial judge, for he considered +him as the writer of Tickell's version. The reasons for his suspicion I +will literally transcribe from Mr. Spence's Collection:-- + +"There had been a coldness," said Mr. Pope, "between Mr. Addison and +me for some time, and we had not been in company together, for a good +while, anywhere but at Button's Coffee House, where I used to see him +almost every day. On his meeting me there, one day in particular, he +took me aside and said he should be glad to dine with me at such a +tavern, if I stayed till those people were gone (Budgell and Philips). +He went accordingly, and after dinner Mr. Addison said 'that he had +wanted for some time to talk with me: that his friend Tickell had +formerly, whilst at Oxford, translated the first book of the Iliad; that +he designed to print it, and had desired him to look it over; that he +must therefore beg that I would not desire him to look over my first +book, because, if he did, it would have the air of double-dealing.' I +assured him that I did not at all take it ill of Mr. Tickell that he was +going to publish his translation; that he certainly had as much right to +translate any author as myself; and that publishing both was entering on +a fair stage. I then added that I would not desire him to look over my +first book of the Iliad, because he had looked over Mr. Tickell's, but +could wish to have the benefit of his observations on my second, which +I had then finished, and which Mr. Tickell had not touched upon. +Accordingly I sent him the second book the next morning, and Mr. Addison +a few days after returned it, with very high commendations. Soon after +it was generally known that Mr. Tickell was publishing the first book of +the Iliad, I met Dr. Young in the street, and upon our falling into +that subject, the doctor expressed a great deal of surprise at Tickell's +having had such a translation so long by him. He said that it was +inconceivable to him, and that there must be some mistake in the matter; +that each used to communicate to the other whatever verses they wrote, +even to the least things; that Tickell could not have been busied in so +long a work there without his knowing something of the matter; and +that he had never heard a single word of it till on this occasion. +This surprise of Dr. Young, together with what Steele has said against +Tickell in relation to this affair, make it highly probable that there +was some underhand dealing in that business; and indeed Tickell himself, +who is a very fair worthy man, has since, in a manner, as good as owned +it to me. When it was introduced into a conversation between Mr. +Tickell and Mr. Pope by a third person, Tickell did not deny it, which, +considering his honour and zeal for his departed friend, was the same as +owning it." + +Upon these suspicions, with which Dr. Warburton hints that other +circumstances concurred, Pope always in his "Art of Sinking" quotes this +book as the work of Addison. + +To compare the two translations would be tedious; the palm is now given +universally to Pope, but I think the first lines of Tickell's were +rather to be preferred; and Pope seems to have since borrowed something +from them in the correction of his own. + +When the Hanover succession was disputed, Tickell gave what assistance +his pen would supply. His "Letter to Avignon" stands high among party +poems; it expresses contempt without coarseness, and superiority without +insolence. It had the success which it deserved, being five times +printed. + +He was now intimately united to Mr. Addison, who, when he went into +Ireland as secretary to the Lord Sunderland, took him thither, and +employed him in public business; and when (1717) afterwards he rose to +be Secretary of State, made him Under-Secretary. Their friendship seems +to have continued without abatement; for, when Addison died, he left him +the charge of publishing his works, with a solemn recommendation to the +patronage of Craggs. To these works he prefixed an elegy on the author, +which could owe none of its beauties to the assistance which might be +suspected to have strengthened or embellished his earlier compositions; +but neither he nor Addison ever produced nobler lines than are contained +in the third and fourth paragraphs; nor is a more elegant funeral +poem to be found in the whole compass of English literature. He was +afterwards (about 1725) made secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland, +a place of great honour; in which he continued till 1740, when he died +on the 23rd of April at Bath. + +Of the poems yet unmentioned, the longest is "Kensington Gardens," +of which the versification is smooth and elegant, but the fiction +unskilfully compounded of Grecian deities and Gothic fairies. Neither +species of those exploded beings could have done much; and when they are +brought together, they only make each other contemptible. To Tickell, +however, cannot be refused a high place among the minor poets; nor +should it be forgotten that he was one of the contributors to the +Spectator. With respect to his personal character, he is said to have +been a man of gay conversation, at least a temperate lover of wine and +company, and in his domestic relations without censure. + + + + +SOMERVILE. + + +Of Mr. Somervile's life I am not able to say anything that can satisfy +curiosity. He was a gentleman whose estate lay in Warwickshire; his +house, where he was born in 1693, is called Edston, a seat inherited +from a long line of ancestors; for he was said to be of the first family +in his county. He tells of himself that he was born near the Avon's +banks. He was bred at Winchester school, and was elected fellow of +New College. It does not appear that in the places of his education he +exhibited any uncommon proofs of genius or literature. His powers were +first displayed in the country, where he was distinguished as a poet, a +gentleman, and a skilful and useful justice of the peace. + +Of the close of his life, those whom his poems have delighted will read +with pain the following account, copied from the "Letters" of his friend +Shenstone, by whom he was too much resembled:-- + +"--Our old friend Somervile is dead! I did not imagine I could have been +so sorry as I find myself on this occasion. Sublatum quaerimus. I can +now excuse all his foibles; impute them to age, and to distress of +circumstances: the last of these considerations wrings my very soul to +think on. For a man of high spirit conscious of having (at least in one +production) generally pleased the world, to be plagued and threatened by +wretches that are low in every sense; to be forced to drink himself into +pains of the body, in order to get rid of the pains of the mind is a +misery."--He died July 19, 1742, and was buried at Wotton, near Henley +on Arden. + +His distresses need not be much pitied: his estate is said to be fifteen +hundred a year, which by his death has devolved to Lord Somervile of +Scotland. His mother, indeed, who lived till ninety, had a jointure of +six hundred. + +It is with regret that I find myself not better enabled to exhibit +memorials of a writer who at least must be allowed to have set a good +example to men of his own class, by devoting part of his time to elegant +knowledge; and who has shown, by the subjects which his poetry has +adorned, that it is practicable to be at once a skilful sportsman and a +man of letters. + +Somervile has tried many modes of poetry; and though perhaps he has not +in any reached such excellence as to raise much envy, it may commonly be +said at least, that "he writes very well for a gentleman." His serious +pieces are sometimes elevated; and his trifles are sometimes elegant. In +his verses to Addison, the couplet which mentions Clio is written with +the most exquisite delicacy of praise; it exhibits one of those happy +strokes that are seldom attained. In his Odes to Marlborough there are +beautiful lines; but in the second Ode he shows that he knew little +of his hero, when he talks of his private virtues. His subjects +are commonly such as require no great depth of thought or energy of +expression. His Fables are generally stale, and therefore excite +no curiosity. Of his favourite, "The Two Springs," the fiction is +unnatural, and the moral inconsequential. In his Tales there is too +much coarseness, with too little care of language, and not sufficient +rapidity of narration. His great work is his Chase, which he undertook +in his maturer age, when his ear was improved to the approbation of +blank verse, of which, however, his two first lines give a bad specimen. +To this poem praise cannot be totally denied. He is allowed by sportsmen +to write with great intelligence of his subject, which is the first +requisite to excellence; and though it is impossible to interest the +common readers of verse in the dangers or pleasures of the chase, he has +done all that transition and variety could easily effect; and has with +great propriety enlarged his plan by the modes of hunting used in other +countries. + +With still less judgment did he choose blank verse as the vehicle of +"Rural Sports." If blank verse be not tumid and gorgeous, it is +crippled prose; and familiar images in laboured language have nothing +to recommend them but absurd novelty, which, wanting the attractions of +nature, cannot please long. One excellence of the "Splendid Shilling" +is, that it is short. Disguise can gratify no longer than it deceives. + + + + +THOMSON. + + +James Thomson, the son of a minister well esteemed for his piety +and diligence, was born September 7, 1700, at Ednam, in the shire of +Roxburgh, of which his father was pastor. His mother, whose name was +Hume, inherited as co-heiress a portion of a small estate. The revenue +of a parish in Scotland is seldom large; and it was probably in +commiseration of the difficulty with which Mr. Thomson supported +his family, having nine children, that Mr. Riccarton, a neighbouring +minister, discovering in James uncommon promises of future excellence, +undertook to superintend his education, and provide him books. He was +taught the common rudiments of learning at the school of Jedburgh, a +place which he delights to recollect in his poem of "Autumn;" but was +not considered by his master as superior to common boys, though in +those early days he amused his patron and his friends with poetical +compositions; with which, however, he so little pleased himself that on +every New Year's Day he threw into the fire all the productions of the +foregoing year. + +From the school he was removed to Edinburgh, where he had not resided +two years when his father died, and left all his children to the care +of their mother, who raised upon her little estate what money a mortgage +could afford; and, removing with her family to Edinburgh, lived to see +her son rising into eminence. + +The design of Thomson's friends was to breed him a minister. He lived at +Edinburgh, at a school, without distinction or expectation, till at the +usual time he performed a probationary exercise by explaining a psalm. +His diction was so poetically splendid, that Mr. Hamilton, the professor +of divinity, reproved him for speaking language unintelligible to a +popular audience; and he censured one of his expressions as indecent, if +not profane. This rebuke is reported to have repressed his thoughts +of an ecclesiastical character, and he probably cultivated with new +diligence his blossoms of poetry, which, however, were in some danger of +a blast; for, submitting his productions to some who thought themselves +qualified to criticise, he heard of nothing but faults; but, finding +other judges more favourable, he did not suffer himself to sink into +despondence. He easily discovered that the only stage on which a poet +could appear with any hope of advantage was London; a place too wide for +the operation of petty competition and private malignity, where merit +might soon become conspicuous, and would find friends as soon as it +became reputable to befriend it. A lady who was acquainted with his +mother advised him to the journey, and promised some countenance or +assistance, which at last he never received; however, he justified his +adventure by her encouragement, and came to seek in London patronage and +fame. At his arrival he found his way to Mr. Mallet, then tutor to the +sons of the Duke of Montrose. He had recommendations to several persons +of consequence, which he had tied up carefully in his handkerchief; but +as he passed along the street, with the gaping curiosity of a newcomer, +his attention was upon everything rather than his pocket, and his +magazine of credentials was stolen from him. + +His first want was a pair of shoes. For the supply of all his +necessities, his whole fund was his "Winter," which for a time could +find no purchaser; till at last Mr. Millan was persuaded to buy it at +a low price; and this low price he had for some time reason to regret; +but, by accident, Mr. Whately, a man not wholly unknown among authors, +happening to turn his eye upon it, was so delighted that he ran from +place to place celebrating its excellence. Thomson obtained likewise the +notice of Aaron Hill, whom, being friendless and indigent, and glad of +kindness, he courted with every expression of servile adulation. + +"Winter" was dedicated to Sir Spencer Compton, but attracted no regard +from him to the author; till Aaron Hill awakened his attention by some +verses addressed to Thomson, and published in one of the newspapers, +which censured the great for their neglect of ingenious men. Thomson +then received a present of twenty guineas, of which he gives this +account to Mr. Hill:-- + +"I hinted to you in my last that on Saturday morning I was with Sir +Spencer Compton. A certain gentleman, without my desire, spoke to him +concerning me: his answer was that I had never come near him. Then the +gentleman put the question, if he desired that I should wait on him? He +returned, he did. On this the gentleman gave me an introductory letter +to him. He received me in what they commonly call a civil manner; asked +me some common-place questions, and made me a present of twenty guineas. +I am very ready to own that the present was larger than my performance +deserved; and shall ascribe it to his generosity, or any other cause, +rather than the merit of the address." + +The poem, which, being of a new kind, few would venture at first to +like, by degrees gained upon the public; and one edition was very +speedily succeeded by another. + +Thomson's credit was now high, and every day brought him new friends; +among others Dr. Rundle, a man afterwards unfortunately famous, sought +his acquaintance, and found his qualities such that he recommended him +to the Lord Chancellor Talbot. + +"Winter" was accompanied, in many editions, not only with a preface +and dedication, but with poetical praises by Mr. Hill, Mr. Mallet (then +Malloch), and Mira, the fictitious name of a lady once too well known. +Why the dedications are, to "Winter" and the other Seasons, contrarily +to custom, left out in the collected works, the reader may inquire. + +The next year (1727) he distinguished himself by three publications: of +"Summer," in pursuance of his plan; of "A Poem on the Death of Sir Isaac +Newton," which he was enabled to perform as an exact philosopher by +the instruction of Mr. Gray; and of "Britannia," a kind of poetical +invective against the Ministry, whom the nation then thought not forward +enough in resenting the depredations of the Spaniards. By this piece +he declared himself an adherent to the Opposition, and had therefore no +favour to expect from the Court. + +Thomson, having been some time entertained in the family of Lord +Binning, was desirous of testifying his gratitude by making him the +patron of his "Summer;" but the same kindness which had first disposed +Lord Binning to encourage him, determined him to refuse the dedication, +which was by his advice addressed to Mr. Dodington, a man who had more +power to advance the reputation and fortune of a poet. + +"Spring" was published next year, with a dedication to the Countess of +Hertford, whose practice it was to invite every summer some poet into +the country, to hear her verses and assist her studies. This honour was +one summer conferred on Thomson, who took more delight in carousing with +Lord Hertford and his friends than assisting her ladyship's poetical +operations, and therefore never received another summons. + +"Autumn," the season to which the "Spring" and "Summer" are preparatory, +still remained unsung, and was delayed till he published (1730) his +works collected. + +He produced in 1727 the tragedy of Sophonisba, which raised such +expectation that every rehearsal was dignified with a splendid audience, +collected to anticipate the delight that was preparing for the public. +It was observed, however, that nobody was much affected, and that the +company rose as from a moral lecture. It had upon the stage no unusual +degree of success. Slight accidents will operate upon the taste of +pleasure. There is a feeble line in the play:-- + + "O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O!" + +This gave occasion to a waggish parody-- + + "O, Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O!" + +which for a while was echoed through the town. + +I have been told by Savage, that of the prologue to Sophonisba, the +first part was written by Pope, who could not be persuaded to finish it; +and that the concluding lines were added by Mallet. + +Thomson was not long afterwards, by the influence of Dr. Rundle, sent to +travel with Mr. Charles Talbot, the eldest son of the Chancellor. He +was yet young enough to receive new impressions, to have his opinions +rectified and his views enlarged; nor can he be supposed to have wanted +that curiosity which is inseparable from an active and comprehensive +mind. He may therefore now be supposed to have revelled in all the +joys of intellectual luxury; he was every day feasted with instructive +novelties; he lived splendidly without expense: and might expect when he +returned home a certain establishment. + +At this time a long course of opposition to Sir Robert Walpole had +filled the nation with clamours for liberty, of which no man felt the +want, and with care for liberty which was not in danger. Thomson, in his +travels on the Continent, found or fancied so many evils arising from +the tyranny of other governments, that he resolved to write a very long +poem, in five parts, upon Liberty. While he was busy on the first book, +Mr. Talbot died; and Thomson, who had been rewarded for his attendance +by the place of secretary of the briefs, pays in the initial lines a +decent tribute to his memory. Upon this great poem two years were spent, +and the author congratulated himself upon it as his noblest work; but an +author and his reader are not always of a mind. Liberty called in vain +upon her votaries to read her praises, and reward her encomiast: her +praises were condemned to harbour spiders, and to gather dust: none +of Thomson's performances were so little regarded. The judgment of the +public was not erroneous; the recurrence of the same images must tire +in time; an enumeration of examples to prove a position which nobody +denied, as it was from the beginning superfluous, must quickly grow +disgusting. + +The poem of "Liberty" does not now appear in its original state; but, +when the author's works were collected after his death, was shortened +by Sir George Lyttelton, with a liberty which, as it has a manifest +tendency to lessen the confidence of society, and to confound the +characters of authors, by making one man write by the judgment +of another, cannot be justified by any supposed propriety of the +alteration, or kindness of the friend. I wish to see it exhibited as its +author left it. + +Thomson now lived in ease and plenty, and seems for a while to have +suspended his poetry: but he was soon called back to labour by the death +of the Chancellor, for his place then became vacant; and though the Lord +Hardwicke delayed for some time to give it away, Thomson's bashfulness +or pride, or some other motive perhaps not more laudable, withheld him +from soliciting; and the new Chancellor would not give him what he would +not ask. He now relapsed to his former indigence; but the Prince of +Wales was at that time struggling for popularity, and by the influence +of Mr. Lyttelton professed himself the patron of wit; to him Thomson was +introduced, and being gaily interrogated about the state of his affairs +said "that they were in a more poetical posture than formerly," and had +a pension allowed him of one hundred pounds a year. + +Being now obliged to write, he produced (1738) the tragedy of Agamemnon, +which was much shortened in the representation. It had the fate which +most commonly attends mythological stories, and was only endured, but +not favoured. It struggled with such difficulty through the first +night that Thomson, coming late to his friends with whom he was to sup, +excused his delay by telling them how the sweat of his distress had so +disordered his wig that he could not come till he had been refitted by +a barber. He so interested himself in his own drama that, if I remember +right, as he sat in the upper gallery, he accompanied the players by +audible recitation, till a friendly hint frighted him to silence. +Pope countenanced Agamemnon by coming to it, the first night, and +was welcomed to the theatre by a general clap; he had much regard for +Thomson, and once expressed it in a poetical epistle sent to Italy, of +which, however, he abated the value by transplanting some of the lines +into his Epistle to Arbuthnot. + +About this time (1737) the Act was passed for licensing plays, of which +the first operation was the prohibition of Gustavus Vasa, a tragedy of +Mr. Brooke, whom the public recompensed by a very liberal subscription; +the next was the refusal of Edward and Eleonora, offered by Thomson. It +is hard to discover why either play should have been obstructed. Thomson +likewise endeavoured to repair his loss by a subscription, of which +I cannot now tell the success. When the public murmured at the unkind +treatment of Thomson, one of the Ministerial writers remarked that "he +had taken a Liberty which was not agreeable to Britannia in any Season." +He was soon after employed, in conjunction with Mr. Mallet, to write the +masque of Alfred, which was acted before the Prince at Cliefden House. + +His next work (1745) was, Tancred and Sigismunda, the most successful of +all his tragedies, for it still keeps its turn upon the stage. It may be +doubted whether he was, either by the bent of nature or habits of study, +much qualified for tragedy. It does not appear that he had much sense +of the pathetic; and his diffusive and descriptive style produced +declamation rather than dialogue. His friend Mr. Lyttelton was now in +power, and conferred upon him the office of Surveyor-General of the +Leeward Islands; from which, when his deputy was paid, he received about +three hundred pounds a year. + +The last piece that he lived to publish was the "Castle of Indolence," +which was many years under his hand, but was at last finished with great +accuracy. The first canto opens a scene of lazy luxury that fills the +imagination. He was now at ease, but was not long to enjoy it, for, by +taking cold on the water between London and Kew, he caught a disorder, +which, with some careless exasperation, ended in a fever that put an end +to his life, August 27, 1748. He was buried in the church of Richmond, +without an inscription; but a monument has been erected to his memory in +Westminster Abbey. + +Thomson was of stature above the middle size, and "more fat than bard +beseems," of a dull countenance and a gross, unanimated, uninviting +appearance; silent in mingled company, but cheerful among select +friends, and by his friends very tenderly and warmly beloved. He left +behind him the tragedy of Coriolanus, which was, by the zeal of his +patron, Sir George Lyttelton, brought upon the stage for the benefit +of his family, and recommended by a prologue, which Quin, who had long +lived with Thomson in fond intimacy, spoke in such a manner as showed +him "to be," on that occasion, "no actor." The commencement of this +benevolence is very honourable to Quin, who is reported to have +delivered Thomson, then known to him only for his genius, from an arrest +by a very considerable present; and its continuance is honourable to +both, for friendship is not always the sequel of obligation. By this +tragedy a considerable sum was raised, of which part discharged his +debts, and the rest was remitted to his sisters, whom, however removed +from them by place or condition, he regarded with great tenderness, +as will appear by the following letter, which I communicate with +much pleasure, as it gives me at once an opportunity of recording the +fraternal kindness of Thomson, and reflecting on the friendly assistance +of Mr. Boswell, from whom I received it:-- + + "Hagley in Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747. + +"My Dear Sister,--I thought you had known me better than to interpret +my silence into a decay of affection, especially as your behaviour has +always been such as rather to increase than diminish it. Don't imagine, +because I am a bad correspondent, that I can ever prove an unkind friend +and brother. I must do myself the justice to tell you that my affections +are naturally very fixed and constant; and if I had ever reason of +complaint against you (of which, by-the-bye, I have not the least +shadow), I am conscious of so many defects in myself as dispose me to be +not a little charitable and forgiving. + +"It gives me the truest heart-felt satisfaction to hear you have a good +kind husband, and are in easy contented circumstances; but were they +otherwise, that would only awaken and heighten my tenderness towards +you. As our good and tender-hearted parents did not live to receive any +material testimonies of that highest human gratitude I owed them (than +which nothing could have given me equal pleasure), the only return I can +make them now is by kindness to those they left behind them. Would to +God poor Lizy had lived longer, to have been a farther witness of the +truth of what I say and that I might have had the pleasure of seeing +once more a sister who so truly deserved my esteem and love! But she is +happy, while we must toil a little longer here below: let us, however, +do it cheerfully and gratefully, supported by the pleasing hope of +meeting you again on a safer shore, where to recollect the storms and +difficulties of life will not perhaps be inconsistent with that blissful +state. You did right to call your daughter by her name: for you must +needs have had a particular tender friendship for one another, endeared +as you were by nature, by having passed the affectionate years of your +youth together: and by that great softener and engager of hearts, mutual +hardship. That it was in my power to ease it a little, I account one of +the most exquisite pleasures of my life. But enough of this melancholy, +though not unpleasing, strain. + +"I esteem you for your sensible and disinterested advice to Mr. Bell, as +you will see by my letter to him. As I approve entirely of his marrying +again, you may readily ask me why I don't marry at all. My circumstances +have hitherto been so variable and uncertain in this fluctuating world, +as induce to keep me from engaging in such a state: and now, though +they are more settled, and of late (which you will be glad to hear) +considerably improved, I begin to think myself too far advanced in life +for such youthful undertakings, not to mention some other petty reasons +that are apt to startle the delicacy of difficult old bachelors. I am, +however, not a little suspicious that, was I to pay a visit to Scotland +(which I have some thought of doing soon), I might possibly be tempted +to think of a thing not easily repaired if done amiss. I have always +been of opinion that none make better wives than the ladies of Scotland; +and yet who more forsaken than they, while the gentlemen are continually +running abroad all the world over? Some of them, it is true, are wise +enough to return for a wife. You see, I am beginning to make interest +already with the Scots ladies. But no more of this infectious subject. +Pray let me hear from you now and then; and though I am not a regular +correspondent, yet perhaps I may mend in that respect. Remember me +kindly to your husband, and believe me to be + + "Your most affectionate Brother, + "James Thomson." + (Addressed) "To Mrs. Thomson in Lanark." + +The benevolence of Thomson was fervid, but not active; he would give on +all occasions what assistance his purse would supply, but the offices +of intervention or solicitation he could not conquer his sluggishness +sufficiently to perform. The affairs of others, however, were not +more neglected than his own. He had often felt the inconveniences +of idleness, but he never cured it; and was so conscious of his own +character that he talked of writing an Eastern tale "Of the Man who +Loved to be in Distress." Among his peculiarities was a very unskilful +and inarticulate manner of pronouncing any lofty or solemn composition. +He was once reading to Dodington, who, being himself a reader eminently +elegant, was so much provoked by his odd utterance that he snatched the +paper from his hands and told him that he did not understand his own +verses. + +The biographer of Thomson has remarked that an author's life is best +read in his works; his observation was not well timed. Savage, who lived +much with Thomson, once told me how he heard a lady remarking that she +could gather from his works three-parts of his character: that he was +"a great lover, a great swimmer, and rigorously abstinent;" "but," said +Savage, "he knows not any love but that of the sex; he was, perhaps, +never in cold water in his life; and he indulges himself in all the +luxury that comes within his reach." Yet Savage always spoke with the +most eager praise of his social qualities, his warmth and constancy +of friendship, and his adherence to his first acquaintance when the +advancement of his reputation had left them behind him. + +As a writer, he is entitled to one praise of the highest kind: his mode +of thinking and of expressing his thoughts is original. His blank verse +is no more the blank verse of Milton, or of any other poet, than the +rhymes of Prior are the rhymes of Cowley. His numbers, his pauses, +his diction, are of his own growth, without transcription, without +imitation. He thinks in a peculiar train, and he thinks always as a +man of genius; he looks round on Nature and on Life with the eye which +Nature bestows only on a poet; the eye that distinguishes in everything +presented to its view whatever there is on which imagination can delight +to be detained, and with a mind that at once comprehends the vast and +attends to the minute. The reader of the "Seasons" wonders that he never +saw before what Thomson shows him, and that he never yet has felt what +Thomson impresses. His is one of the works in which blank verse seems +properly used. Thomson's wide expansion of general views, and his +enumeration of circumstantial varieties, would have been obstructed and +embarrassed by the frequent intersections of the sense, which are the +necessary effects of rhyme. His descriptions of extended scenes and +general effects bring before us the whole magnificence of Nature, +whether pleasing or dreadful. The gaiety of Spring, the splendour of +Summer, the tranquillity of Autumn, and the horror of Winter, take +in their turns possession of the mind. The poet leads us through +the appearances of things as they are successively varied by the +vicissitudes of the year, and imparts to us so much of his own +enthusiasm that our thoughts expand with his imagery and kindle with his +sentiments. Nor is the naturalist without his part in the entertainment, +for he is assisted to recollect and to combine, to arrange his +discoveries, and to amplify the sphere of his contemplation. The great +defect of the "Seasons" is want of method; but for this I know not that +there was any remedy. Of many appearances subsisting all at once, no +rule can be given why one should be mentioned before another; yet the +memory wants the help of order, and the curiosity is not excited by +suspense or expectation. His diction is in the highest degree florid and +luxuriant, such as may be said to be to his images and thoughts "both +their lustre and their shade;" such as invests them with splendour, +through which, perhaps, they are not always easily discerned. It is too +exuberant, and sometimes may be charged with filling the ear more than +the mind. + +These poems, with which I was acquainted at their first appearance, I +have since found altered and enlarged by subsequent revisals, as +the author supposed his judgment to grow more exact, and as books or +conversation extended his knowledge and opened his prospects. They are, +I think, improved in general; yet I know not whether they have not lost +part of what Temple calls their "race," a word which, applied to wines +in its primitive sense, means the flavour of the soil. + +"Liberty," when it first appeared, I tried to read, and soon desisted. +I have never tried again, and therefore will not hazard either praise +or censure. The highest praise which he has received ought not to +be suppressed: it is said by Lord Lyttelton, in the Prologue to his +posthumous play, that his works contained + + "No line which, dying, he could wish to blot." + + + + +WATTS. + + +The poems of Dr. Watts were, by my recommendation, inserted in the late +Collection, the readers of which are to impute to me whatever pleasure +or weariness they may find in the perusal of Blackmore, Watts, Pomfret, +and Yalden. + +Isaac Watts was born July 17, 1674, at Southampton, where his father, of +the same name, kept a boarding-school for young gentlemen, though common +report makes him a shoemaker. He appears, from the narrative of Dr. +Gibbons, to have been neither indigent nor illiterate. + +Isaac, the eldest of nine children, was given to books from his infancy, +and began, we are told, to learn Latin when he was four years old--I +suppose, at home. He was afterwards taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, by +Mr. Pinhorne, a clergyman, master of the Free School at Southampton, to +whom the gratitude of his scholar afterwards inscribed a Latin ode. +His proficiency at school was so conspicuous that a subscription +was proposed for his support at the University, but he declared his +resolution of taking his lot with the Dissenters. Such he was as every +Christian Church would rejoice to have adopted. He therefore repaired, +in 1690, to an academy taught by Mr. Rowe, where he had for his +companions and fellow students Mr. Hughes the poet, and Dr. Horte, +afterwards Archbishop of Tuam. Some Latin Essays, supposed to have been +written as exercises at this academy, show a degree of knowledge, both +philosophical and theological, such as very few attain by a much longer +course of study. He was, as he hints in his "Miscellanies," a maker of +verses from fifteen to fifty, and in his youth he appears to have paid +attention to Latin poetry. His verses to his brother, in the glyconic +measure, written when he was seventeen, are remarkably easy and +elegant. Some of his other odes are deformed by the Pindaric folly then +prevailing, and are written with such neglect of all metrical rules as +is without example among the ancients; but his diction, though perhaps +not always exactly pure, has such copiousness and splendour as shows +that he was but a very little distance from excellence. His method +of study was to impress the contents of his books upon his memory by +abridging them, and by interleaving them to amplify one system with +supplements from another. + +With the congregation of his tutor, Mr. Rowe, who were, I believe, +Independents, he communicated in his nineteenth year. At the age of +twenty he left the academy, and spent two years in study and devotion at +the house of his father, who treated him with great tenderness, and had +the happiness, indulged to few parents, of living to see his son eminent +for literature and venerable for piety. He was then entertained by Sir +John Hartopp five years, as domestic tutor to his son, and in that time +particularly devoted himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures; and, +being chosen assistant to Dr. Chauncey, preached the first time on the +birthday that completed his twenty-fourth year, probably considering +that as the day of a second nativity, by which he entered on a new +period of existence. + +In about three years he succeeded Dr. Chauncey; but soon after his +entrance on his charge he was seized by a dangerous illness, which +sunk him to such weakness that the congregation thought an assistant +necessary, and appointed Mr. Price. His health then returned gradually, +and he performed his duty till (1712) he was seized by a fever of such +violence and continuance, that from the feebleness which it brought +upon him he never perfectly recovered. This calamitous state made the +compassion of his friends necessary, and drew upon him the attention +of Sir Thomas Abney, who received him into his house, where, with a +constancy of friendship and uniformity of conduct not often to be +found, he was treated for thirty-six years with all the kindness that +friendship could prompt, and all the attention that respect could +dictate. Sir Thomas died about eight years afterwards, but he continued +with the lady and her daughters to the end of his life. The lady died +about a year after him. + +A coalition like this, a state in which the notions of patronage and +dependence were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal benefits, +deserves a particular memorial; and I will not withhold from the reader +Dr. Gibbons's representation, to which regard is to be paid as to the +narrative of one who writes what he knows, and what is known likewise to +multitudes besides:-- + +"Our next observation shall be made upon that remarkably kind Providence +which brought the Doctor into Sir Thomas Abney's family, and continued +him there till his death, a period of no less than thirty-six years. In +the midst of his sacred labours for the glory of God, and good of his +generation, he is seized with a most violent and threatening fever, +which leaves him oppressed with great weakness, and puts a stop at +least to his public services for four years. In this distressing season, +doubly so to his active and pious spirit, he is invited to Sir Thomas +Abney's family, nor ever removes from it till he had finished his +days. Here he enjoyed the uninterrupted demonstrations of the truest +friendship. Here, without any care of his own, he had everything which +could contribute to the enjoyment of life, and favour the unwearied +pursuit of his studies. Here he dwelt in a family which, for piety, +order, harmony, and every virtue, was a house of God. Here he had the +privilege of a country recess, the fragrant bower, the spreading lawn, +the flowery garden, and other advantages, to soothe his mind and aid +his restoration to health; to yield him, whenever he chose them, most +grateful intervals from his laborious studies, and enable him to return +to them with redoubled vigour and delight. Had it not been for this +most happy event, he might, as to outward view, have feebly, it may be +painfully, dragged on through many more years of languor, and inability +for public service, and even for profitable study, or perhaps might have +sunk into his grave under the overwhelming load of infirmities in +the midst of his days; and thus the Church and world would have been +deprived of those many excellent sermons and works which he drew up and +published during his long residence in this family. In a few years +after his coming hither, Sir Thomas Abney dies; but his amiable consort +survives, who shows the Doctor the same respect and friendship as +before, and most happily for him and great numbers besides; for, as +her riches were great, her generosity and munificence were in full +proportion; her thread of life was drawn out to a great age, even beyond +that of the Doctor's, and thus this excellent man, through her kindness, +and that of her daughter, the present Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who in a +like degree esteemed and honoured him, enjoyed all the benefits and +felicities he experienced at his first entrance into this family till +his days were numbered and finished, and, like a shock of corn in its +season, he ascended into the regions of perfect and immortal life and +joy." + +If this quotation has appeared long, let it be considered that it +comprises an account of six-and-thirty years, and those the years of Dr. +Watts. + +From the time of his reception into this family his life was no +otherwise diversified than by successive publications. The series of his +works I am not able to deduce; their number and their variety show the +intenseness of his industry and the extent of his capacity. He was one +of the first authors that taught the Dissenters to court attention by +the graces of language. Whatever they had among them before, whether of +learning or acuteness, was commonly obscured and blunted by coarseness +and inelegance of style. He showed them that zeal and purity might be +expressed and enforced by polished diction. He continued to the end of +his life a teacher of a congregation, and no reader of his works can +doubt his fidelity or diligence. In the pulpit, though his low stature, +which very little exceeded five feet, graced him with no advantages +of appearance, yet the gravity and propriety of his utterance made his +discourses very efficacious. I once mentioned the reputation which Mr. +Foster had gained by his proper delivery, to my friend Dr. Hawkesworth, +who told me that in the art of pronunciation he was far inferior to +Dr. Watts. Such was his flow of thoughts, and such his promptitude of +language, that in the latter part of his life he did not precompose his +cursory sermons, but, having adjusted the heads and sketched out some +particulars, trusted for success to his extemporary powers. He did not +endeavour to assist his eloquence by any gesticulations; for, as no +corporeal actions have any correspondence with theological truth, he +did not see how they could enforce it. At the conclusion of weighty +sentences he gave time, by a short pause, for the proper impression. + +To stated and public instruction he added familiar visits and personal +application, and was careful to improve the opportunities which +conversation offered of diffusing and increasing the influence of +religion. By his natural temper he was quick of resentment; but by +his established and habitual practice he was gentle, modest, and +inoffensive. His tenderness appeared in his attention to children, and +to the poor. To the poor, while he lived in the family of his friend, he +allowed the third part of his annual revenue; though the whole was not +a hundred a year; and for children he condescended to lay aside +the scholar, the philosopher, and the wit, to write little poems +of devotion, and systems of instruction, adapted to their wants and +capacities, from the dawn of reason through its gradations of advance in +the morning of life. Every man acquainted with the common principles of +human action will look with veneration on the writer who is at one time +combating Locke, and at another making a catechism for children in their +fourth year. A voluntary descent from the dignity of science is perhaps +the hardest lesson that humility can teach. + +As his mind was capacious, his curiosity excursive, and his industry +continual, his writings are very numerous and his subjects various. With +his theological works I am only enough acquainted to admire his meekness +of opposition, and his mildness of censure. It was not only in his book, +but in his mind, that orthodoxy was united with charity. + +Of his philosophical pieces, his "Logic" has been received into the +Universities, and therefore wants no private recommendation; if he owes +part of it to Le Clerc, it must be considered that no man who undertakes +merely to methodise or illustrate a system pretends to be its author. + +In his metaphysical disquisitions it was observed by the late learned +Mr. Dyer, that he confounded the idea of SPACE with that of EMPTY SPACE, +and did not consider that though space might be without matter, yet +matter being extended could not be without space. + +Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his +"Improvement of the Mind," of which the radical principle may indeed +be found in Locke's "Conduct of the Understanding;" but they are so +expanded and ramified by Watts, as to confer upon him the merit of a +work in the highest degree useful and pleasing. Whoever has the care of +instructing others may be charged with deficiency in his duty if this +book is not recommended. + +I have mentioned his treatises of theology as distinct from his other +productions; but the truth is that whatever he took in hand was, by +his incessant solicitude for souls, converted to theology. As piety +predominated in his mind, it is diffused over his works. Under his +direction it may be truly said, Theologiae philosophia ancillatur +(Philosophy is subservient to evangelical instruction). It is difficult +to read a page without learning, or at least wishing, to be better. The +attention is caught by indirect instruction; and he that sat down only +to reason is on a sudden compelled to pray. It was therefore with great +propriety that, in 1728, he received from Edinburgh and Aberdeen an +unsolicited diploma, by which he became a Doctor of Divinity. Academical +honours would have more value if they were always bestowed with equal +judgment. He continued many years to study and to preach, and to do +good by his instruction and example, till at last the infirmities of age +disabled him from the more laborious part of his ministerial functions, +and, being no longer capable of public duty, he offered to remit the +salary appendent to it; but his congregation would not accept the +resignation. By degrees his weakness increased, and at last confined +him to his chamber and his bed, where he was worn gradually away without +pain, till he expired November 25th 1748, in the seventy-fifth year of +his age. + +Few men have left behind such purity of character, or such monuments of +laborious piety. He has provided instruction for all ages--from those +who are lisping their first lessons, to the enlightened readers of +Malebranche and Locke; he has left neither corporeal nor spiritual +nature unexamined; he has taught the art of reasoning, and the science +of the stars. His character, therefore, must be formed from the +multiplicity and diversity of his attainments, rather than from any +single performance, for it would not be safe to claim for him the +highest rank in any single denomination of literary dignity; yet, +perhaps, there was nothing in which he would not have excelled, if he +had not divided his powers to different pursuits. + +As a poet, had he been only a poet, he would probably have stood high +among the authors with whom he is now associated. For his judgment was +exact, and he noted beauties and faults with very nice discernment; his +imagination, as the "Dacian Battle" proves, was vigorous and active, +and the stores of knowledge were large by which his fancy was to be +supplied. His ear was well tuned, and his diction was elegant +and copious. But his devotional poetry is, like that of others, +unsatisfactory. The paucity of its topics enforces perpetual repetition, +and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative +diction. It is sufficient for Watts to have done better than others what +no man has done well. His poems on other subjects seldom rise higher +than might be expected from the amusements of a man of letters, and have +different degrees of value as they are more or less laboured, or as the +occasion was more or less favourable to invention. He writes too often +without regular measures, and too often in blank verse; the rhymes are +not always sufficiently correspondent. He is particularly unhappy in +coining names expressive of characters. His lines are commonly smooth +and easy, and his thoughts always religiously pure; but who is there +that, to so much piety and innocence, does not wish for a greater +measure of sprightliness and vigour? He is at least one of the few poets +with whom youth and ignorance may be safely pleased; and happy will +be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to +imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to +man, and his reverence to God. + + + + +A. PHILIPS. + + +Of the birth or early part of the life of Ambrose Philips I have not +been able to find any account. His academical education he received at +St. John's College in Cambridge, where he first solicited the notice +of the world by some English verses, in the collection published by +the University on the death of Queen Mary. From this time how he was +employed, or in what station he passed his life, is not yet discovered. +He must have published his "Pastorals" before the year 1708, because +they are evidently prior to those of Pope. He afterwards (1709) +addressed to the universal patron, the Duke of Dorset, a "Poetical +Letter from Copenhagen," which was published in the Tatler, and is by +Pope, in one of his first Letters, mentioned with high praise as the +production of a man "who could write very nobly." + +Philips was a zealous Whig, and therefore easily found access to Addison +and Steele; but his ardour seems not to have procured him anything more +than kind words, since he was reduced to translate the "Persian Tales" +for Tonson, for which he was afterwards reproached, with this addition +of contempt, that he worked for half-a-crown. The book is divided into +many sections, for each of which, if he received half-a-crown, his +reward, as writers then were paid, was very liberal; but half-a-crown +had a mean sound. He was employed in promoting the principles of his +party, by epitomising Hacket's "Life of Archbishop Williams." The +original book is written with such depravity of genius, such mixture +of the fop and pedant, as has not often appeared. The epitome is free +enough from affectation, but has little spirit or vigour. + +In 1712 he brought upon the stage The Distressed Mother, almost a +translation of Racine's Andromaque. Such a work requires no uncommon +powers, but the friends of Philips exerted every art to promote his +interest. Before the appearance of the play a whole Spectator, none +indeed of the best, was devoted to its praise; while it yet continued to +be acted, another Spectator was written to tell what impression it made +upon Sir Roger, and on the first night a select audience, says Pope, was +called together to applaud it. It was concluded with the most successful +Epilogue that was ever yet spoken on the English theatre. The three +first nights it was recited twice, and not only continued to be demanded +through the run, as it is termed, of the play, but whenever it is +recalled to the stage, where by peculiar fortune, though a copy from the +French, it yet keeps its place, the Epilogue is still expected, and is +still spoken. + +The propriety of Epilogues in general, and consequently of this, +was questioned by a correspondent of the Spectator, whose letter was +undoubtedly admitted for the sake of the answer, which soon followed, +written with much zeal and acrimony. The attack and the defence equally +contributed to stimulate curiosity and continue attention. It may be +discovered in the defence that Prior's Epilogue to Phaedra had a little +excited jealousy, and something of Prior's plan may be discovered in +the performance of his rival. Of this distinguished Epilogue the reputed +author was the wretched Budgell, whom Addison used to denominate "the +man who calls me cousin;" and when he was asked how such a silly fellow +could write so well, replied, "The Epilogue was quite another thing when +I saw it first." It was known in Tonson's family, and told to Garrick, +that Addison was himself the author of it, and that, when it had been +at first printed with his name, he came early in the morning, before the +copies were distributed, and ordered it to be given to Budgell, that +it might add weight to the solicitation which he was then making for a +place. + +Philips was now high in the ranks of literature. His play was applauded; +his translations from Sappho had been published in the Spectator; he was +an important and distinguished associate of clubs, witty and poetical; +and nothing was wanting to his happiness but that he should be sure of +its continuance. The work which had procured him the first notice from +the public was his "Six Pastorals," which, flattering the imagination +with Arcadian scenes, probably found many readers, and might have long +passed as a pleasing amusement had they not been unhappily too much +commended. + +The rustic poems of Theocritus were so highly valued by the Greeks and +Romans that they attracted the imitation of Virgil, whose Eclogues seem +to have been considered as precluding all attempts of the same kind; for +no shepherds were taught to sing by any succeeding poet, till Nemesian +and Calphurnius ventured their feeble efforts in the lower age of Latin +literature. + +At the revival of learning in Italy it was soon discovered that a +dialogue of imaginary swains might be composed with little difficulty, +because the conversation of shepherds excludes profound or refined +sentiment; and for images and descriptions, satyrs and fauns, and naiads +and dryads, were always within call; and woods and meadows, and hills +and rivers, supplied variety of matter, which, having a natural power to +soothe the mind, did not quickly cloy it. + +Petrarch entertained the learned men of his age with the novelty of +modern pastorals in Latin. Being not ignorant of Greek, and finding +nothing in the word "eclogue" of rural meaning, he supposed it to be +corrupted by the copiers, and therefore called his own productions +"AEglogues," by which he meant to express the talk of goat-herds, +though it will mean only the talk of goats. This new name was adopted by +subsequent writers, and among others by our Spenser. + +More than a century afterwards (1498) Mantuan published his Bucolics +with such success that they were soon dignified by Badius with a +comment, and, as Scaliger complained, received into schools, and +taught as classical; his complaint was vain, and the practice, however +injudicious, spread far and continued long. Mantuan was read, at least +in some of the inferior schools of this kingdom, to the beginning of +the present century. The speakers of Mantuan carried their disquisitions +beyond the country to censure the corruptions of the Church, and from +him Spenser learned to employ his swains on topics of controversy. +The Italians soon transferred pastoral poetry into their own language. +Sannazaro wrote "Arcadia" in prose and verse; Tasso and Guarini wrote +"Favole Boschareccie," or Sylvan Dramas; and all nations of Europe +filled volumes with Thyrsis and Damon, and Thestylis and Phyllis. + +Philips thinks it "somewhat strange to conceive how, in an age so +addicted to the Muses, pastoral poetry never comes to be so much as +thought upon." His wonder seems very unseasonable; there had never, from +the time of Spenser, wanted writers to talk occasionally of Arcadia +and Strephon, and half the book, in which he first tried his powers, +consists of dialogues on Queen Mary's death, between Tityrus and +Corydon, or Mopsus and Menalcas. A series or book of pastorals, however, +I know not that anyone had then lately published. + +Not long afterwards Pope made the first display of his powers in four +pastorals, written in a very different form. Philips had taken Spenser, +and Pope took Virgil for his pattern. Philips endeavoured to be natural, +Pope laboured to be elegant. + +Philips was now favoured by Addison and by Addison's companions, who +were very willing to push him into reputation. The Guardian gave an +account of Pastoral, partly critical and partly historical; in which, +when the merit of the modern is compared, Tasso and Guarini are censured +for remote thoughts and unnatural refinements, and, upon the whole, the +Italians and French are all excluded from rural poetry, and the pipe of +the pastoral muse is transmitted by lawful inheritance from Theocritus +to Virgil, from Virgil to Spenser, and from Spenser to Philips. With +this inauguration of Philips his rival Pope was not much delighted; he +therefore drew a comparison of Philips's performance with his own, in +which, with an unexampled and unequalled artifice of irony, though he +has himself always the advantage, he gives the preference to Philips. +The design of aggrandising himself he disguised with such dexterity +that, though Addison discovered it, Steele was deceived, and was afraid +of displeasing Pope by publishing his paper. Published however it was +(Guardian, No. 40), and from that time Pope and Philips lived in a +perpetual reciprocation of malevolence. In poetical powers, of either +praise or satire, there was no proportion between the combatants; but +Philips, though he could not prevail by wit, hoped to hurt Pope +with another weapon, and charged him, as Pope thought with Addison's +approbation, as disaffected to the Government. Even with this he was not +satisfied, for, indeed, there is no appearance that any regard was paid +to his clamours. He proceeded to grosser insults, and hung up a rod at +Button's, with which he threatened to chastise Pope, who appears to have +been extremely exasperated, for in the first edition of his Letters he +calls Philips "rascal," and in the last still charges him with detaining +in his hands the subscriptions for "Homer" delivered to him by the +Hanover Club. I suppose it was never suspected that he meant to +appropriate the money; he only delayed, and with sufficient meanness, +the gratification of him by whose prosperity he was pained. + +Men sometimes suffer by injudicious kindness; Philips became ridiculous, +without his own fault, by the absurd admiration of his friends, +who decorated him with honorary garlands, which the first breath of +contradiction blasted. + +When upon the succession of the House of Hanover every Whig expected to +be happy, Philips seems to have obtained too little notice; he caught +few drops of the golden shower, though he did not omit what flattery +could perform. He was only made a commissioner of the lottery (1717), +and, what did not much elevate his character, a justice of the peace. + +The success of his first play must naturally dispose him to turn his +hopes towards the stage; he did not, however, soon commit himself to +the mercy of an audience, but contented himself with the fame already +acquired, till after nine years he produced (1722) The Briton, a tragedy +which, whatever was its reception, is now neglected; though one of the +scenes, between Vanoc the British Prince and Valens the Roman General, +is confessed to be written with great dramatic skill, animated by spirit +truly poetical. He had not been idle though he had been silent, for he +exhibited another tragedy the same year on the story of Humphry, Duke of +Gloucester. This tragedy is only remembered by its title. + +His happiest undertaking was (1711) of a paper called The Freethinker, +in conjunction with associates, of whom one was Dr. Boulter, who, then +only minister of a parish in Southwark, was of so much consequence to +the Government that he was made first Bishop of Bristol, and afterwards +Primate of Ireland, where his piety and his charity will be long +honoured. It may easily be imagined that what was printed under the +direction of Boulter would have nothing in it indecent or licentious; +its title is to be understood as implying only freedom from unreasonable +prejudice. It has been reprinted in volumes, but is little read; nor can +impartial criticism recommend it as worthy of revival. + +Boulter was not well qualified to write diurnal essays, but he knew how +to practise the liberality of greatness and the fidelity of friendship. +When he was advanced to the height of ecclesiastical dignity, he did +not forget the companion of his labours. Knowing Philips to be slenderly +supported, he took him to Ireland as partaker of his fortune, and, +making him his secretary, added such preferments as enabled him to +represent the county of Armagh in the Irish Parliament. In December, +1726, he was made secretary to the Lord Chancellor, and in August, 1733, +became Judge of the Prerogative Court. + +After the death of his patron he continued some years in Ireland, but at +last longing, as it seems, for his native country, he returned (1748) to +London, having doubtless survived most of his friends and enemies, and +among them his dreaded antagonist Pope. He found, however, the Duke of +Newcastle still living, and to him he dedicated his poems collected into +a volume. + +Having purchased an annuity of 400 pounds, he now certainly hoped +to pass some years of life in plenty and tranquillity; but his hope +deceived him: he was struck with a palsy, and died June 18, 1749, in his +seventy-eighth year. + +Of his personal character all that I have heard is, that he was eminent +for bravery and skill in the sword, and that in conversation he was +solemn and pompous. He had great sensibility of censure, if judgment +may be made by a single story which I heard long ago from Mr. Ing, a +gentleman of great eminence in Staffordshire. "Philips," said he, "was +once at table, when I asked him, 'How came thy king of Epirus to drive +oxen, and to say, "I'm goaded on by love"?' After which question he +never spoke again." + +Of The Distressed Mother not much is pretended to be his own, and +therefore it is no subject of criticism: his other two tragedies, +I believe, are not below mediocrity, nor above it. Among the poems +comprised in the late Collection, the "Letter from Denmark" may be +justly praised; the Pastorals, which by the writer of the Guardian were +ranked as one of the four genuine productions of the rustic Muse, cannot +surely be despicable. That they exhibit a mode of life which did not +exist, nor ever existed, is not to be objected: the supposition of +such a state is allowed to be pastoral. In his other poems he cannot +be denied the praise of lines sometimes elegant; but he has seldom +much force or much comprehension. The pieces that please best are +those which, from Pope and Pope's adherents, procured him the name of +"Namby-Pamby," the poems of short lines, by which he paid his court to +all ages and characters, from Walpole the "steerer of the realm," to +Miss Pulteney in the nursery. The numbers are smooth and sprightly, and +the diction is seldom faulty. They are not loaded with much thought, +yet, if they had been written by Addison, they would have had admirers: +little things are not valued but when they are done by those who can do +greater. + +In his translations from "Pindar" he found the art of reaching all the +obscurity of the Theban bard, however he may fall below his sublimity; +he will be allowed, if he has less fire, to have more smoke. He has +added nothing to English poetry, yet at least half his book deserves to +be read: perhaps he valued most himself that part which the critic would +reject. + + + + +WEST. + + +Gilbert West is one of the writers of whom I regret my inability to give +a sufficient account; the intelligence which my inquiries have obtained +is general and scanty. He was the son of the Rev. Dr. West; perhaps him +who published "Pindar" at Oxford about the beginning of this century. +His mother was sister to Sir Richard Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham. His +father, purposing to educate him for the Church, sent him first to Eton, +and afterwards to Oxford; but he was seduced to a more airy mode of +life, by a commission in a troop of horse, procured him by his uncle. He +continued some time in the army, though it is reasonable to suppose +that he never sunk into a mere soldier, nor ever lost the love, or much +neglected the pursuit, of learning; and afterwards, finding himself more +inclined to civil employment, he laid down his commission, and engaged +in business under the Lord Townshend, then Secretary of State, with whom +he attended the King to Hanover. + +His adherence to Lord Townshend ended in nothing but a nomination (May, +1729) to be Clerk-Extraordinary of the Privy Council, which produced no +immediate profit; for it only placed him in a state of expectation and +right of succession, and it was very long before a vacancy admitted him +to profit. + +Soon afterwards he married, and settled himself in a very pleasant house +at Wickham, in Kent, where he devoted himself to learning and to piety. +Of his learning the late Collection exhibits evidence, which would have +been yet fuller if the dissertations which accompany his version of +"Pindar" had not been improperly omitted. Of his piety the +influence has, I hope, been extended far by his "Observations on the +Resurrection," published in 1747, for which the University of Oxford +created him a Doctor of Laws, by diploma (March 30, 1748), and would +doubtless have reached yet further had he lived to complete what he +had for some time meditated--the "Evidences of the Truth of the New +Testament." Perhaps it may not be without effect to tell that he read +the prayers of the public Liturgy every morning to his family, and that +on Sunday evening he called his servants into the parlour and read to +them first a sermon and then prayers. Crashaw is now not the only maker +of verses to whom may be given the two venerable names of Poet and +Saint. He was very often visited by Lyttelton and Pitt, who, when they +were weary of faction and debates, used at Wickham to find books and +quiet, a decent table, and literary conversation. There is at Wickham +a walk made by Pitt; and, what is of far more importance, at Wickham, +Lyttelton received that conviction which produced his "Dissertation on +St. Paul." These two illustrious friends had for a while listened to the +blandishments of infidelity; and when West's book was published, it was +bought by some who did not know his change of opinion, in expectation +of new objections against Christianity; and as infidels do not want +malignity, they revenged the disappointment by calling him a Methodist. + +Mr. West's income was not large; and his friends endeavoured, but +without success, to obtain an augmentation. It is reported that the +education of the young Prince was offered to him, but that he required +a more extensive power of superintendence than it was thought proper to +allow him. In time, however, his revenue was improved; he lived to have +one of the lucrative clerkships of the Privy Council (1752); and Mr. +Pitt at last had it in his power to make him Treasurer of Chelsea +Hospital. He was now sufficiently rich; but wealth came too late to be +long enjoyed; nor could it secure him from the calamities of life; he +lost (1755) his only son; and the year after (March 26) a stroke of the +palsy brought to the grave one of the few poets to whom the grave might +be without its terrors. + +Of his translations I have only compared the first Olympic Ode with the +original, and found my expectation surpassed, both by its elegance and +its exactness. He does not confine himself to his author's train +of stanzas; for he saw that the difference of languages required a +different mode of versification. The first strophe is eminently happy; +in the second he has a little strayed from Pindar's meaning, who says, +"If thou, my soul, wishest to speak of games, look not in the desert sky +for a planet hotter than the sun; nor shall we tell of nobler games than +those of Olympia." He is sometimes too paraphrastical. Pindar bestows +upon Hiero an epithet which, in one word, signifies DELIGHTING IN +HORSES; a word which, in the translation, generates these lines:-- + + "Hiero's royal brows, whose care + Tends the courser's noble breed, + Pleased to nurse the pregnant mare, + Pleased to train the youthful steed." + +Pindar says of Pelops, that "he came alone in the dark to the White +Sea;" and West-- + + "Near the billow-beaten side + Of the foam-besilvered main, + Darkling, and alone, he stood:" + +which, however, is less exuberant than the former passage. + +A work of this kind must, in a minute examination, discover many +imperfections; but West's version, so far as I have considered it, +appears to be the product of great labour and great abilities. + +His "Institution of the Garter" (1742) is written with sufficient +knowledge of the manners that prevailed in the age to which it is +referred, and with great elegance of diction; but, for want of a process +of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserves the reader from +weariness. + +His "Imitations of Spenser" are very successfully performed, both with +respect to the metre, the language, and the fiction; and being engaged +at once by the excellence of the sentiments, and the artifice of the +copy, the mind has two amusements together. But such compositions are +not to be reckoned among the great achievements of intellect, because +their effect is local and temporary; they appeal not to reason or +passion, but to memory, and presuppose an accidental or artificial state +of mind. An imitation of Spenser is nothing to a reader, however acute, +by whom Spenser has never been perused. Works of this kind may deserve +praise, as proofs of great industry and great nicety of observation; but +the highest praise, the praise of genius, they cannot claim. The noblest +beauties of art are those of which the effect is co-extended with +rational nature, or at least with the whole circle of polished life; +what is less than this can be only pretty, the plaything of fashion, and +the amusement of a day. + +There is in the Adventurer a paper of verses given to one of the authors +as Mr. West's, and supposed to have been written by him. It should +not be concealed, however, that it is printed with Mr. Jago's name +in Dodsley's Collection, and is mentioned as his in a letter of +Shenstone's. Perhaps West gave it without naming the author, and +Hawkesworth, receiving it from him, thought it his; for his he thought +it, as he told me, and as he tells the public. + + + + +COLLINS. + + +William Collins was born at Chichester, on the 25th day of December, +about 1720. His father was a hatter of good reputation. He was in 1733, +as Dr. Warton has kindly informed me, admitted scholar of Winchester +College, where he was educated by Dr. Burton. His English exercises were +better than his Latin. He first courted the notice of the public by +some verses to a "Lady weeping," published in The Gentleman's Magazine +(January, 1739). + +In 1740 he stood first in the list of the scholars to be received in +succession at New College, but unhappily there was no vacancy. He became +a Commoner of Queen's College, probably with a scanty maintenance; but +was, in about half a year, elected a Demy of Magdalen College, where he +continued till he had taken a Bachelor's degree, and then suddenly left +the University; for what reason I know not that he told. + +He now (about 1744) came to London a literary adventurer, with many +projects in his head, and very little money in his pocket. He designed +many works; but his great fault was irresolution; or the frequent calls +of immediate necessity broke his scheme, and suffered him to pursue +no settled purpose. A man doubtful of his dinner, or trembling at +a creditor, is not much disposed to abstracted meditation or remote +inquiries. He published proposals for a "History of the Revival of +Learning;" and I have heard him speak with great kindness of Leo X., and +with keen resentment of his tasteless successor. But probably not a page +of his history was ever written. He planned several tragedies, but he +only planned them. He wrote now and then odes and other poems, and did +something, however little. About this time I fell into his company. His +appearance was decent and manly; his knowledge considerable, his views +extensive, his conversation elegant, and his disposition cheerful. By +degrees I gained his confidence; and one day was admitted to him when +he was immured by a bailiff that was prowling in the street. On this +occasion recourse was had to the booksellers, who, on the credit of a +translation of Aristotle's "Poetics," which he engaged to write with a +large commentary, advanced as much money as enabled him to escape into +the country. He showed me the guineas safe in his hand. Soon afterwards +his uncle, Mr. Martin, a lieutenant-colonel, left him about 2000 pounds; +a sum which Collins could scarcely think exhaustible, and which he did +not live to exhaust. The guineas were then repaid, and the translation +neglected. But man is not born for happiness. Collins, who, while he +studied to live, felt no evil but poverty, no sooner lived to study than +his life was assailed by more dreadful calamities--disease and insanity. + +Having formerly written his character, while perhaps it was yet more +distinctly impressed upon my memory, I shall insert it here. + +"Mr. Collins was a man of extensive literature, and of vigorous +faculties. He was acquainted not only with the learned tongues, but with +the Italian, French, and Spanish languages. He had employed his mind +chiefly on works of fiction, and subjects of fancy; and, by indulging +some peculiar habits of thought, was eminently delighted with those +flights of imagination which pass the bounds of nature, and to which the +mind is reconciled only by a passive acquiescence in popular traditions. +He loved fairies, genii, giants, and monsters; he delighted to rove +through the meanders of enchantment, to gaze on the magnificence of +golden palaces, to repose by the waterfalls of Elysian gardens. This +was, however, the character rather of his inclination than his genius; +the grandeur of wildness, and the novelty of extravagance, were always +desired by him, but not always attained. Yet, as diligence is never +wholly lost, if his efforts sometimes caused harshness and obscurity, +they likewise produced in happier moments sublimity and splendour. This +idea which he had formed of excellence led him to Oriental fictions and +allegorical imagery, and, perhaps, while he was intent upon description, +he did not sufficiently cultivate sentiment. His poems are the +productions of a mind not deficient in fire, nor unfurnished with +knowledge either of books or life, but somewhat obstructed in its +progress by deviation in quest of mistaken beauties. + +"His morals were pure, and his opinions pious; in a long continuance of +poverty, and long habits of dissipation, it cannot be expected that any +character should be exactly uniform. There is a degree of want by which +the freedom of agency is almost destroyed; and long association with +fortuitous companions will at last relax the strictness of truth, and +abate the fervour of sincerity. That this man, wise and virtuous as he +was, passed always unentangled through the snares of life, it would be +prejudice and temerity to affirm; but it may be said that at least he +preserved the source of action unpolluted, that his principles were +never shaken, that his distinctions of right and wrong were never +confounded, and that his faults had nothing of malignity or design, but +proceeded from some unexpected pressure, or casual temptation. + +"The latter part of his life cannot be remembered but with pity and +sadness. He languished some years under that depression of mind which +enchains the faculties without destroying them, and leaves reason the +knowledge of right without the power of pursuing it. These clouds which +he perceived gathering on his intellect he endeavoured to disperse by +travel, and passed into France; but found himself constrained to yield +to his malady, and returned. He was for some time confined in a house +of lunatics, and afterwards retired to the care of his sister in +Chichester, where death, in 1756, came to his relief. + +"After his return from France, the writer of this character paid him +a visit at Islington, where he was waiting for his sister, whom he had +directed to meet him. There was then nothing of disorder discernible +in his mind by any but himself; but he had withdrawn from study, and +travelled with no other book than an English Testament, such as children +carry to the school. When his friend took it into his hand, out of +curiosity to see what companion a man of letters had chosen, 'I have but +one book,' said Collins, 'but that is the best.'" + +Such was the fate of Collins, with whom I once delighted to converse, +and whom I yet remember with tenderness. + +He was visited at Chichester, in his last illness, by his learned +friends Dr. Warton and his brother, to whom he spoke with disapprobation +of his "Oriental Eclogues," as not sufficiently expressive of Asiatic +manners, and called them his "Irish Eclogues." He showed them, at the +same time, an ode inscribed to Mr. John Home, on the superstitions of +the Highlands, which they thought superior to his other works, but which +no search has yet found. His disorder was no alienation of mind, but +general laxity and feebleness--a deficiency rather of his vital than his +intellectual powers. What he spoke wanted neither judgment nor spirit; +but a few minutes exhausted him, so that he was forced to rest upon the +couch, till a short cessation restored his powers, and he was again able +to talk with his former vigour. The approaches of this dreadful malady +he began to feel soon after his uncle's death; and, with the usual +weakness of men so diseased, eagerly snatched that temporary relief +with which the table and the bottle flatter and seduce. But his health +continually declined, and he grew more and more burthensome to himself. + +To what I have formerly said of his writings may be added, that his +diction was often harsh, unskilfully laboured, and injudiciously +selected. He affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival: +and he puts his words out of the common order, seeming to think, with +some later candidates for fame, that not to write prose is certainly to +write poetry. His lines commonly are of slow motion, clogged and impeded +with clusters of consonants. As men are often esteemed who cannot be +loved, so the poetry of Collins may sometimes extort praise when it +gives little pleasure. + +Mr. Collins's first production is added here from the Poetical +Calendar:-- + + TO MISS AURELIA C--R, + + ON HER WEEPING AT HER SISTER'S WEDDING. + + "Cease, fair Aurelia, cease to mourn; + Lament not Hannah's happy state; + You may be happy in your turn, + And seize the treasure you regret. + With Love united Hymen stands, + And softly whispers to your charms, + 'Meet but your lover in my bands, + You'll find your sister in his arms.'" + + + + +DYER. + + +John Dyer, of whom I have no other account to give than his own letters, +published with Hughes's correspondence, and the notes added by the +editor, have afforded me, was born in 1700, the second son of Robert +Dyer of Aberglasney, in Caermarthenshire, a solicitor of great capacity +and note. He passed through Westminster school under the care of Dr. +Freind, and was then called home to be instructed in his father's +profession. But his father died soon, and he took no delight in the +study of the law; but, having always amused himself with drawing, +resolved to turn painter, and became pupil to Mr. Richardson, an artist +then of high reputation, but now better known by his books than by his +pictures. + +Having studied a while under his master, he became, as he tells his +friend, an itinerant painter, and wandered about South Wales and the +parts adjacent; but he mingled poetry with painting, and about 1727 +(1726) printed "Grongar Hill" in Lewis's Miscellany. Being, probably, +unsatisfied with his own proficiency, he, like other painters, travelled +to Italy; and coming back in 1740, published the "Ruins of Rome." If +his poem was written soon after his return, he did not make use of his +acquisitions in painting, whatever they might be; for decline of health +and love of study determined him to the Church. He therefore entered +into orders; and, it seems, married about the same time a lady of +the name of Ensor; "whose grandmother," says he, "was a Shakspeare, +descended from a brother of everybody's Shakspeare;" by her, in 1756, he +had a son and three daughters living. + +His ecclesiastical provision was for a long time but slender. His first +patron, Mr. Harper, gave him, in 1741, Calthorp in Leicestershire, of +eighty pounds a year, on which he lived ten years, and then exchanged it +for Belchford, in Lincolnshire, of seventy-five. His condition now began +to mend. In 1751 Sir John Heathcote gave him Coningsby, of one hundred +and forty pounds a year; and in 1755 the Chancellor added Kirkby, of one +hundred and ten. He complains that the repair of the house at Coningsby, +and other expenses, took away the profit. In 1757 he published "The +Fleece," his greatest poetical work; of which I will not suppress a +ludicrous story. Dodsley the bookseller was one day mentioning it to a +critical visitor, with more expectation of success than the other could +easily admit. In the conversation the author's age was asked; and being +represented as advanced in life, "He will," said the critic, "be buried +in woollen." He did not indeed long survive that publication, nor long +enjoy the increase of his preferments, for in 1758 he died. + +Dyer is not a poet of bulk or dignity sufficient to require an elaborate +criticism. "Grongar Hill" is the happiest of his productions: it is not +indeed very accurately written; but the scenes which it displays are so +pleasing, the images which they raise are so welcome to the mind, and +the reflections of the writer so consonant to the general sense or +experience of mankind, that when it is once read, it will be read again. +The idea of the "Ruins of Rome" strikes more, but pleases less, and the +title raises greater expectation than the performance gratifies. Some +passages, however, are conceived with the mind of a poet; as when, in +the neighbourhood of dilapidating edifices, he says, + + "The Pilgrim oft + At dead of night, 'mid his orison hears + Aghast the voice of Time, disparting tow'rs + Tumbling all precipitate down dashed, + Rattling around, loud thund'ring to the Moon." + +Of "The Fleece," which never became popular, and is now universally +neglected, I can say little that is likely to recall it to attention. +The woolcomber and the poet appear to me such discordant natures, that +an attempt to bring them together is to COUPLE THE SERPENT WITH THE +FOWL. When Dyer, whose mind was not unpoetical, has done his utmost, by +interesting his reader in our native commodity by interspersing rural +imagery, and incidental digressions, by clothing small images in great +words, and by all the writer's arts of delusion, the meanness +naturally adhering, and the irreverence habitually annexed to trade +and manufacture, sink him under insuperable oppression; and the +disgust which blank verse, encumbering and encumbered, superadds to +an unpleasing subject, soon repels the reader, however willing to be +pleased. + +Let me, however, honestly report whatever may counterbalance this +weight of censure. I have been told that Akenside, who, upon a poetical +question, has a right to be heard, said, "That he would regulate his +opinion of the reigning taste by the fate of Dyer's 'Fleece;' for, if +that were ill-received, he should not think it any longer reasonable to +expect fame from excellence." + + + + +SHENSTONE. + + +William Shenstone, the son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Pen, was born +in November, 1714, at the Leasowes in Hales-Owen, one of those insulated +districts which, in the division of the kingdom, was appended, for some +reason not now discoverable, to a distant county; and which, though +surrounded by Warwickshire and Worcestershire, belongs to Shropshire, +though perhaps thirty miles distant from any other part of it. He +learned to read of an old dame, whom his poem of the "Schoolmistress" +has delivered to posterity; and soon received such delight from books, +that he was always calling for fresh entertainment, and expected that, +when any of the family went to market, a new book should be brought him, +which, when it came, was in fondness carried to bed and laid by him. It +is said, that, when his request had been neglected, his mother wrapped +up a piece of wood of the same form, and pacified him for the night. As +he grew older, he went for a while to the Grammar-school in Hales-Owen, +and was placed afterwards with Mr. Crumpton, an eminent schoolmaster +at Solihul, where he distinguished himself by the quickness of his +progress. + +When he was young (June, 1724) he was deprived of his father, and soon +after (August, 1726) of his grandfather; and was, with his brother, +who died afterwards unmarried, left to the care of his grandmother, who +managed the estate. + +From school he was sent in 1732 to Pembroke College in Oxford, a society +which for half a century has been eminent for English poetry and elegant +literature. Here it appears that he found delight and advantage; for +he continued his name in the book 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. About the time when +he went to Oxford, the death of his grandmother devolved his affairs +to the care of the Rev. Mr. Dolman, of Brome in Staffordshire, whose +attention he always mentioned with gratitude. At Oxford he employed +himself upon English poetry; and in 1737 published a small Miscellany, +without his name. He then for a time wandered about, to acquaint himself +with life, and was sometimes at London, sometimes at Bath, or any other +place of public resort; but he did not forget his poetry. He published +in 1741 his "Judgment of Hercules," addressed to Mr. Lyttelton, whose +interest he supported with great warmth at an election: this was next +year followed by the "Schoolmistress." + +Mr. Dolman, to whose care he was indebted for his ease and leisure, died +in 1745, and the care of his own fortune now fell upon him. He tried +to escape it awhile, and lived at his house with his tenants, who were +distantly related; but, finding that imperfect possession inconvenient, +he took the whole estate into his own hands, more to the improvement of +its beauty than the increase of its produce. Now was excited his delight +in rural pleasures and his ambition of rural elegance; he began from +this time to point his prospects, to diversify his surface, to entangle +his walks, and to wind his waters, which he did with such judgment +and such fancy as made his little domain the envy of the great and +the admiration of the skilful; a place to be visited by travellers and +copied by designers. Whether to plant a walk in undulating curves, and +to place a bench at every turn where there is an object to catch the +view, to make the water run where it will be heard, and to stagnate +where it will be seen, to leave intervals where the eye will be pleased, +and to thicken the plantation where there is something to be hidden, +demands any great powers of mind, I will not inquire: perhaps a sullen +and surly spectator may think such performances rather the sport than +the business of human reason. But it must be at least confessed that to +embellish the form of Nature is an innocent amusement, and some praise +must be allowed, by the most supercilious observer, to him who does best +what such multitudes are contending to do well. + +This praise was the praise of Shenstone; but, like all other modes of +felicity, it was not enjoyed without its abatements. Lyttelton was his +neighbour and his rival, whose empire, spacious and opulent, looked +with disdain on the PETTY STATE that APPEARED BEHIND IT. For a while the +inhabitants of Hagley affected to tell their acquaintance of the little +fellow that was trying to make himself admired; but when by degrees the +Leasowes forced themselves into notice, they took care to defeat the +curiosity which they could not suppress by conducting their visitants +perversely to inconvenient points of view, and introducing them at the +wrong end of a walk to detect a deception; injuries of which Shenstone +would heavily complain. Where there is emulation there will be vanity; +and where there is vanity there will be folly. + +The pleasure of Shenstone was all in his eye; he valued what he valued +merely for its looks. Nothing raised his indignation more than to ask if +there were any fishes in his water. His house was mean, and he did not +improve it; his care was of his grounds. When he came home from his +walks, he might find his floors flooded by a shower through the broken +roof; but could spare no money for its reparation. In time his expenses +brought clamours about him that overpowered the lamb's bleat and the +linnet's song, and his groves were haunted by beings very different from +fauns and fairies. He spent his estate in adorning it, and his death was +probably hastened by his anxieties. He was a lamp that spent its oil in +blazing. It is said that, if he had lived a little longer, he would have +been assisted by a pension: such bounty could not have been ever more +properly bestowed; but that it was ever asked is not certain; it is +too certain that it never was enjoyed. He died at Leasowes, of a putrid +fever, about five on Friday morning, February 11, 1763, and was buried +by the side of his brother in the churchyard of Hales-Owen. + +He was never married, though he might have obtained the lady, whoever +she was, to whom his "Pastoral Ballad" was addressed. He is represented +by his friend Dodsley as a man of great tenderness and generosity, kind +to all that were within his influence; but, if once offended, not easily +appeased; inattentive to economy, and careless of his expenses; in his +person he was larger than the middle-size, with something clumsy in his +form; very negligent of his clothes, and remarkable for wearing his grey +hair in a particular manner, for he held that the fashion was no rule +of dress, and that every man was to suit his appearance to his natural +form. His mind was not very comprehensive, nor his curiosity active; +he had no value for those parts of knowledge which he had not himself +cultivated. His life was unstained by any crime. The "Elegy on Jesse," +which has been supposed to relate an unfortunate and criminal amour of +his own, was known by his friends to have been suggested by the story of +Miss Godfrey in Richardson's "Pamela." + +What Gray thought of his character, from the perusal of his Letters, was +this:-- + +"I have read, too, an octavo volume of Shenstone's Letters. Poor man! he +was always wishing for money, for fame, and other distinctions; and his +whole philosophy consisted in living against his will in retirement, and +in a place which his taste had adorned, but which he only enjoyed when +people of note came to see and commend it. His correspondence is about +nothing else but this place and his own writings, with two or three +neighbouring clergymen, who wrote verses too." + +His poems consist of elegies, odes, and ballads, humorous sallies, and +moral pieces. His conception of an Elegy he has in his Preface very +judiciously and discriminately explained. It is, according to his +account, the effusion of a contemplative mind, sometimes plaintive, +and always serious, and therefore superior to the glitter of slight +ornaments. His compositions suit not ill to this description. His +topics of praise are the domestic virtues, and his thoughts are pure +and simple, but wanting combination; they want variety. The peace of +solitude, the innocence of inactivity, and the unenvied security of an +humble station, can fill but a few pages. That of which the essence is +uniformity will be soon described. His elegies have, therefore, too +much resemblance of each other. The lines are sometimes, such as Elegy +requires, smooth and easy; but to this praise his claim is not constant; +his diction is often harsh, improper, and affected, his words ill-coined +or ill-chosen, and his phrase unskilfully inverted. + +The Lyric Poems are almost all of the light and airy kind, such as trip +lightly and nimbly along, without the load of any weighty meaning. From +these, however, "Rural Elegance" has some right to be excepted. I once +heard it praised by a very learned lady; and, though the lines are +irregular, and the thoughts diffused with too much verbosity, yet it +cannot be denied to contain both philosophical argument and poetical +spirit. Of the rest I cannot think any excellent; the "Skylark" pleases +me best, which has, however, more of the epigram than of the ode. + +But the four parts of his "Pastoral Ballad" demand particular notice. I +cannot but regret that it is pastoral: an intelligent reader acquainted +with the scenes of real life sickens at the mention of the CROOK, +the PIPE, the SHEEP, and the KIDS, which it is not necessary to bring +forward to notice; for the poet's art is selection, and he ought to show +the beauties without the grossness of the country life. His stanza seems +to have been chosen in imitation of Rowe's "Despairing Shepherd." In the +first are two passages, to which if any mind denies its sympathy, it has +no acquaintance with love or nature:-- + + "I prized every hour that went by, + Beyond all that had pleased me before: + But now they are past, and I sigh, + And I grieve that I prized them no more. + + When forced the fair nymph to forego, + What anguish I felt in my heart! + Yet I thought (but it might not be so) + 'Twas with pain that she saw me depart. + + She gazed, as I slowly withdrew, + My path I could hardly discern; + So sweetly she bade me adieu, + I thought that she bade me return." + +In the second this passage has its prettiness; though it be not equal to +the former:-- + + "I have found out a gift for my fair: + I have found where the wood pigeons breed: + But let me that plunder forbear, + She will say 'twas a barbarous deed: + + For he ne'er could be true, she averred, + Who could rob a poor bird of its young; + And I loved her the more when I heard + Such tenderness fall from her tongue." + +In the third he mentions the common-places of amorous poetry with some +address:-- + + "'Tis his with mock passion to glow! + 'Tis his in smooth tales to unfold, + How her face is as bright as the snow, + And her bosom, be sure, is as cold: + + How the nightingales labour the strain, + With the notes of this charmer to vie: + How they vary their accents in vain, + Repine at her triumphs, and die." + +In the fourth I find nothing better than this natural strain of Hope:-- + + "Alas! from the day that we met, + What hope of an end to my woes, + When I cannot endure to forget + The glance that undid my repose? + + Yet Time may diminish the pain: + The flower, and the shrub, and the tree, + Which I reared for her pleasure in vain, + In time may have comfort for me." + +His "Levities" are by their title exempted from the severities of +criticism, yet it may be remarked in a few words that his humour is +sometimes gross, and seldom sprightly. + +Of the Moral Poems, the first is the "Choice of Hercules," from +Xenophon. The numbers are smooth, the diction elegant, and the thoughts +just; but something of vigour is still to be wished, which it might have +had by brevity and compression. His "Fate of Delicacy" has an air of +gaiety, but not a very pointed and general moral. His blank verses, +those that can read them, may probably find to be like the blank verses +of his neighbours. "Love and Honour" is derived from the old ballad, +"Did you not hear of a Spanish Lady?"--I wish it well enough to wish it +were in rhyme. + +The "Schoolmistress," of which I know not what claim it has to stand +among the Moral Works, is surely the most pleasing of Shenstone's +performances. The adoption of a particular style, in light and short +compositions, contributes much to the increase of pleasure: we are +entertained at once with two imitations of nature in the sentiments, of +the original author in the style, and between them the mind is kept in +perpetual employment. + +The general recommendation of Shenstone is easiness and simplicity; his +general defect is want of comprehension and variety. Had his mind been +better stored with knowledge, whether he could have been great, I know +not; he could certainly have been agreeable. + + + + +YOUNG. + + +The following life was written, at my request, by a gentleman (Mr. +Herbert Croft) who had better information than I could easily have +obtained; and the public will perhaps wish that I had solicited and +obtained more such favours from him:-- + +"Dear Sir,--In consequence of our different conversations about +authentic materials for the Life of Young, I send you the following +details:"-- + +Of great men something must always be said to gratify curiosity. Of the +illustrious author of the "Night Thoughts" much has been told of which +there never could have been proofs, and little care appears to have been +taken to tell that of which proofs, with little trouble, might have been +procured. + +Edward Young was born at Upham, near Winchester, in June, 1681. He was +the son of Edward Young, at that time Fellow of Winchester College, and +Rector of Upham, who was the son of Jo. Young, of Woodhay, in Berkshire, +styled by Wood, GENTLEMAN. In September, 1682, the poet's father was +collated to the prebend of Gillingham Minor, in the church of Sarum, by +Bishop Ward. When Ward's faculties were impaired through age, his duties +were necessarily performed by others. We learn from Wood that, at a +visitation of Sprat's, July the 12th, 1686, the prebendary preached +a Latin sermon, afterwards published, with which the Bishop was so +pleased, that he told the chapter he was concerned to find the preacher +had one of the worst prebends in their Church. Some time after this, +in consequence of his merit and reputation, or of the interest of Lord +Bradford, to whom, in 1702, he dedicated two volumes of sermons, he was +appointed chaplain to King William and Queen Mary, and preferred to the +Deanery of Sarum. Jacob, who wrote in 1720, says, "he was Chaplain and +Clerk of the Closet to the late Queen, who honoured him by standing +godmother to the poet." His Fellowship of Winchester he resigned in +favour of a gentleman of the name of Harris, who married his only +daughter. The Dean died at Sarum, after a short illness, in 1705, in +the sixty-third year of his age. On the Sunday after his decease, Bishop +Burnet preached at the cathedral, and began his sermon with saying, +"Death has been of late walking round us, and making breach upon breach +upon us, and has now carried away the head of this body with a stroke, +so that he, whom you saw a week ago distributing the holy mysteries, +is now laid in the dust. But he still lives in the many excellent +directions he has left us both how to live and how to die." + +The dean placed his son upon the foundation at Winchester College, where +he had himself been educated. At this school Edward Young remained till +the election after his eighteenth birthday, the period at which those +upon the foundation are superannuated. Whether he did not betray his +abilities early in life, or his masters had not skill enough to discover +in their pupil any marks of genius for which he merited reward, or no +vacancy at Oxford offered them an opportunity to bestow upon him the +reward provided for merit by William of Wykeham; certain it is, that to +an Oxford fellowship our poet did not succeed. By chance, or by choice, +New College cannot claim the honour of numbering among its fellows him +who wrote the "Night Thoughts." + +On the 13th of October, 1703, he was entered an independent member +of New College, that he might live at little expense in the warden's +lodgings, who was a particular friend of his father's, till he should +be qualified to stand for a fellowship at All Souls. In a few months +the warden of New College died. He then removed to Corpus College. The +president of this society, from regard also for his father, invited +him thither, in order to lessen his academical expenses. In 1708 he was +nominated to a law-fellowship at All Souls by Archbishop Tenison, into +whose hands it came by devolution. Such repeated patronage, while it +justifies Burnet's praise of the father, reflects credit on the conduct +of the son. The manner in which it was exerted seems to prove that the +father did not leave behind him much wealth. + +On the 23rd of April, 1714, Young took his degree of bachelor of civil +laws, and his doctor's degree on the 10th of June, 1719. Soon after he +went to Oxford he discovered, it is said, an inclination for pupils. +Whether he ever commenced tutor is not known. None has hitherto boasted +to have received his academical instruction from the author of "Night +Thoughts." It is probable that his College was proud of him no less as +a scholar than as a poet; for in 1716, when the foundation of the +Codrington Library was laid, two years after he had taken his bachelor's +degree, Young was appointed to speak the Latin oration. This is at +least particular for being dedicated in English "To the Ladies of the +Codrington Family." To these ladies he says "that he was unavoidably +flung into a singularity, by being obliged to write an epistle +dedicatory void of commonplace, and such an one was never published +before by any author whatever; that this practice absolved them from +any obligation of reading what was presented to them; and that the +bookseller approved of it, because it would make people stare, was +absurd enough and perfectly right." Of this oration there is no +appearance in his own edition of his works; and prefixed to an edition +by Curll and Tonson, in 1741, is a letter from Young to Curll, if we may +credit Curll, dated December the 9th, 1739, wherein he says that he has +not leisure to review what he formerly wrote, and adds, "I have not the +'Epistle to Lord Lansdowne.' If you will take my advice, I would have +you omit that, and the oration on Codrington. I think the collection +will sell better without them." + +There are who relate that, when first Young found himself independent, +and his own master at All Souls, he was not the ornament to religion +and morality which he afterwards became. The authority of his father, +indeed, had ceased, some time before, by his death; and Young was +certainly not ashamed to be patronised by the infamous Wharton. But +Wharton befriended in Young, perhaps, the poet, and particularly the +tragedian. If virtuous authors must be patronised only by virtuous +peers, who shall point them out? Yet Pope is said by Ruffhead to have +told Warburton that "Young had much of a sublime genius, though without +common sense; so that his genius, having no guide, was perpetually +liable to degenerate into bombast. This made him pass a FOOLISH YOUTH, +the sport of peers and poets: but his having a very good heart enabled +him to support the clerical character when he assumed it, first with +decency, and afterwards with honour." + +They who think ill of Young's morality in the early part of his life +may perhaps be wrong; but Tindal could not err in his opinion of Young's +warmth and ability in the cause of religion. Tindal used to spend much +of his time at All Souls. "The other boys," said the atheist, "I can +always answer, because I always know whence they have their arguments, +which I have read a hundred times; but that fellow Young is continually +pestering me with something of his own." + +After all, Tindal and the censurers of Young may be reconcilable. Young +might, for two or three years, have tried that kind of life, in which +his natural principles would not suffer him to wallow long. If this were +so, he has left behind him not only his evidence in favour of virtue, +but the potent testimony of experience against vice. We shall soon see +that one of his earliest productions was more serious than what comes +from the generality of unfledged poets. + +Young perhaps ascribed the good fortune of Addison to the "Poem to his +Majesty," presented with a copy of verses, to Somers: and hoped that +he also might soar to wealth and honours on wings of the same kind. +His first poetical flight was when Queen Anne called up to the House of +Lords the sons of the Earls of Northampton and Aylesbury, and added, in +one day, ten others to the number of Peers. In order to reconcile the +people to one, at least, of the new lords, he published, in 1712, +"An Epistle to the Right Honourable George Lord Lansdowne." In this +composition the poet pours out his panegyric with the extravagance of +a young man, who thinks his present stock of wealth will never be +exhausted. The poem seems intended also to reconcile the public to the +late peace. This is endeavoured to be done by showing that men are slain +in war, and that in peace "harvests wave, and commerce swells her sail." +If this be humanity, for which he meant it, is it politics? Another +purpose of this epistle appears to have been to prepare the public for +the reception of some tragedy he might have in hand. His lordship's +patronage, he says, will not let him "repent his passion for the stage;" +and the particular praise bestowed on Othello and Oroonoko looks as +if some such character as Zanga was even then in contemplation. The +affectionate mention of the death of his friend Harrison of New +College, at the close of this poem, is an instance of Young's art, +which displayed itself so wonderfully some time afterwards in the "Night +Thoughts," of making the public a party in his private sorrow. Should +justice call upon you to censure this poem, it ought at least to be +remembered that he did not insert it in his works; and that in +the letter to Curll, as we have seen, he advises its omission. +The booksellers, in the late body of English poetry, should have +distinguished what was deliberately rejected by the respective authors. +This I shall be careful to do with regard to Young. "I think," says he, +"the following pieces in FOUR volumes to be the most excusable of all +that I have written; and I wish LESS APOLOGY was less needful for these. +As there is no recalling what is got abroad, the pieces here republished +I have revised and corrected, and rendered them as PARDONABLE as it was +in my power to do." + +Shall the gates of repentance be shut only against literary sinners? + +When Addison published "Cato" in 1713, Young had the honour of prefixing +to it a recommendatory copy of verses. This is one of the pieces which +the author of the "Night Thoughts" did not republish. + +On the appearance of his poem on the "Last Day," Addison did not return +Young's compliment; but "The Englishman" of October 29, 1713, which was +probably written by Addison, speaks handsomely of this poem. The +"Last Day" was published soon after the peace. The Vice-Chancellor's +imprimatur (for it was printed at Oxford) is dated the 19th, 1713. From +the exordium, Young appears to have spent some time on the composition +of it. While other bards "with Britain's hero set their souls on fire," +he draws, he says, a deeper scene. Marlborough HAD BEEN considered by +Britain as her HERO; but, when the "Last Day" was published, female +cabal had blasted for a time the laurels of Blenheim. This serious poem +was finished by Young as early as 1710, before he was thirty; for part +of it is printed in the Tatler. It was inscribed to the queen, in a +dedication, which, for some reason, he did not admit into his works. It +tells her that his only title to the great honour he now does himself is +the obligation which he formerly received from her royal indulgence. Of +this obligation nothing is now known, unless he alluded to her being his +godmother. He is said indeed to have been engaged at a settled stipend +as a writer for the Court. In Swift's "Rhapsody on Poetry" are these +lines, speaking of the Court:-- + + "Whence Gay was banished in disgrace, + Where Pope will never show his face, + Where Y---- must torture his invention + To flatter knaves, or lose his pension." + +That Y---- means Young seems clear from four other lines in the same +poem:-- + + "Attend, ye Popes, and Youngs, and Gays, + And tune your harps and strew your bays; + Your panegyrics here provide; + You cannot err on flattery's side." + +Yet who shall say with certainty that Young was a pensioner? In all +modern periods of this country, have not the writers on one side been +regularly called Hirelings, and on the other Patriots? + +Of the dedication the complexion is clearly political. It speaks in the +highest terms of the late peace; it gives her Majesty praise indeed for +her victories, but says that the author is more pleased to see her rise +from this lower world, soaring above the clouds, passing the first and +second heavens, and leaving the fixed stars behind her; nor will he lose +her there, he says, but keep her still in view through the boundless +spaces on the other side of creation, in her journey towards eternal +bliss, till he behold the heaven of heavens open, and angels receiving +and conveying her still onward from the stretch of his imagination, +which tires in her pursuit, and falls back again to earth. + +The queen was soon called away from this lower world, to a place where +human praise or human flattery, even less general than this, are of +little consequence. If Young thought the dedication contained only the +praise of truth, he should not have omitted it in his works. Was he +conscious of the exaggeration of party? Then he should not have +written it. The poem itself is not without a glance towards politics, +notwithstanding the subject. The cry that the Church was in danger had +not yet subsided. The "Last Day," written by a layman, was much approved +by the ministry and their friends. + +Before the queen's death, "The Force of Religion, or Vanquished Love," +was sent into the world. This poem is founded on the execution of Lady +Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford, 1554, a story chosen for +the subject of a tragedy by Edmund Smith, and wrought into a tragedy by +Rowe. The dedication of it to the Countess of Salisbury does not appear +in his own edition. He hopes it may be some excuse for his presumption +that the story could not have been read without thoughts of the Countess +of Salisbury, though it had been dedicated to another. "To behold," +he proceeds, "a person ONLY virtuous, stirs in us a prudent regret; to +behold a person ONLY amiable to the sight, warms us with a religious +indignation; but to turn our eyes to a Countess of Salisbury, gives us +pleasure and improvement; it works a sort of miracle, occasions the +bias of our nature to fall off from sin, and makes our very senses and +affections converts to our religion, and promoters of our duty." His +flattery was as ready for the other sex as for ours, and was at least as +well adapted. + +August the 27th, 1714, Pope writes to his friend Jervas, that he is just +arrived from Oxford; that every one is much concerned for the queen's +death, but that no panegyrics are ready yet for the king. Nothing like +friendship has yet taken place between Pope and Young, for, soon after +the event which Pope mentions, Young published a poem on the queen's +death, and his Majesty's accession to the throne. It is inscribed +to Addison, then secretary to the Lords Justices. Whatever were the +obligations which he had formerly received from Anne, the poet appears +to aim at something of the same sort from George. Of the poem the +intention seems to have been, to show that he had the same extravagant +strain of praise for a king as for a queen. To discover, at the very +onset of a foreigner's reign, that the gods bless his new subjects in +such a king is something more than praise. Neither was this deemed one +of his excusable pieces. We do not find it in his works. + +Young's father had been well acquainted with Lady Anne Wharton, the +first wife of Thomas Wharton, Esq., afterwards Marquis of Wharton; a +lady celebrated for her poetical talents by Burnet and by Waller. + +To the Dean of Sarum's visitation sermon, already mentioned, were added +some verses "by that excellent poetess, Mrs. Anne Wharton," upon its +being translated into English, at the instance of Waller by Atwood. +Wharton, after he became ennobled, did not drop the son of his old +friend. In him, during the short time he lived, Young found a patron, +and in his dissolute descendant a friend and a companion. The marquis +died in April, 1715. In the beginning of the next year, the young +marquis set out upon his travels, from which he returned in about a +twelvemonth. The beginning of 1717 carried him to Ireland: where, says +the Biographia, "on the score of his extraordinary qualities, he had the +honour done him of being admitted, though under age, to take his seat in +the House of Lords." With this unhappy character it is not unlikely +that Young went to Ireland. From his letter to Richardson on "Original +Composition," it is clear he was, at some period of his life, in that +country. "I remember," says he, in that letter, speaking of Swift, "as +I and others were taking with him an evening walk, about a mile out of +Dublin, he stopped short; we passed on; but perceiving he did not follow +us, I went back, and found him fixed as a statue, and earnestly gazing +upward at a noble elm, which in its uppermost branches was much withered +and decayed. Pointing at it, he said, 'I shall be like that tree, I +shall die at top.'" Is it not probable, that this visit to Ireland was +paid when he had an opportunity of going thither with his avowed friend +and patron? + +From "The Englishman" it appears that a tragedy by Young was in the +theatre so early as 1713. Yet Busiris was not brought upon Drury Lane +stage till 1719. It was inscribed to the Duke of Newcastle, "because the +late instances he had received of his grace's undeserved and uncommon +favour, in an affair of some consequence, foreign to the theatre, had +taken from him the privilege of choosing a patron." The Dedication he +afterwards suppressed. + +Busiris was followed in the year 1721 by The Revenge. He dedicated +this famous tragedy to the Duke of Wharton. "Your Grace," says the +Dedication, "has been pleased to make yourself accessory to the +following scenes, not only by suggesting the most beautiful incident +in them, but by making all possible provision for the success of the +whole." That his grace should have suggested the incident to which he +alludes, whatever that incident might have been, is not unlikely. The +last mental exertion of the superannuated young man, in his quarters +at Lerida, in Spain, was some scenes of a tragedy on the story of Mary +Queen of Scots. + +Dryden dedicated "Marriage a la Mode" to Wharton's infamous relation +Rochester, whom he acknowledges not only as the defender of his poetry, +but as the promoter of his fortune. Young concludes his address to +Wharton thus--"My present fortune is his bounty, and my future his care; +which I will venture to say will be always remembered to his honour, +since he, I know, intended his generosity as an encouragement to merit, +though through his very pardonable partiality to one who bears him so +sincere a duty and respect, I happen to receive the benefit of it." That +he ever had such a patron as Wharton, Young took all the pains in his +power to conceal from the world, by excluding this dedication from his +works. He should have remembered that he at the same time concealed his +obligation to Wharton for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INCIDENT in what is surely +not his least beautiful composition. The passage just quoted is, in a +poem afterwards addressed to Walpole, literally copied: + + "Be this thy partial smile from censure free! + 'Twas meant for merit, though it fell on me." + +While Young, who, in his "Love of Fame," complains grievously how often +"dedications wash an AEthiop white," was painting an amiable Duke of +Wharton in perishable prose, Pope was, perhaps, beginning to describe +the "scorn and wonder of his days" in lasting verse. To the patronage of +such a character, had Young studied men as much as Pope, he would have +known how little to have trusted. Young, however, was certainly indebted +to it for something material; and the duke's regard for Young, added to +his lust of praise, procured to All Souls College a donation, which was +not forgotten by the poet when he dedicated The Revenge. + +It will surprise you to see me cite second Atkins, Case 136, Stiles +versus the Attorney-General, March 14, 1740, as authority for the life +of a poet. But biographers do not always find such certain guides as +the oaths of the persons whom they record. Chancellor Hardwicke was +to determine whether two annuities, granted by the Duke of Wharton to +Young, were for legal considerations. One was dated the 24th March, +1719, and accounted for his grace's bounty in a style princely and +commendable, if not legal--"considering that the public good is advanced +by the encouragement of learning and the polite arts, and being pleased +therein with the attempts of Dr. Young, in consideration thereof, and of +the love I bear him, etc." The other was dated the 10th of July, 1722. + +Young, on his examination, swore that he quitted the Exeter family, and +refused an annuity of 100 pounds which had been offered him for life +if he would continue tutor to Lord Burleigh, upon the pressing +solicitations of the Duke of Wharton, and his grace's assurances of +providing for him in a much more ample manner. It also appeared that the +duke had given him a bond for 600 pounds dated the 15th of March, 1721, +in consideration of his taking several journeys, and being at great +expenses, in order to be chosen member of the House of Commons, at the +duke's desire, and in consideration of his not taking two livings of 200 +pounds and 400 pounds in the gift of All Souls College, on his grace's +promises of serving and advancing him in the world. + +Of his adventures in the Exeter family I am unable to give any account. +The attempt to get into Parliament was at Cirencester, where Young stood +a contested election. His grace discovered in him talents for oratory +as well as for poetry. Nor was this judgment wrong. Young, after he took +orders, became a very popular preacher, and was much followed for the +grace and animation of his delivery. By his oratorical talents he was +once in his life, according to the Biographia, deserted. As he was +preaching in his turn at St. James's, he plainly perceived it was out of +his power to command the attention of his audience. This so affected the +feelings of the preacher, that he sat back in the pulpit, and burst into +tears. But we must pursue his poetical life. + +In 1719 he lamented the death of Addison, in a letter addressed to their +common friend Tickell. For the secret history of the following lines, if +they contain any, it is now vain to seek: + + "IN JOY ONCE JOINED, in sorrow, now, for years-- + Partner in grief, and brother of my tears, + Tickell, accept this verse, thy mournful due." + +From your account of Tickell it appears that he and Young used to +"communicate to each other whatever verses they wrote, even to the least +things." + +In 1719 appeared a "Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job." Parker, +to whom it is dedicated, had not long, by means of the seals, been +qualified for a patron. Of this work the author's opinion may be known +from his letter to Curll: "You seem, in the Collection you propose, to +have omitted what I think may claim the first place in it; I mean 'a +Translation from part of Job,' printed by Mr. Tonson." The Dedication, +which was only suffered to appear in Mr. Tonson's edition, while it +speaks with satisfaction of his present retirement, seems to make an +unusual struggle to escape from retirement. But every one who sings in +the dark does not sing from joy. It is addressed, in no common strain +of flattery, to a chancellor, of whom he clearly appears to have had no +kind of knowledge. + +Of his Satires it would not have been possible to fix the dates without +the assistance of first editions, which, as you had occasion to observe +in your account of Dryden, are with difficulty found. We must then have +referred to the poems, to discover when they were written. For these +internal notes of time we should not have referred in vain. The first +Satire laments, that "Guilt's chief foe in Addison is fled." The second, +addressing himself, asks:-- + + "Is thy ambition sweating for a rhyme, + Thou unambitious fool, at this late time? + A fool at FORTY is a fool indeed." + +The Satires were originally published separately in folio, under the +title of "The Universal Passion." These passages fix the appearance of +the first to about 1725, the time at which it came out. As Young seldom +suffered his pen to dry after he had once dipped it in poetry, we +may conclude that he began his Satires soon after he had written the +"Paraphrase on Job." The last Satire was certainly finished in the +beginning of the year 1726. In December, 1725, the King, in his passage +from Helvoetsluys, escaped with great difficulty from a storm by +landing at Rye; and the conclusion of the Satire turns the escape into a +miracle, in such an encomiastic strain of compliment as poetry too often +seeks to pay to royalty. From the sixth of these poems we learn, + + "'Midst empire's charms, how Carolina's heart + Glowed with the love of virtue and of art." + +Since the grateful poet tells us, in the next couplet, + + "Her favour is diffused to that degree, + Excess of goodness! it has dawned on me." + +Her Majesty had stood godmother, and given her name, to the daughter +of the lady whom Young married in 1731; and had perhaps shown some +attention to Lady Elizabeth's future husband. + +The fifth Satire, "On Women," was not published till 1727; and the sixth +not till 1728. + +To these poems, when, in 1728, he gathered them into one publication, he +prefixed a Preface, in which he observes that "no man can converse much +in the world, but at what he meets with he must either be insensible +or grieve, or be angry or smile. Now to smile at it, and turn it into +ridicule," he adds, "I think most eligible, as it hurts ourselves +least, and gives vice and folly the greatest offence. Laughing at the +misconduct of the world will, in a great measure, ease us of any more +disagreeable passion about it. One passion is more effectually driven +out by another than by reason, whatever some teach." So wrote, and so of +course thought, the lively and witty satirist at the grave age of almost +fifty, who, many years earlier in life, wrote the "Last Day." After all, +Swift pronounced of these Satires, that they should either have been +more angry or more merry. + +Is it not somewhat singular that Young preserved, without any +palliation, this Preface, so bluntly decisive in favour of laughing +at the world, in the same collection of his works which contains the +mournful, angry, gloomy "Night Thoughts!" At the conclusion of the +Preface he applies Plato's beautiful fable of the "Birth of Love" to +modern poetry, with the addition, "that Poetry, like Love, is a little +subject to blindness, which makes her mistake her way to preferments +and honours; and that she retains a dutiful admiration of her father's +family; but divides her favours, and generally lives with her mother's +relations." Poetry, it is true, did not lead Young to preferments or +to honours; but was there not something like blindness in the flattery +which he sometimes forced her, and her sister Prose, to utter? She was +always, indeed, taught by him to entertain a most dutiful admiration +of riches; but surely Young, though nearly related to Poetry, had no +connection with her whom Plato makes the mother of Love. That he could +not well complain of being related to Poverty appears clearly from the +frequent bounties which his gratitude records, and from the wealth which +he left behind him. By "The Universal Passion" he acquired no vulgar +fortune--more than three thousand pounds. A considerable sum had already +been swallowed up in the South Sea. For this loss he took the vengeance +of an author. His Muse makes poetical use more than once of a South Sea +Dream. + +It is related by Mr. Spence, in his "Manuscript Anecdotes," on the +authority of Mr. Rawlinson, that Young, upon the publication of his +"Universal Passion," received from the Duke of Grafton two thousand +pounds; and that, when one of his friends exclaimed, "Two thousand +pounds for a poem!" he said it was the best bargain he ever made in his +life, for the poem was worth four thousand. This story may be true; but +it seems to have been raised from the two answers of Lord Burghley and +Sir Philip Sidney in Spenser's Life. + +After inscribing his Satires, not perhaps without the hopes of +preferments and honours, to such names as the Duke of Dorset, Mr. +Dodington, Mr. Spencer Compton, Lady Elizabeth Germain, and Sir Robert +Walpole, he returns to plain panegyric. In 1726 he addressed a poem +to Sir Robert Walpole, of which the title sufficiently explains the +intention. If Young must be acknowledged a ready celebrator, he did not +endeavour, or did not choose, to be a lasting one. "The Instalment" +is among the pieces he did not admit into the number of his EXCUSABLE +WRITINGS. Yet it contains a couplet which pretends to pant after the +power of bestowing immortality:-- + + "Oh! how I long, enkindled by the theme, + In deep eternity to launch thy name!" + +The bounty of the former reign seems to have been continued, possibly +increased, in this. Whatever it might have been, the poet thought he +deserved it; for he was not ashamed to acknowledge what, without his +acknowledgment, would now perhaps never have been known:-- + + "My breast, O Walpole, glows with grateful fire. + The streams of royal bounty, turned by thee, + Refresh the dry remains of poesy." + +If the purity of modern patriotism will term Young a pensioner, it must +at least be confessed he was a grateful one. + +The reign of the new monarch was ushered in by Young with "Ocean, an +Ode." The hint of it was taken from the royal speech, which recommended +the increase and the encouragement of the seamen; that they might be +"invited, rather than compelled by force and violence, to enter into the +service of their country"--a plan which humanity must lament that +policy has not even yet been able, or willing, to carry into execution. +Prefixed to the original publication were an "Ode to the King, Pater +Patriae," and an "Essay on Lyric Poetry." It is but justice to confess +that he preserved neither of them; and that the Ode itself, which in the +first edition, and in the last, consists of seventy-three stanzas, in +the author's own edition is reduced to forty-nine. Among the omitted +passages is a "Wish," that concluded the poem, which few would have +suspected Young of forming; and of which few, after having formed +it, would confess something like their shame by suppression. It stood +originally so high in the author's opinion, that he entitled the poem, +"Ocean, an Ode. Concluding with a Wish." This wish consists of thirteen +stanzas. The first runs thus:-- + + "O may I STEAL + Along the VALE + Of humble life, secure from foes! + My friend sincere, + My judgment clear, + And gentle business my repose!" + +The three last stanzas are not more remarkable for just rhymes; but, +altogether, they will make rather a curious page in the life of Young:-- + + "Prophetic schemes, + And golden dreams, + May I, unsanguine, cast away! + Have what I HAVE, + And live, not LEAVE, + Enamoured of the present day! + + "My hours my own! + My faults unknown! + My chief revenue in content! + Then leave one BEAM + Of honest FAME! + And scorn the laboured monument! + + "Unhurt my urn + Till that great TURN + When mighty Nature's self shall die, + Time cease to glide, + With human pride, + Sunk in the ocean of eternity!" + +It is whimsical that he, who was soon to bid adieu to rhyme, should fix +upon a measure in which rhyme abounds even to satiety. Of this he said, +in his "Essay on Lyric Poetry," prefixed to the poem--"For the more +harmony likewise I chose the frequent return of rhyme, which laid me +under great difficulties. But difficulties overcome give grace and +pleasure. Nor can I account for the PLEASURE OF RHYME IN GENERAL (of +which the moderns are too fond) but from this truth." Yet the moderns +surely deserve not much censure for their fondness of what, by their own +confession, affords pleasure, and abounds in harmony. The next paragraph +in his Essay did not occur to him when he talked of "that great turn" +in the stanza just quoted. "But then the writer must take care that the +difficulty is overcome. That is, he must make rhyme consistent with as +perfect sense and expression as could be expected if he was perfectly +free from that shackle." Another part of this Essay will convict the +following stanza of what every reader will discover in it "involuntary +burlesque:-- + + "The northern blast, + The shattered mast, + The syrt, the whirlpool, and the rock, + The breaking spout, + The STARS GONE OUT, + The boiling strait, the monster's shock." + +But would the English poets fill quite so many volumes if all their +productions were to be tried, like this, by an elaborate essay on each +particular species of poetry of which they exhibit specimens? + +If Young be not a lyric poet, he is at least a critic in that sort of +poetry; and, if his lyric poetry can be proved bad, it was first proved +so by his own criticism. This surely is candid. + +Milbourne was styled by Pope "the fairest of critics," only because +he exhibited his own version of "Virgil" to be compared with Dryden's, +which he condemned, and with which every reader had it not otherwise in +his power to compare it. Young was surely not the most unfair of poets +for prefixing to a lyric composition an "Essay on Lyric Poetry," so just +and impartial as to condemn himself. + +We shall soon come to a work, before which we find indeed no critical +essay, but which disdains to shrink from the touchstone of the severest +critic; and which certainly, as I remember to have heard you say, if it +contains some of the worst, contains also some of the best things in the +language. + +Soon after the appearance of "Ocean," when he was almost fifty, Young +entered into orders. In April, 1728, not long after he had put on the +gown, he was appointed chaplain to George II. + +The tragedy of The Brothers, which was already in rehearsal, he +immediately withdrew from the stage. The managers resigned it with some +reluctance to the delicacy of the new clergyman. The Epilogue to The +Brothers, the only appendages to any of his three plays which he +added himself, is, I believe, the only one of the kind. He calls it an +historical Epilogue. Finding that "Guilt's dreadful close his narrow +scene denied," he, in a manner, continues the tragedy in the Epilogue, +and relates how Rome revenged the shade of Demetrius, and punished +Perseus "for this night's deed." + +Of Young's taking orders something is told by the biographer of Pope, +which places the easiness and simplicity of the poet in a singular +light. When he determined on the Church he did not address himself +to Sherlock, to Atterbury, or to Hare, for the best instructions in +theology, but to Pope, who, in a youthful frolic, advised the diligent +perusal of Thomas Aquinas. With this treasure Young retired from +interruption to an obscure place in the suburbs. His poetical guide to +godliness hearing nothing of him during half a year, and apprehending +he might have carried the jest too far, sought after him, and found +him just in time to prevent what Ruffhead calls "an irretrievable +derangement." + +That attachment to his favourite study, which made him think a poet the +surest guide to his new profession left him little doubt whether poetry +was the surest path to its honours and preferments. Not long indeed +after he took orders he published in prose (1728) "A True Estimate of +Human Life," dedicated, notwithstanding the Latin quotations with which +it abounds, to the Queen; and a sermon preached before the House of +Commons, 1729, on the martyrdom of King Charles, entitled, "An Apology +for Princes; or, the Reverence due to Government." But the "Second +Course," the counterpart of his "Estimate," without which it cannot be +called "A True Estimate," though in 1728 it was announced as "soon to +be published," never appeared, and his old friends the Muses were +not forgotten. In 1730 he relapsed to poetry, and sent into the world +"Imperium Pelagi: a Naval Lyric, written in imitation of Pindar's +Spirit, occasioned by his Majesty's return from Hanover, September, +1729, and the succeeding peace." It is inscribed to the Duke of Chandos. +In the Preface we are told that the Ode is the most spirited kind of +poetry, and that the Pindaric is the most spirited kind of Ode. "This +I speak," he adds, "with sufficient candour at my own very great peril. +But truth has an eternal title to our confession, though we are sure to +suffer by it." Behold, again, the fairest of poets. Young's "Imperium +Pelagi" was ridiculed in Fielding's "Tom Thumb;" but let us not forget +that it was one of his pieces which the author of the "Night Thoughts" +deliberately refused to own. Not long after this Pindaric attempt he +published two Epistles to Pope, "Concerning the Authors of the Age," +1730. Of these poems one occasion seems to have been an apprehension +lest, from the liveliness of his satires, he should not be deemed +sufficiently serious for promotion in the Church. + +In July, 1730, he was presented by his College to the Rectory of Welwyn, +in Hertfordshire. In May, 1731, he married Lady Elizabeth Lee, daughter +of the Earl of Lichfield, and widow of Colonel Lee. His connection with +this lady arose from his father's acquaintance, already mentioned, with +Lady Anne Wharton, who was co-heiress of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley in +Oxfordshire. Poetry had lately been taught by Addison to aspire to +the arms of nobility, though not with extraordinary happiness. We may +naturally conclude that Young now gave himself up in some measure to +the comforts of his new connection, and to the expectations of that +preferment which he thought due to his poetical talents, or, at least, +to the manner in which they had so frequently been exerted. + +The next production of his muse was "The Sea-piece," in two odes. + +Young enjoys the credit of what is called an "Extempore Epigram on +Voltaire," who, when he was in England, ridiculed, in the company of the +jealous English poet, Milton's allegory of "Sin and Death:" + + "You are so witty, profligate and thin, + At once we think thee Milton, Death, and Sin." + +From the following passage in the poetical dedication of his "Sea-piece" +to Voltaire it seems that this extemporaneous reproof, if it must be +extemporaneous (for what few will now affirm Voltaire to have deserved +any reproof), was something longer than a distich, and something more +gentle than the distich just quoted. + + "No stranger, sir, though born in foreign climes. + On DORSET Downs, when Milton's page, + With Sin and Death provoked thy rage, + Thy rage provoked who soothed with GENTLE rhymes?" + +By "Dorset Downs" he probably meant Mr. Dodington's seat. In Pitt's +Poems is "An Epistle to Dr. Edward Young, at Eastbury, in Dorsetshire, +on the Review at Sarum, 1722." + + "While with your Dodington retired you sit, + Charmed with his flowing Burgundy and wit," etc. + +Thomson, in his Autumn, addressing Mr. Dodington calls his seat the seat +of the Muses, + + "Where, in the secret bower and winding walk, + For virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay." + +The praises Thomson bestows but a few lines before on Philips, the +second, + + "Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse, + With British freedom sing the British song," + +added to Thomson's example and success, might perhaps induce Young, as +we shall see presently, to write his great work without rhyme. + +In 1734 he published "The Foreign Address, or the best Argument for +Peace, occasioned by the British Fleet and the Posture of Affairs. +Written in the Character of a Sailor." It is not to be found in the +author's four volumes. He now appears to have given up all hopes of +overtaking Pindar, and perhaps at last resolved to turn his ambition +to some original species of poetry. This poem concludes with a formal +farewell to Ode, which few of Young's readers will regret: + + "My shell, which Clio gave, which KINGS APPLAUD, + Which Europe's bleeding genius called abroad, + Adieu!" + +In a species of poetry altogether his own he next tried his skill, and +succeeded. + +Of his wife he was deprived in 1741. Lady Elizabeth had lost, after her +marriage with Young, an amiable daughter, by her former husband, just +after she was married to Mr. Temple, son of Lord Palmerston. Mr. Temple +did not long remain after his wife, though he was married a second time +to a daughter of Sir John Barnard's, whose son is the present peer. +Mr. and Mrs. Temple have generally been considered as Philander and +Narcissa. From the great friendship which constantly subsisted between +Mr. Temple and Young, as well as from other circumstances, it is +probable that the poet had both him and Mrs. Temple in view for these +characters; though, at the same time, some passages respecting Philander +do not appear to suit either Mr. Temple or any other person with +whom Young was known to be connected or acquainted, while all the +circumstances relating to Narcissa have been constantly found applicable +to Young's daughter-in-law. At what short intervals the poet tells us +he was wounded by the deaths of the three persons particularly lamented, +none that has read the "Night Thoughts" (and who has not read them?) +needs to be informed. + + "Insatiate archer! could not one suffice? + Thy shaft flew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain; + And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had filled her horn." + +Yet how is it possible that Mr. and Mrs. Temple and Lady Elizabeth Young +could be these three victims, over whom Young has hitherto been pitied +for having to pour the "Midnight Sorrows" of his religious poetry? Mrs. +Temple died in 1736; Mr. Temple four years afterwards, in 1740; and +the poet's wife seven months after Mr. Temple, in 1741. How could the +insatiate archer thrice slay his peace, in these three persons, "ere +thrice the moon had filled her horn." But in the short preface to "The +Complaint" he seriously tells us, "that the occasion of this poem was +real, not fictitious, and that the facts mentioned did naturally pour +these moral reflections on the thought of the writer." It is probable, +therefore, that in these three contradictory lines the poet complains +more than the father-in-law, the friend, or the widower. Whatever names +belong to these facts, or if the names be those generally supposed, +whatever heightening a poet's sorrow may have given the facts; to the +sorrow Young felt from them religion and morality are indebted for the +"Night Thoughts." There is a pleasure sure in sadness which mourners +only know! Of these poems the two or three first have been perused +perhaps more eagerly and more frequently than the rest. When he got as +far as the fourth or fifth his original motive for taking up the pen +was answered; his grief was naturally either diminished or exhausted. +We still find the same pious poet, but we hear less of Philander and +Narcissa, and less of the mourner whom he loved to pity. + +Mrs. Temple died of a consumption at Lyons, on her way to Nice, the +year after her marriage; that is, when poetry relates the fact, "in her +bridal hour." It is more than poetically true that Young accompanied her +to the Continent: + + "I flew, I snatched her from the rigid North, + And bore her nearer to the sun." + +But in vain. Her funeral was attended with the difficulties painted +in such animated colours in "Night the Third." After her death the +remainder of the party passed the ensuing winter at Nice. The poet seems +perhaps in these compositions to dwell with more melancholy on the death +of Philander and Narcissa than of his wife. But it is only for this +reason. He who runs and reads may remember that in the "Night Thoughts" +Philander and Narcissa are often mentioned and often lamented. To +recollect lamentations over the author's wife the memory must have +been charged with distinct passages. This lady brought him one child, +Frederick, now living, to whom the Prince of Wales was godfather. + +That domestic grief is, in the first instance, to be thanked for these +ornaments to our language it is impossible to deny. Nor would it be +common hardiness to contend that worldly discontent had no hand in these +joint productions of poetry and piety. Yet am I by no means sure that, +at any rate, we should not have had something of the same colour from +Young's pencil, notwithstanding the liveliness of his satires. In so +long a life causes for discontent and occasions for grief must have +occurred. It is not clear to me that his Muse was not sitting upon the +watch for the first which happened. "Night Thoughts" were not uncommon +to her, even when first she visited the poet, and at a time when he +himself was remarkable neither for gravity nor gloominess. In his "Last +Day," almost his earliest poem, he calls her "The Melancholy Maid," + + "whom dismal scenes delight, + Frequent at tombs and in the realms of Night." + +In the prayer which concludes the second book of the same poem, he says: + + "Oh! permit the gloom of solemn night + To sacred thought may forcibly invite. + Oh! how divine to tread the milky way, + To the bright palace of Eternal Day!" + +When Young was writing a tragedy, Grafton is said by Spence to have +sent him a human skull, with a candle in it, as a lamp, and the poet +is reported to have used it. What he calls "The TRUE Estimate of Human +Life," which has already been mentioned, exhibits only the wrong side of +the tapestry, and being asked why he did not show the right, he is said +to have replied that he could not. By others it has been told me that +this was finished, but that, before there existed any copy, it was torn +in pieces by a lady's monkey. Still, is it altogether fair to dress +up the poet for the man, and to bring the gloominess of the "Night +Thoughts" to prove the gloominess of Young, and to show that his genius, +like the genius of Swift, was in some measure the sullen inspiration +of discontent? From them who answer in the affirmative it should not +be concealed that, though "Invisibilia non decipiunt" appeared upon a +deception in Young's grounds, and "Ambulantes in horto audierunt vocem +Dei" on a building in his garden, his parish was indebted to the good +humour of the author of the "Night Thoughts" for an assembly and a +bowling green. + +Whether you think with me, I know not; but the famous "De mortuis nil +nisi bonum" always appeared to me to savour more of female weakness than +of manly reason. He that has too much feeling to speak ill of the dead, +who, if they cannot defend themselves, are at least ignorant of his +abuse, will not hesitate by the most wanton calumny to destroy the +quiet, the reputation, the fortune of the living. Yet censure is not +heard beneath the tomb, any more than praise. "De mortuis nil nisi +verum--De vivis nil nisi bonum" would approach much nearer to good +sense. After all, the few handfuls of remaining dust which once composed +the body of the author of the "Night Thoughts" feel not much concern +whether Young pass now for a man of sorrow or for "a fellow of infinite +jest." To this favour must come the whole family of Yorick. His immortal +part, wherever that now dwells, is still less solicitous on this head. +But to a son of worth and sensibility it is of some little consequence +whether contemporaries believe, and posterity be taught to believe, that +his debauched and reprobate life cast a Stygian gloom over the evening +of his father's days, saved him the trouble of feigning a character +completely detestable, and succeeded at last in bringing his "grey hairs +with sorrow to the grave." The humanity of the world, little satisfied +with inventing perhaps a melancholy disposition for the father, proceeds +next to invent an argument in support of their invention, and chooses +that Lorenzo should be Young's own son. "The Biographia," and every +account of Young, pretty roundly assert this to be the fact; of the +absolute impossibility of which, the "Biographia" itself, in particular +dates, contains undeniable evidence. Readers I know there are of a +strange turn of mind, who will hereafter peruse the "Night Thoughts" +with less satisfaction; who will wish they had still been deceived; who +will quarrel with me for discovering that no such character as their +Lorenzo ever yet disgraced human nature or broke a father's heart. Yet +would these admirers of the sublime and terrible be offended should you +set them down for cruel and for savage? Of this report, inhuman to the +surviving son, if it be true, in proportion as the character of Lorenzo +is diabolical, where are we to find the proof? Perhaps it is clear from +the poems. + +From the first line to the last of the "Night Thoughts" no one +expression can be discovered which betrays anything like the father. +In the "Second Night" I find an expression which betrays something +else--that Lorenzo was his friend; one, it is possible, of his former +companions; one of the Duke of Wharton's set. The poet styles him "gay +friend;" an appellation not very natural from a pious incensed father +to such a being as he paints Lorenzo, and that being his son. But let us +see how he has sketched this dreadful portrait, from the sight of some +of whose features the artist himself must have turned away with horror. +A subject more shocking, if his only child really sat to him, than the +crucifixion of Michael Angelo; upon the horrid story told of which Young +composed a short poem of fourteen lines in the early part of his life, +which he did not think deserved to be republished. In the "First Night" +the address to the poet's supposed son is:-- + + "Lorenzo, Fortune makes her court to thee." + +In the "Fifth Night:"-- + + "And burns Lorenzo still for the sublime + Of life? to hang his airy nest on high?" + +Is this a picture of the son of the Rector of Welwyn? "Eighth Night:"-- + + "In foreign realms (for thou hast travelled far)"-- + +which even now does not apply to his son. In "Night Five:"-- + + "So wept Lorenzo fair Clarissa's fate, + Who gave that angel-boy on whom he dotes, + And died to give him, orphaned in his birth!" + +At the beginning of the "Fifth Night" we find:-- + + "Lorenzo, to recriminate is just, + I grant the man is vain who writes for praise." + +But, to cut short all inquiry; if any one of these passages, if any +passage in the poems, be applicable, my friend shall pass for Lorenzo. +The son of the author of the "Night Thoughts" was not old enough, +when they were written, to recriminate or to be a father. The "Night +Thoughts" were begun immediately after the mournful event of 1741. The +first "Nights" appear, in the books of the Company of Stationers, as +the property of Robert Dodsley, in 1742. The Preface to "Night Seven" is +dated July 7th, 1744. The marriage, in consequence of which the supposed +Lorenzo was born, happened in May, 1731. Young's child was not born till +June, 1733. In 1741, this Lorenzo, this finished infidel, this father +to whose education Vice had for some years put the last hand, was +only eight years old. An anecdote of this cruel sort, so open to +contradiction, so impossible to be true, who could propagate? Thus +easily are blasted the reputation of the living and of the dead. "Who, +then, was Lorenzo?" exclaim the readers I have mentioned. If we cannot +be sure that he was his son, which would have been finely terrible, +was he not his nephew, his cousin? These are questions which I do not +pretend to answer. For the sake of human nature, I could wish Lorenzo +to have been only the creation of the poet's fancy: like the Quintus of +Anti Lucretius, "quo nomine," says Polignac, "quemvis Atheum intellige." +That this was the case many expressions in the "Night Thoughts" would +seem to prove, did not a passage in "Night Eight" appear to show that +he had somebody in his eye for the groundwork at least of the painting. +Lovelace or Lorenzo may be feigned characters; but a writer does not +feign a name of which he only gives the initial letter:-- + + "Tell not Calista. She will laugh thee dead, + Or send thee to her hermitage with L---." + +The "Biographia," not satisfied with pointing out the son of Young, in +that son's lifetime, as his father's Lorenzo, travels out of its way +into the history of the son, and tells of his having been forbidden his +college at Oxford for misbehaviour. How such anecdotes, were they true, +tend to illustrate the life of Young, it is not easy to discover. Was +the son of the author of the "Night Thoughts," indeed, forbidden his +college for a time, at one of our Universities? The author of "Paradise +Lost" is by some supposed to have been disgracefully ejected from the +other. From juvenile follies who is free? But, whatever the "Biographia" +chooses to relate, the son of Young experienced no dismission from his +college, either lasting or temporary. Yet, were nature to indulge him +with a second youth, and to leave him at the same time the experience +of that which is past, he would probably spend it differently--who +would not?--he would certainly be the occasion of less uneasiness to +his father. But, from the same experience, he would as certainly, in the +same case, be treated differently by his father. + +Young was a poet: poets, with reverence be it spoken, do not make the +best parents. Fancy and imagination seldom deign to stoop from their +heights; always stoop unwillingly to the low level of common duties. +Aloof from vulgar life, they pursue their rapid flight beyond the ken of +mortals, and descend not to earth but when compelled by necessity. The +prose of ordinary occurrences is beneath the dignity of poets. He who is +connected with the author of the "Night Thoughts" only by veneration for +the Poet and the Christian may be allowed to observe that Young is one +of those concerning whom, as you remark in your account of Addison, it +is proper rather to say "nothing that is false than all that is true." +But the son of Young would almost sooner, I know, pass for a Lorenzo +than see himself vindicated, at the expense of his father's memory, from +follies which, if it may be thought blameable in a boy to have committed +them, it is surely praiseworthy in a man to lament and certainly not +only unnecessary, but cruel in a biographer to record. + +Of the "Night Thoughts," notwithstanding their author's professed +retirement, all are inscribed to great or to growing names. He had not +yet weaned himself from earls and dukes, from the Speakers of the House +of Commons, Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and Chancellors of the +Exchequer. In "Night Eight" the politician plainly betrays himself:-- + + "Think no post needful that demands a knave: + When late our civil helm was shifting hands, + So P--- thought: think better if you can." + +Yet it must be confessed that at the conclusion of "Night Nine," weary +perhaps of courting earthly patrons, he tells his soul-- + + "Henceforth + Thy PATRON he, whose diadem has dropped + You gems of Heaven; Eternity thy prize; + And leave the racers of the world their own." + +The "Fourth Night" was addressed by "a much-indebted Muse" to the +Honourable Mr. Yorke, now Lord Hardwicke, who meant to have laid the +Muse under still greater obligation, by the living of Shenfield, in +Essex, if it had become vacant. The "First Night" concludes with this +passage:-- + + "Dark, though not blind, like thee, Meonides; + Or, Milton, thee. Ah! could I reach your strain; + Or his who made Meonides our own! + Man too he sung. Immortal man I sing. + Oh had he pressed his theme, pursued the track + Which opens out of darkness into day! + Oh, had he mounted on his wing of fire, + Soared, where I sink, and sung immortal man-- + How had it blest mankind, and rescued me!" + +To the author of these lines was dedicated, in 1756, the first volume of +an "Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope," which attempted, whether +justly or not, to pluck from Pope his "Wing of Fire," and to reduce +him to a rank at least one degree lower than the first class of English +poets. If Young accepted and approved the dedication, he countenanced +this attack upon the fame of him whom he invokes as his Muse. + +Part of "paper-sparing" Pope's Third Book of the "Odyssey," deposited +in the Museum, is written upon the back of a letter signed "E. Young," +which is clearly the handwriting of our Young. The letter, dated +only May 2nd, seems obscure; but there can be little doubt that the +friendship he requests was a literary one, and that he had the highest +literary opinion of Pope. The request was a prologue, I am told. + + "May the 2nd. + +"DEAR SIR;--Having been often from home, I know not if you have done me +the favour of calling on me. But, be that as it will, I much want that +instance of your friendship I mentioned in my last; a friendship I am +very sensible I can receive from no one but yourself. I should not urge +this thing so much but for very particular reasons; nor can you be at a +loss to conceive how a 'trifle of this nature' may be of serious moment +to me; and while I am in hopes of the great advantage of your advice +about it, I shall not be so absurd as to make any further step without +it. I know you are much engaged, and only hope to hear of you at your +entire leisure. + + "I am, sir, your most faithful + "and obedient servant, + "E. YOUNG." + +Nay, even after Pope's death, he says in "Night Seven:"-- + + "Pope, who could'st make immortals, art thou dead?" + +Either the "Essay," then, was dedicated to a patron who disapproved +its doctrine, which I have been told by the author was not the case; +or Young appears, in his old age, to have bartered for a dedication an +opinion entertained of his friend through all that part of life when he +must have been best able to form opinions. From this account of Young, +two or three short passages, which stand almost together in "Night +Four," should not be excluded. They afford a picture, by his own hand, +from the study of which my readers may choose to form their own opinion +of the features of his mind and the complexion of his life. + + "Ah me! the dire effect + Of loitering here, of death defrauded long; + Of old so gracious (and let that suffice), + MY VERY MASTER KNOWS ME NOT. + I've been so long remembered I'm forgot. + * * + When in his courtiers' ears I pour my plaint, + They drink it as the Nectar of the Great; + And squeeze my hand, and beg me come to-morrow. + * * + Twice told the period spent on stubborn Troy, + Court favour, yet untaken, I BESIEGE. + * * + If this song lives, Posterity shall know + One, though in Britain born, with courtiers bred, + Who thought, even gold might come a day too late; + Nor on his subtle deathbed planned his scheme + For future vacancies in Church or State." + +Deduct from the writer's age "twice told the period spent on stubborn +Troy," and you will still leave him more than forty when he sate down to +the miserable siege of court-favour. He has before told us-- + + "A fool at forty is a fool indeed." + +After all, the siege seems to have been raised only in consequence of +what the general thought his "deathbed." By these extraordinary poems, +written after he was sixty, of which I have been led to say so much, I +hope, by the wish of doing justice to the living and the dead, it +was the desire of Young to be principally known. He entitled the four +volumes which he published himself, "The Works of the Author of the +Night Thoughts." While it is remembered that from these he excluded +many of his writings, let it not be forgotten that the rejected pieces +contained nothing prejudicial to the cause of virtue or of religion. +Were everything that Young ever wrote to be published, he would +only appear perhaps in a less respectable light as a poet, and more +despicable as a dedicator; he would not pass for a worse Christian or +for a worse man. This enviable praise is due to Young. Can it be claimed +by every writer? His dedications, after all, he had perhaps no right to +suppress. They all, I believe, speak, not a little to the credit of his +gratitude, of favours received; and I know not whether the author, who +has once solemnly printed an acknowledgment of a favour, should not +always print it. Is it to the credit or to the discredit of Young, as a +poet, that of his "Night Thoughts" the French are particularly fond? + +Of the "Epitaph on Lord Aubrey Beauclerk," dated 1740, all I know is, +that I find it in the late body of English poetry, and that I am sorry +to find it there. Notwithstanding the farewell which he seemed to +have taken in the "Night Thoughts" of everything which bore the least +resemblance to ambition, he dipped again in politics. In 1745 he wrote +"Reflections on the Public Situation of the Kingdom, addressed to the +Duke of Newcastle;" indignant, as it appears, to behold + + "---a pope-bred Princeling crawl ashore, + And whistle cut-throats, with those swords that scraped + Their barren rocks for wretched sustenance, + To cut his passage to the British throne." + +This political poem might be called a "Night Thought;" indeed, it was +originally printed as the conclusion of the "Night Thoughts," though he +did not gather it with his other works. + +Prefixed to the second edition of Howe's "Devout Meditations" is a +letter from Young, dated January 19, 1752, addressed to Archibald +Macauly, Esq., thanking him for the book, "which," he says, "he shall +never lay far out of his reach; for a greater demonstration of a sound +head and a sincere heart he never saw." + +In 1753, when The Brothers had lain by him above thirty years, it +appeared upon the stage. If any part of his fortune had been acquired +by servility of adulation, he now determined to deduct from it no +inconsiderable sum, as a gift to the Society for the Propagation of the +Gospel. To this sum he hoped the profits of The Brothers would amount. +In his calculation he was deceived; but by the bad success of his play +the Society was not a loser. The author made up the sum he originally +intended, which was a thousand pounds, from his own pocket. + +The next performance which he printed was a prose publication, entitled +"The Centaur Not Fabulous, in Six Letters to a Friend on the Life in +Vogue." The conclusion is dated November 29, 1754. In the third letter +is described the death-bed of the "gay, young, noble, ingenious, +accomplished, and most wretched Altamont." His last words were--"My +principles have poisoned my friend, my extravagance has beggared my boy, +my unkindness has murdered my wife!" Either Altamont and Lorenzo were +the twin production of fancy, or Young was unlucky enough to know two +characters who bore no little resemblance to each other in perfection of +wickedness. Report has been accustomed to call Altamont Lord Euston. + +"The Old Man's Relapse," occasioned by an Epistle to Walpole, if written +by Young, which I much doubt, must have been written very late in life. +It has been seen, I am told, in a Miscellany published thirty years +before his death. In 1758 he exhibited "The Old Man's Relapse," in +more than words, by again becoming a dedicator, and publishing a sermon +addressed to the king. + +The lively letter in prose, on "Original Composition," addressed to +Richardson, the author of "Clarissa," appeared in 1759. Though he +despairs "of breaking through the frozen obstructions of age and care's +incumbent cloud into that flow of thought and brightness of expression +which subjects so polite require," yet it is more like the production +of untamed, unbridled youth, than of jaded fourscore. Some sevenfold +volumes put him in mind of Ovid's sevenfold channels of the Nile at the +conflagration:-- + + "--ostia septem + Pulverulenta vocant, septem sine flumine valles." + +Such leaden labours are like Lycurgus's iron money, which was so much +less in value than in bulk, that it required barns for strong boxes, +and a yoke of oxen to draw five hundred pounds. If there is a famine of +invention in the land, we must travel, he says, like Joseph's brethren, +far for food, we must visit the remote and rich ancients. But an +inventive genius may safely stay at home; that, like the widow's +cruse, is divinely replenished from within, and affords us a miraculous +delight. He asks why it should seem altogether impossible that Heaven's +latest editions of the human mind may be the most correct and fair? And +Jonson, he tells us, was very learned, as Samson was very strong, to his +own hurt. Blind to the nature of tragedy, he pulled down all antiquity +on his head, and buried himself under it. Is this "care's incumbent +cloud," or "the frozen obstructions of age?" In this letter Pope is +severely censured for his "fall from Homer's numbers, free as air, +lofty and harmonious as the spheres, into childish shackles and tinkling +sounds; for putting Achilles into petticoats a second time:" but we are +told that the dying swan talked over an epic plan with Young a few weeks +before his decease. Young's chief inducement to write this letter was, +as he confesses, that he might erect a monumental marble to the memory +of an old friend. He, who employed his pious pen for almost the last +time in thus doing justice to the exemplary death-bed of Addison, might +probably, at the close of his own life, afford no unuseful lesson for +the deaths of others. In the postscript he writes to Richardson that he +will see in his next how far Addison is an original. But no other letter +appears. + +The few lines which stand in the last edition, as "sent by Lord Melcombe +to Dr. Young not long before his lordship's death," were indeed so sent, +but were only an introduction to what was there meant by "The Muse's +Latest Spark." The poem is necessary, whatever may be its merit, since +the Preface to it is already printed. Lord Melcombe called his Tusculum +"La Trappe":-- + + "Love thy country, wish it well, + Not with too intense a care; + 'Tis enough, that, when it fell, + Thou its ruin didst not share. + + Envy's censure, Flattery's praise, + With unmoved indifference view; + Learn to tread life's dangerous maze, + With unerring Virtue's clue. + + Void of strong desire and fear, + Life's void ocean trust no more; + Strive thy little bark to steer + With the tide, but near the shore. + + Thus prepared, thy shortened sail + Shall, whene'er the winds increase, + Seizing each propitious gale, + Waft thee to the Port of Peace. + + Keep thy conscience from offence, + And tempestuous passions free, + So, when thou art called from hence, + Easy shall thy passage be; + + Easy shall thy passage be, + Cheerful thy allotted stay, + Short the account 'twixt God and thee; + Hope shall meet thee on the way: + + Truth shall lead thee to the gate, + Mercy's self shall let thee in, + Where its never-changing state, + Full perfection, shall begin." + +The poem was accompanied by a letter. + + "La Trappe, the 27th of October, 1761 + +"DEAR SIR,--You seemed to like the ode I sent you for your amusement; +I now send it you as a present. If you please to accept of it, and are +willing that our friendship should be known when we are gone, you +will be pleased to leave this among those of your own papers that may +possibly see the light by a posthumous publication. God send us health +while we stay, and an easy journey!--My dear Dr. Young, + + "Yours, most cordially, + "MELCOMBE." + +In 1762, a short time before his death, Young published "Resignation." +Notwithstanding the manner in which it was really forced from him by the +world, criticism has treated it with no common severity. If it shall +be thought not to deserve the highest praise, on the other side of +fourscore, by whom, except by Newton and by Waller, has praise been +merited? + +To Mrs. Montagu, the famous champion of Shakespeare, I am indebted for +the history of "Resignation." Observing that Mrs. Boscawen, in the midst +of her grief for the loss of the admiral, derived consolation from the +perusal of the "Night Thoughts," Mrs. Montagu proposed a visit to the +author. From conversing with Young, Mrs. Boscawen derived still further +consolation; and to that visit she and the world were indebted for this +poem. It compliments Mrs. Montagu in the following lines:-- + + "Yet write I must. A lady sues: + How shameful her request! + My brain in labour with dull rhyme, + Hers teeming with the best!" + +And again-- + + "A friend you have, and I the same, + Whose prudent, soft address + Will bring to life those healing thoughts + Which died in your distress. + That friend, the spirit of my theme + Extracting for your ease, + Will leave to me the dreg, in thoughts + Too common; such as these." + +By the same lady I was enabled to say, in her own words, that Young's +unbounded genius appeared to greater advantage in the companion than +even in the author; that the Christian was in him a character still more +inspired, more enraptured, more sublime, than the poet; and that, in his +ordinary conversation-- + + "--letting down the golden chain from high, + He drew his audience upward to the sky." + +Notwithstanding Young had said, in his "Conjectures on Original +Composition," that "blank verse is verse unfallen, uncursed--verse +reclaimed, re-enthroned in the true language of the gods;" +notwithstanding he administered consolation to his own grief in this +immortal language, Mrs. Boscawen was comforted in rhyme. + +While the poet and the Christian were applying this comfort, Young had +himself occasion for comfort, in consequence of the sudden death +of Richardson, who was printing the former part of the poem. Of +Richardson's death he says-- + + "When heaven would kindly set us free, + And earth's enchantment end; + It takes the most effectual means, + And robs us of a friend." + +To "Resignation" was prefixed an apology for its appearance, to which +more credit is due than to the generality of such apologies, from +Young's unusual anxiety that no more productions of his old age should +disgrace his former fame. In his will, dated February, 1760, he desires +of his executors, IN A PARTICULAR MANNER, that all his manuscript books +and writings, whatever, might be burned, except his book of accounts. +In September, 1764, he added a kind of codicil, wherein he made it his +dying entreaty to his housekeeper, to whom he left 1,000 pounds, "that +all his manuscripts might be destroyed as soon as he was dead, which +would greatly oblige her deceased FRIEND." + +It may teach mankind the uncertainty of wordly friendships to know +that Young, either by surviving those he loved, or by outliving +their affections, could only recollect the names of two FRIENDS, his +housekeeper and a hatter, to mention in his will; and it may serve to +repress that testamentary pride, which too often seeks for sounding +names and titles, to be informed that the author of the "Night Thoughts" +did not blush to leave a legacy to his "friend Henry Stevens, a hatter +at the Temple-gate." Of these two remaining friends, one went before +Young. But, at eighty-four, "where," as he asks in The Centaur, "is that +world into which we were born?" The same humility which marked a hatter +and a housekeeper for the friends of the author of the "Night Thoughts," +had before bestowed the same title on his footman, in an epitaph in his +"Churchyard" upon James Baker, dated 1749; which I am glad to find +in the late collection of his works. Young and his housekeeper were +ridiculed, with more ill-nature than wit, in a kind of novel published +by Kidgell in 1755, called "The Card," under the names of Dr. Elwes and +Mrs. Fusby. In April, 1765, at an age to which few attain, a period was +put to the life of Young. He had performed no duty for three or four +years, but he retained his intellects to the last. + +Much is told in the "Biographia," which I know not to have been true, +of the manner of his burial; of the master and children of a +charity-school, which he founded in his parish, who neglected to attend +their benefactor's corpse; and a bell which was not caused to toll as +often as upon those occasions bells usually toll. Had that humanity, +which is here lavished upon things of little consequence either to the +living or to the dead, been shown in its proper place to the living, I +should have had less to say about Lorenzo. They who lament that these +misfortunes happened to Young, forget the praise he bestows upon +Socrates, in the Preface to "Night Seven," for resenting his friend's +request about his funeral. During some part of his life Young was +abroad, but I have not been able to learn any particulars. In his +seventh Satire he says, + + "When, after battle, I the field have SEEN + Spread o'er with ghastly shapes which once were men." + +It is known, also, that from this or from some other field he once +wandered into the camp with a classic in his hand, which he was reading +intently; and had some difficulty to prove that he was only an absent +poet, and not a spy. + +The curious reader of Young's life will naturally inquire to what it +was owing, that though he lived almost forty years after he took orders, +which included one whole reign uncommonly long, and part of another, +he was never thought worthy of the least preferment. The author of the +"Night Thoughts" ended his days upon a living which came to him from his +college without any favour, and to which he probably had an eye when he +determined on the Church. To satisfy curiosity of this kind is, at this +distance of time, far from easy. The parties themselves know not often, +at the instant, why they are neglected, or why they are preferred. The +neglect of Young is by some ascribed to his having attached himself to +the Prince of Wales, and to his having preached an offensive sermon at +St. James's. It has been told me that he had two hundred a year in the +late reign, by the patronage of Walpole; and that, whenever any one +reminded the king of Young, the only answer was, "he has a pension." All +the light thrown on this inquiry, by the following letter from Secker, +only serves to show at what a late period of life the author of the +"Night Thoughts" solicited preferment:-- + + "Deanery of St. Paul's, July 8, 1758. + +"GOOD DR. YOUNG,--I have long wondered that more suitable notice of your +great merit hath not been taken by persons in power. But how to remedy +the omission I see not. No encouragement hath ever been given me to +mention things of this nature to his majesty. And therefore, in all +likelihood, the only consequence of doing it would be weakening the +little influence which else I may possibly have on some other occasions. +Your fortune and your reputation set you above the need of advancement; +and your sentiments, above that concern for it, on your own account, +which, on that of the public, is sincerely felt by + + "Your loving Brother, THO. CANT." + +At last, at the age of fourscore, he was appointed, in 1761, Clerk of +the Closet to the Princess Dowager. One obstacle must have stood not a +little in the way of that preferment after which his whole life seems +to have panted. Though he took orders, he never entirely shook off +politics. He was always the lion of his master Milton, "pawing to get +free his hinder parts." By this conduct, if he gained some friends, he +made many enemies. Again: Young was a poet; and again, with reverence be +it spoken, poets by profession do not always make the best clergymen. +If the author of the "Night Thoughts" composed many sermons, he did not +oblige the public with many. Besides, in the latter part of his life, +Young was fond of holding himself out for a man retired from the world. +But he seemed to have forgotten that the same verse which contains +"oblitus meorum," contains also "obliviscendus et illis." The brittle +chain of worldly friendship and patronage is broken as effectually, when +one goes beyond the length of it, as when the other does. To the vessel +which is sailing from the shore, it only appears that the shore also +recedes; in life it is truly thus. He who retires from the world will +find himself, in reality, deserted as fast, if not faster, by the world. +The public is not to be treated as the coxcomb treats his mistress; to +be threatened with desertion, in order to increase fondness. + +Young seems to have been taken at his word. Notwithstanding his frequent +complaints of being neglected, no hand was reached out to pull him +from that retirement of which he declared himself enamoured. Alexander +assigned no palace for the residence of Diogenes, who boasted his surly +satisfaction with his tub. Of the domestic manners and petty habits of +the author of the "Night Thoughts," I hoped to have given you an account +from the best authority; but who shall dare to say, To-morrow I will +be wise or virtuous, or to-morrow I will do a particular thing? Upon +inquiring for his housekeeper, I learned that she was buried two days +before I reached the town of her abode. + +In a letter from Tscharner, a noble foreigner, to Count Haller, +Tscharner says, he has lately spent four days with Young at Welwyn, +where the author tastes all the ease and pleasure mankind can desire. +"Everything about him shows the man, each individual being placed by +rule. All is neat without art. He is very pleasant in conversation, and +extremely polite." This, and more, may possibly be true; but Tscharner's +was a first visit, a visit of curiosity and admiration, and a visit +which the author expected. + +Of Edward Young an anecdote which wanders among readers is not true, +that he was Fielding's Parson Adams. The original of that famous +painting was William Young, who was a clergyman. He supported an +uncomfortable existence by translating for the booksellers from Greek, +and, if he did not seem to be his own friend, was at least no man's +enemy. Yet the facility with which this report has gained belief in +the world argues, were it not sufficiently known that the author of the +"Night Thoughts" bore some resemblance to Adams. The attention which +Young bestowed upon the perusal of books is not unworthy imitation. +When any passage pleased him he appears to have folded down the leaf. On +these passages he bestowed a second reading. But the labours of man +are too frequently vain. Before he returned to much of what he had once +approved he died. Many of his books, which I have seen, are by those +notes of approbation so swelled beyond their real bulk, that they will +hardly shut. + + "What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame! + Earth's highest station ends in HERE HE LIES! + And DUST TO DUST concludes her noblest song!" + +The author of these lines is not without his 'Hic jacet.' By the good +sense of his son it contains none of that praise which no marble can +make the bad or the foolish merit; which, without the direction of stone +or a turf, will find its way, sooner or later, to the deserving. + + M. S. + Optimi parentis + EDWARDI YOUNG, LL.D. +Hujus Ecclesiae rect. et Elizabethae faem. praenob + Conjugis ejus amantissimae + Pio et gratissimo animo hoc marmor posuit + F. Y. + Filius superstes. + +Is it not strange that the author of the "Night Thoughts" has inscribed +no monument to the memory of his lamented wife? Yet what marble will +endure as long as the poems? + +Such, my good friend, is the account which I have been able to collect +of the great Young. That it may be long before anything like what I have +just transcribed be necessary for you, is the sincere wish of, + + Dear Sir, your greatly obliged Friend, + HERBERT CROFT, Jun. + Lincoln's Inn, Sept., 1780. + +P.S.--This account of Young was seen by you in manuscript, you know, +sir, and, though I could not prevail on you to make any alteration, you +insisted on striking out one passage, because it said that if I did not +wish you to live long for your sake, I did for the sake of myself and of +the world. But this postscript you will not see before the printing of +it, and I will say here, in spite of you, how I feel myself honoured +and bettered by your friendship, and that if I do credit to the Church, +after which I always longed, and for which I am now going to give in +exchange the bar, though not at so late a period of life as Young took +orders, it will be owing, in no small measure, to my having had the +happiness of calling the author of "The Rambler" my friend. + +H. C. Oxford, Oct., 1782. + + +Of Young's Poems it is difficult to give any general character, for he +has no uniformity of manner; one of his pieces has no great resemblance +to another. He began to write early and continued long, and at different +times had different modes of poetical excellence in view. His numbers +are sometimes smooth and sometimes rugged; his style is sometimes +concatenated and sometimes abrupt, sometimes diffusive and sometimes +concise. His plan seems to have started in his mind at the present +moment, and his thoughts appear the effect of chance, sometimes adverse +and sometimes lucky, with very little operation of judgment. He was not +one of those writers whom experience improves, and who, observing their +own faults, become gradually correct. His poem on the "Last Day," his +first great performance, has an equability and propriety, which he +afterwards either never endeavoured or never attained. Many paragraphs +are noble, and few are mean, yet the whole is languid; the plan is +too much extended, and a succession of images divides and weakens the +general conception, but the great reason why the reader is disappointed +is that the thought of the LAST DAY makes every man more than poetical +by spreading over his mind a general obscurity of sacred horror, that +oppresses distinction and disdains expression. His story of "Jane Grey" +was never popular. It is written with elegance enough, but Jane is too +heroic to be pitied. + +"The Universal Passion" is indeed a very great performance. It is +said to be a series of epigrams, but, if it be, it is what the author +intended; his endeavour was at the production of striking distichs and +pointed sentences, and his distichs have the weight of solid sentiments, +and his points the sharpness of resistless truth. His characters are +often selected with discernment and drawn with nicety; his illustrations +are often happy, and his reflections often just. His species of satire +is between those of Horace and Juvenal, and he has the gaiety of Horace +without his laxity of numbers, and the morality of Juvenal with greater +variation of images. He plays, indeed, only on the surface of life; he +never penetrates the recesses of the mind, and therefore the whole power +of his poetry is exhausted by a single perusal; his conceits please +only when they surprise. To translate he never condescended, unless his +"Paraphrase on Job" may be considered as a version, in which he has not, +I think, been unsuccessful; he indeed favoured himself by choosing those +parts which most easily admit the ornaments of English poetry. He had +least success in his lyric attempts, in which he seems to have been +under some malignant influence; he is always labouring to be great, and +at last is only turgid. + +In his "Night Thoughts" he has exhibited a very wide display of original +poetry, variegated with deep reflections and striking allusions, a +wilderness of thought, in which the fertility of fancy scatters flowers +of every hue and of every odour. This is one of the few poems in which +blank verse could not be changed for rhyme but with disadvantage. +The wild diffusion of the sentiments and the digressive sallies of +imagination would have been compressed and restrained by confinement +to rhyme. The excellence of this work is not exactness but copiousness; +particular lines are not to be regarded; the power is in the whole, +and in the whole there is a magnificence like that ascribed to Chinese +plantation, the magnificence of vast extent and endless diversity. + +His last poem was the "Resignation," in which he made, as he was +accustomed, an experiment of a new mode of writing, and succeeded better +than in his "Ocean" or his "Merchant." It was very falsely represented +as a proof of decaying faculties. There is Young in every stanza, such +as he often was in the highest vigour. His tragedies, not making part +of the collection, I had forgotten, till Mr. Stevens recalled them to +my thoughts, by remarking, that he seemed to have one favourite +catastrophe, as his three plays all concluded with lavish suicide, a +method by which, as Dryden remarked, a poet easily rids his scene +of persons whom he wants not to keep alive. In Busiris there are the +greatest ebullitions of imagination, but the pride of Busiris is such +as no other man can have, and the whole is too remote from known life to +raise either grief, terror, or indignation. The Revenge approaches much +nearer to human practices and manners, and therefore keeps possession +of the stage; the first design seems suggested by Othello, but the +reflections, the incidents, and the diction, are original. The moral +observations are so introduced and so expressed as to have all the +novelty that can be required. Of The Brothers I may be allowed to say +nothing, since nothing was ever said of it by the public. It must be +allowed of Young's poetry that it abounds in thought, but without much +accuracy or selection. When he lays hold of an illustration he pursues +it beyond expectation, sometimes happily, as in his parallel of +Quicksilver with Pleasure, which I have heard repeated with approbation +by a lady, of whose praise he would have been justly proud, and which is +very ingenious, very subtle, and almost exact; but sometimes he is less +lucky, as when, in his "Night Thoughts," having it dropped into his +mind that the orbs, floating in space, might be called the CLUSTER of +creation, he thinks of a cluster of grapes, and says, that they all hang +on the great vine, drinking the "nectareous juice of immortal life." His +conceits are sometimes yet less valuable. In the "Last Day" he hopes to +illustrate the reassembly of the atoms that compose the human body +at the "Trump of Doom" by the collection of bees into a swarm at the +tinkling of a pan. The Prophet says of Tyre that "her merchants are +princes." Young says of Tyre in his "Merchant," + + "Her merchants princes, and each DECK A THRONE." + +Let burlesque try to go beyond him. + +He has the trick of joining the turgid and familiar: to buy the alliance +of Britain, "Climes were paid down." Antithesis is his favourite, "They +for kindness hate:" and "because she's right, she's ever in the wrong." +His versification is his own; neither his blank nor his rhyming +lines have any resemblance to those of former writers; he picks up no +hemistichs, he copies no favourite expressions; he seems to have laid +up no stores of thought or diction, but to owe all to the fortuitous +suggestions of the present moment. Yet I have reason to believe that, +when once he had formed a new design, he then laboured it with very +patient industry; and that he composed with great labour and frequent +revisions. His verses are formed by no certain model; he is no more like +himself in his different productions than he is like others. He seems +never to have studied prosody, nor to have had any direction but from +his own ear. But with all his defects, he was a man of genius and a +poet. + + + + +MALLET. + + +Of David Mallet, having no written memorial, I am able to give no other +account than such as is supplied by the unauthorised loquacity of common +fame, and a very slight personal knowledge. He was by his original one +of the Macgregors, a clan that became, about sixty years ago, under the +conduct of Robin Roy, so formidable and so infamous for violence and +robbery, that the name was annulled by a legal abolition; and when they +were all to denominate themselves anew, the father, I suppose, of this +author, called himself Malloch. + +David Malloch was, by the penury of his parents, compelled to be Janitor +of the High School at Edinburgh, a mean office of which he did not +afterwards delight to hear. But he surmounted the disadvantages of his +birth and fortune; for, when the Duke of Montrose applied to the College +of Edinburgh for a tutor to educate his sons, Malloch was recommended; +and I never heard that he dishonoured his credentials. When his pupils +were sent to see the world, they were entrusted to his care; and having +conducted them round the common circle of modish travels, he returned +with them to London, where, by the influence of the family in which he +resided, he naturally gained admission to many persons of the highest +rank, and the highest character--to wits, nobles, and statesmen. Of his +works, I know not whether I can trace the series. His first production +was, "William and Margaret;" of which, though it contains nothing very +striking or difficult, he has been envied the reputation; and plagiarism +has been boldly charged, but never proved. Not long afterwards he +published the "Excursion" (1728); a desultory and capricious view of +such scenes of nature as his fancy led him, or his knowledge enabled +him, to describe. It is not devoid of poetical spirit. Many of his +images are striking, and many of the paragraphs are elegant. The cast +of diction seems to be copied from Thomson, whose "Seasons" were then +in their full blossom of reputation. He has Thomson's beauties and his +faults. His poem on "Verbal Criticism" (1733) was written to pay court +to Pope, on a subject which he either did not understand, or willingly +misrepresented; and is little more than an improvement, or rather +expansion, of a fragment which Pope printed in a miscellany long +before he engrafted it into a regular poem. There is in this piece more +pertness than wit, and more confidence than knowledge. The versification +is tolerable, nor can criticism allow it a higher praise. + +His first tragedy was Eurydice, acted at Drury Lane in 1731; of which I +know not the reception nor the merit, but have heard it mentioned as +a mean performance. He was not then too high to accept a prologue and +epilogue from Aaron Hill, neither of which can be much commended. Having +cleared his tongue from his native pronunciation so as to be no longer +distinguished as a Scot, he seems inclined to disencumber himself from +all adherences of his original, and took upon him to change his name +from Scotch Malloch to English Mallet, without any imaginable reason of +preference which the eye or ear can discover. What other proofs he gave +of disrespect to his native country I know not; but it was remarked of +him that he was the only Scot whom Scotchmen did not commend. About this +time Pope, whom he visited familiarly, published his "Essay on Man," but +concealed the author; and, when Mallet entered one day, Pope asked him +slightly what there was new. Mallet told him that the newest piece was +something called an "Essay on Man," which he had inspected idly, and +seeing the utter inability of the author, who had neither skill in +writing nor knowledge of the subject, had tossed it away. Pope, to +punish his self-conceit, told him the secret. + +A new edition of the works of Bacon being prepared (1740) for the +press, Mallet was employed to prefix a Life, which he has written with +elegance, perhaps with some affectation; but with so much more knowledge +of history than of science, that, when he afterwards undertook the "Life +of Marlborough," Warburton remarked that he might perhaps forget +that Marlborough was a general, as he had forgotten that Bacon was a +philosopher. + +When the Prince of Wales was driven from the palace, and, setting +himself at the head of the opposition, kept a separate court, he +endeavoured to increase his popularity by the patronage of literature, +and made Mallet his under-secretary, with a salary of two hundred pounds +a year; Thomson likewise had a pension; and they were associated in the +composition of The Masque of Alfred, which in its original state was +played at Cliefden in 1740; it was afterwards almost wholly changed by +Mallet, and brought upon the stage at Drury Lane in 1751, but with +no great success. Mallet, in a familiar conversation with Garrick, +discoursing of the diligence which he was then exerting upon the "Life +of Marlborough," let him know that in the series of great men quickly to +be exhibited he should FIND A NICHE for the hero of the theatre. Garrick +professed to wonder by what artifice he could be introduced: but Mallet +let him know that, by a dexterous anticipation, he should fix him in +a conspicuous place. "Mr. Mallet," says Garrick, in his gratitude of +exultation, "have you left off to write for the stage?" Mallet then +confessed that he had a drama in his hands. Garrick promised to act it; +and "Alfred" was produced. + +The long retardation of the life of the Duke of Marlborough shows, with +strong conviction, how little confidence can be placed on posthumous +renown. When he died, it was soon determined that his story should be +delivered to posterity; and the papers supposed to contain the necessary +information were delivered to Lord Molesworth, who had been his +favourite in Flanders. When Molesworth died, the same papers were +transferred with the same design to Sir Richard Steele, who, in some of +his exigencies, put them in pawn. They remained with the old duchess, +who in her will assigned the task to Glover and Mallet, with a reward +of a thousand pounds, and a prohibition to insert any verses. Glover +rejected, I suppose, with disdain, the legacy, and devolved the whole +work upon Mallet; who had from the late Duke of Marlborough a pension +to promote his industry, and who talked of the discoveries which he had +made; but left not, when he died, any historical labours behind him. +While he was in the Prince's service he published Mustapha with a +prologue by Thomson, not mean, but far inferior to that which he had +received from Mallet for Agamemnon. The epilogue, said to be written by +a friend, was composed in haste by Mallet, in the place of one promised, +which was never given. This tragedy was dedicated to the Prince his +master. It was acted at Drury Lane in 1739, and was well received, but +was never revived. In 1740 he produced, as has been already mentioned, +The Masque of Alfred, in conjunction with Thomson. For some time +afterwards he lay at rest. After a long interval his next work was +"Amyntor and Theodora" (1747), a long story in blank verse; in which +it cannot be denied that there is copiousness and elegance of language, +vigour of sentiment, and imagery well adapted to take possession of the +fancy. But it is blank verse. This he sold to Vaillant for one hundred +and twenty pounds. The first sale was not great, and it is now lost in +forgetfulness. + +Mallet, by address or accident, perhaps by his dependence on the Prince, +found his way to Bolingbroke, a man whose pride and petulance made his +kindness difficult to gain or keep, and whom Mallet was content to court +by an act which I hope was unwillingly performed. When it was found that +Pope clandestinely printed an unauthorised pamphlet called the "Patriot +King," Bolingbroke in a fit of useless fury resolved to blast his +memory, and employed Mallet (1749) as the executioner of his vengeance. +Mallet had not virtue, or had not spirit, to refuse the office; and was +rewarded, not long after, with the legacy of Lord Bolingbroke's works. + +Many of the political pieces had been written during the opposition to +Walpole, and given to Francklin, as he supposed, in perpetuity. These, +among the rest, were claimed by the will. The question was referred to +arbitrators; but, when they decided against Mallet, he refused to yield +to the award; and, by the help of Millar the bookseller, published all +that he could find, but with success very much below his expectation. + +In 1775[sic], his masque of Britannia was acted at Drury Lane, and his +tragedy of Elvira in 1763; in which year he was appointed keeper of the +book of entries for ships in the port of London. In the beginning of +the last war, when the nation was exasperated by ill success, he was +employed to turn the public vengeance upon Byng, and wrote a letter +of accusation under the character of a "Plain Man." The paper was with +great industry circulated and dispersed; and he, for his seasonable +intervention, had a considerable pension bestowed upon him, which he +retained to his death. Towards the end of his life he went with his wife +to France; but after a while, finding his health declining, he returned +alone to England, and died in April, 1765. He was twice married, and +by his first wife had several children. One daughter, who married an +Italian of rank named Cilesia, wrote a tragedy called Almida, which was +acted at Drury Lane. His second wife was the daughter of a nobleman's +steward, who had a considerable fortune, which she took care to retain +in her own hands. His stature was diminutive, but he was regularly +formed; his appearance, till he grew corpulent, was agreeable, and he +suffered it to want no recommendation that dress could give it. His +conversation was elegant and easy. The rest of his character may, +without injury to his memory, sink into silence. As a writer, he cannot +be placed in any high class. There is no species of composition in +which he was eminent. His dramas had their day, a short day, and are +forgotten: his blank verse seems to my ear the echo of Thomson. His +"Life of Bacon" is known, as it is appended to Bacon's volumes, but is +no longer mentioned. His works are such as a writer, bustling in the +world, showing himself in public, and emerging occasionally from time to +time into notice, might keep alive by his personal influence; but which, +conveying little information, and giving no great pleasure, must +soon give way, as the succession of things produces new topics of +conversation and other modes of amusement. + + + + +AKENSIDE. + + +Mark Akenside was born on the 9th of November, 1721, at +Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His father Mark was a butcher, of the Presbyterian +sect; his mother's name was Mary Lumsden. He received the first part +of his education at the grammar-school of Newcastle; and was afterwards +instructed by Mr. Wilson, who kept a private academy. At the age of +eighteen he was sent to Edinburgh that he might qualify himself for the +office of a dissenting minister, and received some assistance from +the fund which the dissenters employ in educating young men of scanty +fortune. But a wider view of the world opened other scenes, and +prompted other hopes: he determined to study physic, and repaid that +contribution, which being received for a different purpose, he justly +thought it dishonourable to retain. Whether, when he resolved not to +be a dissenting minister, he ceased to be a dissenter, I know not. He +certainly retained an unnecessary and outrageous zeal for what he called +and thought liberty; a zeal which sometimes disguises from the world, +and not rarely from the mind which it possesses, an envious desire of +plundering wealth or degrading greatness; and of which the immediate +tendency is innovation and anarchy, an impetuous eagerness to subvert +and confound, with very little care what shall be established. + +Akenside was one of those poets who have felt very early the motions +of genius, and one of those students who have very early stored their +memories with sentiments and images. Many of his performances were +produced in his youth; and his greatest work, "The Pleasures of +Imagination," appeared in 1744. I have heard Dodsley, by whom it was +published, relate that when the copy was offered him, the price demanded +for it, which was a hundred and twenty pounds, being such as he was not +inclined to give precipitately, he carried the work to Pope, who, having +looked into it, advised him not to make a niggardly offer; for "this was +no every-day writer." + +In 1741 he went to Leyden in pursuit of medical knowledge; and three +years afterwards (May 16, 1744) became Doctor of Physic, having, +according to the custom of the Dutch Universities, published a thesis or +dissertation. The subject which he chose was "The Original and Growth +of the Human Foetus;" in which he is said to have departed, with great +judgment, from the opinion then established, and to have delivered that +which has been since confirmed and received. + +Akenside was a young man, warm with every notion that by nature or +accident had been connected with the sound of liberty, and, by an +eccentricity which such dispositions do not easily avoid, a lover +of contradiction, and no friend to anything established. He adopted +Shaftesbury's foolish assertion of the efficacy of ridicule for the +discovery of truth. For this he was attacked by Warburton, and defended +by Dyson; Warburton afterwards reprinted his remarks at the end of his +dedication to the Freethinkers. The result of all the arguments which +have been produced in a long and eager discussion of this idle question +may easily be collected. If ridicule be applied to any position as the +test of truth it will then become a question whether such ridicule be +just; and this can only be decided by the application of truth, as the +test of ridicule. Two men fearing, one a real, and the other a +fancied danger, will be for a while equally exposed to the inevitable +consequences of cowardice, contemptuous censure, and ludicrous +representation; and the true state of both cases must be known before it +can be decided whose terror is rational and whose is ridiculous; who +is to be pitied, and who to be despised. Both are for a while equally +exposed to laughter, but both are not therefore equally contemptible. +In the revisal of his poem, though he died before he had finished it, he +omitted the lines which had given occasion to Warburton's objections. +He published, soon after his return from Leyden (1745), his first +collection of odes; and was impelled by his rage of patriotism to write +a very acrimonious epistle to Pulteney, whom he stigmatises, under the +name of Curio, as the betrayer of his country. Being now to live by +his profession, he first commenced physician at Northampton, where Dr. +Stonehouse then practised, with such reputation and success, that a +stranger was not likely to gain ground upon him. Akenside tried the +contest a while; and, having deafened the place with clamours for +liberty, removed to Hampstead, where he resided more than two years, +and then fixed himself in London, the proper place for a man of +accomplishments like his. At London he was known as a poet, but was +still to make his way as a physician; and would perhaps have been +reduced to great exigencies but that Mr. Dyson, with an ardour of +friendship that has not many examples, allowed him three hundred pounds +a year. Thus supported, he advanced gradually in medical reputation, but +never attained any great extent of practice or eminence of popularity. A +physician in a great city seems to be the mere plaything of fortune; his +degree of reputation is, for the most part, totally casual--they that +employ him know not his excellence; they that reject him know not his +deficience. By any acute observer who had looked on the transactions +of the medical world for half a century a very curious book might be +written on the "Fortune of Physicians." + +Akenside appears not to have been wanting to his own success: he placed +himself in view by all the common methods; he became a Fellow of the +Royal Society; he obtained a degree at Cambridge; and was admitted into +the College of Physicians; he wrote little poetry, but published from +time to time medical essays and observations; he became physician to St. +Thomas's Hospital; he read the Gulstonian Lectures in Anatomy; but began +to give, for the Croonian Lecture, a history of the revival of learning, +from which he soon desisted; and in conversation he very eagerly +forced himself into notice by an ambitious ostentation of elegance and +literature. His "Discourse on the Dysentery" (1764) was considered as +a very conspicuous specimen of Latinity, which entitled him to the same +height of place among the scholars as he possessed before among +the wits; and he might perhaps have risen to a greater elevation of +character but that his studies were ended with his life by a putrid +fever June 23, 1770, in the forty-ninth year of his age. + +Akenside is to be considered as a didactic and lyric poet. His great +work is the "Pleasures of Imagination," a performance which, published +as it was at the age of twenty-three, raised expectations that were +not amply satisfied. It has undoubtedly a just claim to very particular +notice as an example of great felicity of genius, and uncommon aptitude +of acquisitions, of a young mind stored with images, and much exercised +in combining and comparing them. With the philosophical or religious +tenets of the author I have nothing to do; my business is with his +poetry. The subject is well chosen, as it includes all images that can +strike or please, and thus comprises every species of poetical delight. +The only difficulty is in the choice of examples and illustrations; and +it is not easy in such exuberance of matter to find the middle point +between penury and satiety. The parts seem artificially disposed, with +sufficient coherence, so as that they cannot change their places +without injury to the general design. His images are displayed with such +luxuriance of expression that they are hidden, like Butler's Moon, by a +"Veil of Light;" they are forms fantastically lost under superfluity of +dress. Pars minima est ipsa puella sui. The words are multiplied till +the sense is hardly perceived; attention deserts the mind, and settles +in the ear. The reader wanders through the gay diffusion, sometimes +amazed, and sometimes delighted; but, after many turnings in the flowery +labyrinth, comes out as he went in. He remarked little, and laid hold on +nothing. To his versification justice requires that praise should not be +denied. In the general fabrication of his lines he is perhaps superior +to any other writer of blank verse; his flow is smooth, and his pauses +are musical; but the concatenation of his verses is commonly too long +continued, and the full close does not occur with sufficient frequency. +The sense is carried on through a long intertexture of complicated +clauses, and, as nothing is distinguished, nothing is remembered. + +The exemption which blank verse affords from the necessity of closing +the sense with the couplet betrays luxuriant and active minds into such +self-indulgence that they pile image upon image, ornament upon ornament, +and are not easily persuaded to close the sense at all. Blank verse +will therefore, I fear, be too often found in description exuberant, in +argument loquacious, and in narration tiresome. His diction is certainly +poetical, as it is not prosaic; and elegant, as it is not vulgar. He is +to be commended as having fewer artifices of disgust than most of his +brethren of the blank song. He rarely either recalls old phrases, or +twists his metre into harsh inversions. The sense, however, of his words +is strained when "he views the Ganges from Alpine heights"--that is, +from mountains like the Alps. And the pedant surely intrudes (but when +was blank verse without pedantry?) when he tells how "Planets ABSOLVE +the stated round of Time." + +It is generally known to the readers of poetry that he intended to +revise and augment this work, but died before he had completed his +design. The reformed work as he left it, and the additions which he had +made, are very properly retained in the late collection. He seems to +have somewhat contracted his diffusion; but I know not whether he has +gained in closeness what he has lost in splendour. In the additional +book the "Tale of Solon" is too long. One great defect of this poem +is very properly censured by Mr. Walker, unless it may be said in his +defence that what he has omitted was not properly in his plan. "His +picture of man is grand and beautiful, but unfinished. The immortality +of the soul, which is the natural consequence of the appetites and +powers she is invested with, is scarcely once hinted throughout the +poem. This deficiency is amply supplied by the masterly pencil of +Dr. Young, who, like a good philosopher, has invincibly proved the +immortality of man from the grandeur of his conceptions and the meanness +and misery of his state; for this reason a few passages are selected +from the 'Night Thoughts,' which, with those from Akenside, seem to form +a complete view of the powers, situation, and end of man."--"Exercises +for Improvement in Elocution," p. 66. + +His other poems are now to be considered; but a short consideration +will despatch them. It is not easy to guess why he addicted himself so +diligently to lyric poetry, having neither the ease and airiness of the +lighter, nor the vehemence and elevation of the grander ode. When he +lays his ill-fated hand upon his harp his former powers seem to desert +him; he has no longer his luxuriance of expression or variety of images. +His thoughts are cold, and his words inelegant. Yet such was his love of +lyrics that, having written with great vigour and poignancy his "Epistle +to Curio," he transformed it afterwards into an ode disgraceful only to +its author. + +Of his odes nothing favourable can be said; the sentiments commonly want +force, nature, or novelty; the diction is sometimes harsh and uncouth, +the stanzas ill-constructed and unpleasant, and the rhymes dissonant or +unskilfully disposed, too distant from each other, or arranged with too +little regard to established use, and therefore perplexing to the ear, +which in a short composition has not time to grow familiar with an +innovation. To examine such compositions singly cannot be required; they +have doubtless brighter and darker parts; but, when they are once found +to be generally dull, all further labour may be spared, for to what use +can the work be criticised that will not be read? + + + + +GRAY. + + +Thomas Gray, the son of Mr. Philip Gray, a scrivener of London, was born +in Cornhill, November 26, 1716. His grammatical education he received +at Eton, under the care of Mr. Antrobus, his mother's brother, then +assistant to Dr. George, and when he left school, in 1734, entered a +pensioner at Peterhouse, in Cambridge. The transition from the school +to the college is, to most young scholars, the time from which they date +their years of manhood, liberty, and happiness; but Gray seems to have +been very little delighted with academical gratifications; he liked at +Cambridge neither the mode of life nor the fashion of study, and lived +sullenly on to the time when his attendance on lectures was no longer +required. As he intended to profess the common law, he took no degree. +When he had been at Cambridge about five years, Mr. Horace Walpole, +whose friendship he had gained at Eton, invited him to travel with him +as his companion. They wandered through France into Italy; and Gray's +"Letters" contain a very pleasing account of many parts of their +journey. But unequal friendships are easily dissolved; at Florence they +quarrelled and parted; and Mr. Walpole is now content to have it told +that it was by his fault. If we look, however, without prejudice on the +world, we shall find that men whose consciousness of their own merit +sets them above the compliances of servility are apt enough in their +association with superiors to watch their own dignity with troublesome +and punctilious jealousy, and in the fervour of independence to exact +that attention which they refuse to pay. Part they did, whatever was the +quarrel; and the rest of their travels was doubtless more unpleasant to +them both. Gray continued his journey in a manner suitable to his own +little fortune, with only an occasional servant. He returned to England +in September, 1741, and in about two months afterwards buried his +father, who had, by an injudicious waste of money upon a new house, so +much lessened his fortune that Gray thought himself too poor to study +the law. He therefore retired to Cambridge, where he soon after became +Bachelor of Civil Law, and where, without liking the place or its +inhabitants, or professing to like them, he passed, except a short +residence at London, the rest of his life. About this time he was +deprived of Mr. West, the son of a chancellor of Ireland, a friend on +whom he appears to have set a high value, and who deserved his esteem +by the powers which he shows in his "Letters" and in the "Ode to May," +which Mr. Mason has preserved, as well as by the sincerity with which, +when Gray sent him part of Agrippina, a tragedy that he had just begun, +he gave an opinion which probably intercepted the progress of the work, +and which the judgment of every reader will confirm. It was certainly +no loss to the English stage that Agrippina was never finished. In this +year (1742) Gray seems to have applied himself seriously to poetry; for +in this year were produced the "Ode to Spring," his "Prospect of +Eton," and his "Ode to Adversity." He began likewise a Latin poem, "De +Principiis Cogitandi." + +It may be collected from the narrative of Mr. Mason that his first +ambition was to have excelled in Latin poetry; perhaps it were +reasonable to wish that he had prosecuted his design; for though there +is at present some embarrassment in his phrase, and some harshness +in his lyric numbers, his copiousness of language is such as very few +possess; and his lines, even when imperfect, discover a writer whom +practice would have made skilful. He now lived on at Peterhouse, very +little solicitous what others did or thought, and cultivated his mind +and enlarged his views without any other purpose than of improving and +amusing himself, when Mr. Mason, being elected Fellow of Pembroke Hall, +brought him a companion who was afterwards to be his editor, and whose +fondness and fidelity has kindled in him a zeal of admiration which +cannot be reasonably expected from the neutrality of a stranger and the +coldness of a critic. In this retirement he wrote (1747) an ode on the +"Death of Mr. Walpole's Cat;" and the year afterwards attempted a +poem of more importance, on "Government and Education," of which the +fragments which remain have many excellent lines. His next production +(1750) was his far-famed "Elegy in the Churchyard," which, finding its +way into a magazine, first, I believe, made him known to the public. + +An invitation from Lady Cobham about this time gave occasion to an +odd composition called "A Long Story," which adds little to Gray's +character. Several of his pieces were published (1753) with designs by +Mr. Bentley; and, that they might in some form or other make a book, +only one side of each leaf was printed. I believe the poems and the +plates recommended each other so well that the whole impression was soon +bought. This year he lost his mother. Some time afterwards (1756) +some young men of the college, whose chambers were near his, diverted +themselves with disturbing him by frequent and troublesome noises, +and, as is said, by pranks yet more offensive and contemptuous. This +insolence, having endured it awhile, he represented to the governors +of the society, among whom perhaps he had no friends; and finding his +complaint little regarded, removed himself to Pembroke Hall. + +In 1759 he published "The Progress of Poetry" and "The Bard," two +compositions at which the readers of poetry were at first content to +gaze in mute amazement. Some that tried them confessed their inability +to understand them, though Warburton said that they were understood as +well as the works of Milton and Shakespeare, which it is the fashion to +admire. Garrick wrote a few lines in their praise. Some hardy champions +undertook to rescue them from neglect; and in a short time many were +content to be shown beauties which they could not see. + +Gray's reputation was now so high that, after the death of Cibber, he +had the honour of refusing the laurel, which was then bestowed on Mr. +Whitehead. His curiosity, not long after, drew him away from Cambridge +to a lodging near the Museum, where he resided near three years, reading +and transcribing, and, so far as can be discovered, very little +affected by two odes on "Oblivion" and "Obscurity," in which his lyric +performances were ridiculed with much contempt and much ingenuity. When +the Professor of Modern History at Cambridge died, he was, as he says, +"cockered and spirited up," till he asked it of Lord Bute, who sent him +a civil refusal; and the place was given to Mr. Brocket, the tutor of +Sir James Lowther. His constitution was weak, and, believing that his +health was promoted by exercise and change of place, he undertook (1765) +a journey into Scotland, of which his account, so far as it extends, +is very curious and elegant; for, as his comprehension was ample, his +curiosity extended to all the works of art, all the appearances of +nature, and all the monuments of past events. He naturally contracted a +friendship with Dr. Beattie, whom he found a poet, a philosopher, and +a good man. The Mareschal College at Aberdeen offered him a degree +of Doctor of Laws, which, having omitted to take it at Cambridge, he +thought it decent to refuse. What he had formerly solicited in vain was +at last given him without solicitation. The Professorship of History +became again vacant, and he received (1768) an offer of it from the Duke +of Grafton. He accepted, and retained, it to his death; always designing +lectures, but never reading them; uneasy at his neglect of duty, +and appeasing his uneasiness with designs of reformation, and with +a resolution which he believed himself to have made of resigning the +office if he found himself unable to discharge it. Ill-health made +another journey necessary, and he visited (1769) Westmoreland and +Cumberland. He that reads his epistolary narration wishes that, to +travel, and to tell his travels, had been more of his employment; but +it is by studying at home that we must obtain the ability of travelling +with intelligence and improvement. His travels and his studies were now +near their end. The gout, of which he had sustained many weak attacks, +fell upon his stomach, and, yielding to no medicines, produced strong +convulsions, which (July 30, 1771) terminated in death. His character I +am willing to adopt, as Mr. Mason has done, from a letter written to +my friend Mr. Boswell by the Rev. Mr. Temple, rector of St. Gluvias in +Cornwall; and am as willing as his warmest well-wisher to believe it +true:-- + +"Perhaps he was the most learned man in Europe. He was equally +acquainted with the elegant and profound parts of science, and that not +superficially, but thoroughly. He knew every branch of history, both +natural and civil; had read all the original historians of England, +France, and Italy; and was a great antiquarian. Criticism, metaphysics, +morals, politics, made a principal part of his study; voyages and +travels of all sorts were his favourite amusements; and he had a fine +taste in painting, prints, architecture, and gardening. With such a fund +of knowledge, his conversation must have been equally instructing and +entertaining; but he was also a good man, a man of virtue and humanity. +There is no character without some speck, some imperfection; and I think +the greatest defect in his was an affectation in delicacy, or rather +effeminacy, and a visible fastidiousness, or contempt and disdain of his +inferiors in science. He also had, in some degree, that weakness which +disgusted Voltaire so much in Mr. Congreve: though he seemed to value +others chiefly according to the progress they had made in knowledge, +yet he could not bear to be considered merely as a man of letters; and, +though without birth or fortune or station, his desire was to be looked +upon as a private independent gentleman, who read for his amusement. +Perhaps it may be said, What signifies so much knowledge, when it +produced so little? Is it worth taking so much pains to leave no +memorial but a few poems? But let it be considered that Mr. Gray was to +others at least innocently employed; to himself certainly beneficially. +His time passed agreeably; he was every day making some new acquisition +in science; his mind was enlarged, his heart softened, his virtue +strengthened; the world and mankind were shown to him without a mask; +and he was taught to consider everything as trifling and unworthy of the +attention of a wise man except the pursuit of knowledge and practice of +virtue in that state wherein God hath placed us." + +To this character Mr. Mason has added a more particular account of +Gray's skill in zoology. He has remarked that Gray's effeminacy was +affected most "before those whom he did not wish to please;" and that he +is unjustly charged with making knowledge his sole reason of preference, +as he paid his esteem to none whom he did not likewise believe to be +good. + +What has occurred to me from the slight inspection of his letters in +which my undertaking has engaged me is, that his mind had a large grasp; +that his curiosity was unlimited, and his judgment cultivated; that he +was a man likely to love much where he loved at all; but that he was +fastidious and hard to please. His contempt, however, is often employed, +where I hope it will be approved, upon scepticism and infidelity. His +short account of Shaftesbury (author of the "Characteristics") I will +insert:-- + +"You say you cannot conceive how Lord Shaftesbury came to be a +philosopher in vogue; I will tell you: first, he was a lord; secondly, +he was as vain as any of his readers; thirdly, men are very prone +to believe what they do not understand; fourthly, they will believe +anything at all, provided they are under no obligation to believe +it; fifthly, they love to take a new road, even when that road leads +nowhere; sixthly, he was reckoned a fine writer, and seems always to +mean more than he said. Would you have any more reasons? An interval of +about forty years has pretty well destroyed the charm. A dead lord ranks +with commoners; vanity is no longer interested in the matter, for a new +road has become an old one." + +Mr. Mason has added, from his own knowledge, that though Gray was poor +he was not eager of money, and that out of the little that he had he +was very willing to help the necessitous. As a writer, he had this +peculiarity--that he did not write his pieces first rudely, and then +correct them, but laboured every line as it arose in the train of +composition; and he had a notion, not very peculiar, that he could not +write but at certain times, or at happy moments--a fantastic foppery to +which my kindness for a man of learning and virtue wishes him to have +been superior. + +Gray's poetry is now to be considered; and I hope not to be looked on +as an enemy to his name if I confess that I contemplate it with less +pleasure than his Life. His ode "On Spring" has something poetical, both +in the language and the thought; but the language is too luxuriant, and +the thoughts have nothing new. There has of late arisen a practice +of giving to adjectives derived from substantives the termination of +participles; such as the CULTURED plain, the DAISIED bank; but I was +sorry to see, in the lines of a scholar like Gray, the HONIED Spring. +The morality is natural, but too stale; the conclusion is pretty. + +The poem "On the Cat" was doubtless by its author considered as a +trifle, but it is not a happy trifle. In the first stanza, "the azure +flowers THAT blow" show resolutely a rhyme is sometimes made when it +cannot easily be found. Selima, the cat, is called a nymph, with some +violence both to language and sense; but there is no good use made of it +when it is done; for of the two lines + + "What female heart can gold despise? + What cat's averse to fish?" + +the first relates merely to the nymph, and the second only to the cat. +The sixth stanza contains a melancholy truth, that "a favourite has no +friend;" but the last ends in a pointed sentence of no relation to the +purpose. If WHAT GLISTERED had been GOLD, the cat would not have gone +into the water; and if she had, would not less have been drowned. + +"The Prospect of Eton College" suggests nothing to Gray which every +beholder does not equally think and feel. His supplication to Father +Thames to tell him who drives the hoop or tosses the ball is useless and +puerile. Father Thames has no better means of knowing than himself. His +epithet "buxom health" is not elegant; he seems not to understand the +word. Gray thought his language more poetical as it was more remote from +common use. Finding in Dryden "honey redolent of spring," an expression +that reaches the utmost limits of our language, Gray drove it a little +more beyond common apprehension by making "gales" to be "redolent of joy +and youth." + +Of the "Ode on Adversity," the hint was at first taken from "O Diva, +gratum quae regis Antium;" but Gray has excelled his original by the +variety of his sentiments, and by their moral application. Of this +piece, at once poetical and rational, I will not by slight objections +violate the dignity. + +My process has now brought me to the WONDERFUL "Wonder of Wonders," +the two Sister Odes, by which, though either vulgar ignorance or common +sense at first universally rejected them, many have been since persuaded +to think themselves delighted. I am one of those that are willing to be +pleased, and therefore would gladly find the meaning of the first stanza +of the "Progress of Poetry." Gray seems in his rapture to confound the +images of spreading sound and running water. A "stream of music" may +be allowed; but where does "music," however "smooth and strong," after +having visited the "verdant vales, roll down the steep amain," so as +that "rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar"? If this be said +of music, it is nonsense; if it be said of water, it is nothing to the +purpose. The second stanza, exhibiting Mars' car and Jove's eagle, is +unworthy of further notice. Criticism disdains to chase a schoolboy to +his common-places. To the third it may likewise be objected that it is +drawn from mythology, though such as may be more easily assimilated to +real life. Idalia's "velvet green" has something of cant. An epithet or +metaphor drawn from Nature ennobles Art; an epithet or metaphor +drawn from Art degrades Nature. Gray is too fond of words arbitrarily +compounded. "Many-twinkling" was formerly censured as not analogical; +we may say "many-spotted," but scarcely "many-spotting." This stanza, +however, has something pleasing. Of the second ternary of stanzas, the +first endeavours to tell something, and would have told it, had it not +been crossed by Hyperion; the second describes well enough the universal +prevalence of poetry; but I am afraid that the conclusion will not rise +from the premises. The caverns of the North and the plains of Chili are +not the residences of "glory and generous shame." But that poetry and +virtue go always together is an opinion so pleasing that I can forgive +him who resolves to think it true. The third stanza sounds big with +"Delphi," and "AEgean," and "Ilissus," and "Meander," and "hallowed +fountains," and "solemn sound;" but in all Gray's odes there is a kind +of cumbrous splendour which we wish away. His position is at last false. +In the time of Dante and Petrarch, from whom we derive our first school +of poetry, Italy was overrun by "tyrant power" and "coward vice;" nor +was our state much better when we first borrowed the Italian arts. Of +the third ternary, the first gives a mythological birth of Shakespeare. +What is said of that mighty genius is true, but it is not said happily; +the real effects of this poetical power are put out of sight by the pomp +of machinery. Where truth is sufficient to fill the mind, fiction is +worse than useless; the counterfeit debases the genuine. His account of +Milton's blindness, if we suppose it caused by study in the formation +of his poem (a supposition surely allowable), is poetically true, and +happily imagined. But the CAR of Dryden, with his TWO COURSERS, has +nothing in it peculiar; it is a car in which any other rider may be +placed. + +"The Bard" appears, at the first view, to be, as Algarotti and others +have remarked, an imitation of the prophecy of Nereus. Algarotti thinks +it superior to its original; and, if preference depends only on the +imagery and animation of the two poems, his judgment is right. There is +in "The Bard" more force, more thought, and more variety. But to copy is +less than to invent, and the copy has been unhappily produced at a wrong +time. The fiction of Horace was to the Romans credible; but its revival +disgusts us with apparent and unconquerable falsehood. INCREDULUS ODI. +To select a singular event, and swell it to a giant's bulk by fabulous +appendages of spectres and predictions, has little difficulty; for he +that forsakes the probable may always find the marvellous. And it has +little use; we are affected only as we believe; we are improved only +as we find something to be imitated or declined. I do not see that "The +Bard" promotes any truth, moral or political. His stanzas are too long, +especially his epodes; the ode is finished before the ear has learned +its measures, and consequently before it can receive pleasure from their +consonance and recurrence. Of the first stanza the abrupt beginning +has been celebrated; but technical beauties can give praise only to +the inventor. It is in the power of any man to rush abruptly upon his +subject that has read the ballad of "Johnny Armstrong," + + "Is there ever a man in all Scotland--?" + +The initial resemblances or alliterations, "ruin, ruthless," "helm or +hauberk," are below the grandeur of a poem that endeavours at sublimity. +In the second stanza the Bard is well described, but in the third +we have the puerilities of obsolete mythology. When we are told that +"Cadwallo hushed the stormy main," and that "Modred made huge Plinlimmon +bow his cloud-topped head," attention recoils from the repetition of +a tale that, even when it was first heard, was heard with scorn. The +WEAVING of the WINDING-SHEET he borrowed, as he owns, from the Northern +Bards, but their texture, however, was very properly the work of female +powers, as the act of spinning the thread of life in another mythology. +Theft is always dangerous; Gray has made weavers of slaughtered bards +by a fiction outrageous and incongruous. They are then called upon to +"Weave the warp and weave the woof," perhaps with no great propriety, +for it is by crossing the WOOF with the WARP that men weave the WEB +or piece, and the first line was dearly bought by the admission of its +wretched correspondent, "Give ample room and verge enough." He has, +however, no other line as bad. The third stanza of the second ternary is +commended, I think, beyond its merit. The personification is indistinct. +THIRST and HUNGER are not alike, and their features, to make the imagery +perfect, should have been discriminated. We are told in the same stanza +how "towers are fed." But I will no longer look for particular faults; +yet let it be observed that the ode might have been concluded with +an action of better example, but suicide is always to be had without +expense of thought. + +These odes are marked by glittering accumulations of ungraceful +ornaments, they strike rather than please; the images are magnified by +affectation; the language is laboured into harshness. The mind of the +writer seems to work with unnatural violence. "Double, double, toil and +trouble." He has a kind of strutting dignity, and is tall by walking +on tiptoe. His art and his struggle are too visible, and there is too +little appearance of ease and nature. To say that he has no beauties +would be unjust; a man like him, of great learning and great industry, +could not but produce something valuable. When he pleases least, it can +only be said that a good design was ill directed. His translations of +Northern and Welsh poetry deserve praise; the imagery is preserved, +perhaps often improved, but the language is unlike the language of other +poets. In the character of his Elegy I rejoice to concur with the common +reader, for by the common sense of readers uncorrupted with literary +prejudices, after all the refinements of subtlety and the dogmatism of +learning, must be finally decided all claim to poetical honours. The +"Churchyard" abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and +with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo. The four stanzas, +beginning "Yet even these bones," are to me original; I have never seen +the notions in any other place, yet he that reads them here persuades +himself that he has always felt them. Had Gray written often thus, it +had been vain to blame and useless to praise him. + + + + +LYTTELTON. + + +George Lyttelton, the son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley, in +Worcestershire, was born in 1709. He was educated at Eton, where he was +so much distinguished that his exercises were recommended as models to +his schoolfellows. From Eton he went to Christchurch, where he retained +the same reputation of superiority, and displayed his abilities to the +public in a poem on "Blenheim." He was a very early writer both in verse +and prose. His "Progress of Love" and his "Persian Letters" were both +written when he was very young, and, indeed, the character of a young +man is very visible in both. The verses cant of shepherds and flocks, +and crooks dressed with flowers; and the letters have something of +that indistinct and headstrong ardour for liberty which a man of genius +always catches when he enters the world, and always suffers to cool as +he passes forward. He stayed not long in Oxford, for in 1728 he began +his travels, and saw France and Italy. When he returned he obtained a +seat in Parliament, and soon distinguished himself among the most eager +opponents of Sir Robert Walpole, though his father, who was Commissioner +of the Admiralty, always voted with the Court. For many years the name +of George Lyttelton was seen in every account of every debate in the +House of Commons. He opposed the standing army; he opposed the excise; +he supported the motion for petitioning the king to remove Walpole. +His zeal was considered by the courtiers not only as violent but as +acrimonious and malignant, and when Walpole was at last hunted from his +places, every effort was made by his friends, and many friends he had, +to exclude Lyttelton from the secret committee. + +The Prince of Wales, being (1737) driven from St. James's, kept a +separate court, and opened his arms to the opponents of the Ministry. +Mr. Lyttelton became his Secretary, and was supposed to have great +influence in the direction of his conduct. He persuaded his master, +whose business it was now to be popular, that he would advance his +character by patronage. Mallet was made Under Secretary, with 200 +pounds, and Thomson had a pension of 100 pounds a year. For Thomson, +Lyttelton always retained his kindness, and was able at last to place +him at ease. Moore courted his favour by an apologetical poem called the +"Trial of Selim," for which he was paid with kind words, which, as is +common, raised great hopes, that were at last disappointed. + +Lyttelton now stood in the first rank of Opposition, and Pope, who was +incited, it is not easy to say how, to increase the clamour against the +Ministry, commended him among the other patriots. This drew upon him +the reproaches of Fox, who in the House imputed to him as a crime his +intimacy with a lampooner so unjust and licentious. Lyttelton supported +his friend; and replied that he thought it an honour to be received into +the familiarity of so great a poet. While he was thus conspicuous he +married (1741) Miss Lucy Fortescue, of Devonshire, by whom he had a son, +the late Lord Lyttelton, and two daughters, and with whom he appears +to have lived in the highest degree of connubial felicity; but human +pleasures are short; she died in childbed about five years afterwards, +and he solaced his grief by writing a long poem to her memory. He did +not, however, condemn himself to perpetual solitude and sorrow, for +after a while he was content to seek happiness again by a second +marriage with the daughter of Sir Robert Rich, but the experiment was +unsuccessful. At length, after a long struggle, Walpole gave way, and +honour and profit were distributed among his conquerors. Lyttelton was +made (1744) one of the Lords of the Treasury, and from that time was +engaged in supporting the schemes of the Ministry. + +Politics did not, however, so much engage him as to withhold his +thoughts from things of more importance. He had, in the pride of +juvenile confidence, with the help of corrupt conversation, entertained +doubts of the truth of Christianity; but he thought the time now come +when it was no longer fit to doubt or believe by chance, and applied +himself seriously to the great question. His studies, being honest, +ended in conviction. He found that religion was true, and what he +had learned he endeavoured to teach (1747) by "Observations on the +Conversion of St. Paul," a treatise to which infidelity has never +been able to fabricate a specious answer. This book his father had +the happiness of seeing, and expressed his pleasure in a letter which +deserves to be inserted:-- + +"I have read your religious treatise with infinite pleasure and +satisfaction. The style is fine and clear, the arguments close, cogent, +and irresistible. May the King of Kings, whose glorious cause you have +so well defended, reward your pious labours, and grant that I may be +found worthy, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to be an eye-witness +of that happiness which I don't doubt he will bountifully bestow upon +you. In the meantime I shall never cease glorifying God for having +endowed you with such useful talents, and giving me so good a son. + + "Your affectionate father, + "THOMAS LYTTELTON." + +A few years afterwards (1751), by the death of his father, he inherited +a baronet's title, with a large estate, which, though perhaps he did +not augment, he was careful to adorn by a house of great elegance and +expense, and by much attention to the decoration of his park. As he +continued his activity in Parliament, he was gradually advancing his +claim to profit and preferment; and accordingly was made in time (1754) +Cofferer and Privy Councillor: this place he exchanged next year for the +great office of Chancellor of the Exchequer--an office, however, that +required some qualifications which he soon perceived himself to want. +The year after, his curiosity led him into Wales; of which he has given +an account, perhaps rather with too much affectation of delight, +to Archibald Bower, a man of whom he has conceived an opinion more +favourable than he seems to have deserved, and whom, having once +espoused his interest and fame he was never persuaded to disown. Bower, +whatever was his moral character, did not want abilities. Attacked as +he was by a universal outcry, and that outcry, as it seems, the echo of +truth, he kept his ground; at last, when his defences began to fail him, +he sallied out upon his adversaries, and his adversaries retreated. + +About this time Lyttelton published his "Dialogues of the Dead," which +were very eagerly read, though the production rather, as it seems, of +leisure than of study--rather effusions than compositions. The names +of his persons too often enable the reader to anticipate their +conversation; and when they have met, they too often part without any +conclusion. He has copied Fenelon more than Fontenelle. When they were +first published they were kindly commended by the "Critical Reviewers;" +and poor Lyttelton, with humble gratitude, returned, in a note which I +have read, acknowledgments which can never be proper, since they must be +paid either for flattery or for justice. + +When, in the latter part of the last reign, the inauspicious +commencement of the war made the dissolution of the Ministry +unavoidable, Sir George Lyttelton, losing with the rest his employment, +was recompensed with a peerage; and rested from political turbulence in +the House of Lords. + +His last literary production was his "History of Henry the Second," +elaborated by the searches and deliberations of twenty years, and +published with such anxiety as only vanity can dictate. The story of +this publication is remarkable. The whole work was printed twice over, +a great part of it three times, and many sheets four or five times. The +booksellers paid for the first impression; but the changes and repeated +operations of the press were at the expense of the author, whose +ambitious accuracy is known to have cost him at least a thousand pounds. +He began to print in 1755. Three volumes appeared in 1764, a second +edition of them in 1767, a third edition in 1768, and the conclusion in +1771. + +Andrew Reid, a man not without considerable abilities and not +unacquainted with letters or with life, undertook to persuade Lyttelton, +as he had persuaded himself, that he was master of the secret of +punctuation; and, as fear begets credulity, he was employed, I know not +at what price, to point the pages of "Henry the Second." The book was at +last pointed and printed, and sent into the world. Lyttelton took money +for his copy, of which, when he had paid the pointer, he probably +gave the rest away; for he was very liberal to the indigent. When +time brought the History to a third edition, Reid was either dead or +discarded; and the superintendence of typography and punctuation was +committed to a man originally a comb-maker, but then known by the style +of Doctor. Something uncommon was probably expected, and something +uncommon was at last done; for to the Doctor's edition is appended, what +the world had hardly seen before, a list of errors in nineteen pages. + +But to politics and literature there must be an end. Lord Lyttelton had +never the appearance of a strong or of a healthy man; he had a slender, +uncompacted frame, and a meagre face; he lasted, however, sixty years, +and was then seized with his last illness. Of his death a very affecting +and instructive account has been given by his physician, which will +spare me the task of his moral character:-- + +"On Sunday evening the symptoms of his lordship's disorder, which for +a week past had alarmed us, put on a fatal appearance, and his lordship +believed himself to be a dying man. From this time he suffered from +restlessness rather than pain; though his nerves were apparently much +fluttered, his mental faculties never seemed stronger, when he was +thoroughly awake. His lordship's bilious and hepatic complaints seemed +alone not equal to the expected mournful event; his long want of sleep, +whether the consequence of the irritation in the bowels, or, which is +more probable, of causes of a different kind, accounts for his loss +of strength, and for his death, very sufficiently. Though his lordship +wished his approaching dissolution not to be lingering, he waited for it +with resignation. He said, 'It is a folly, a keeping me in misery, +now to attempt to prolong life;' yet he was easily persuaded, for the +satisfaction of others, to do or take anything thought proper for him. +On Saturday he had been remarkably better, and we were not without some +hopes of his recovery. + +"On Sunday, about eleven in the forenoon, his lordship sent for me, and +said he felt a great hurry, and wished to have a little conversation +with me, in order to divert it. He then proceeded to open the fountain +of that heart, from whence goodness had so long flowed, as from a +copious spring. 'Doctor,' said he, 'you shall be my confessor: when I +first set out in the world I had friends who endeavoured to shake my +belief in the Christian religion. I saw difficulties which staggered me, +but I kept my mind open to conviction. The evidences and doctrines of +Christianity, studied with attention, made me a most firm and persuaded +believer of the Christian religion. I have made it the rule of my life, +and it is the ground of my future hopes. I have erred and sinned; but +have repented, and never indulged any vicious habit. In politics and +public life I have made public good the rule of my conduct. I never gave +counsels which I did not at the time think the best. I have seen that +I was sometimes in the wrong, but I did not err designedly. I have +endeavoured in private life to do all the good in my power, and never +for a moment could indulge malicious or unjust designs upon any person +whatsoever.' + +"At another time he said, 'I must leave my soul in the same state it +was in before this illness; I find this a very inconvenient time for +solicitude about anything.' + +"On the evening, when the symptoms of death came on, he said, 'I shall +die; but it will not be your fault.' When Lord and Lady Valentia came +to see his lordship, he gave them his solemn benediction, and said, 'Be +good, be virtuous, my lord; you must come to this.' Thus he continued +giving his dying benediction to all around him. On Monday morning a +lucid interval gave some small hopes, but these vanished in the evening; +and he continued dying, but with very little uneasiness, till Tuesday +morning, August 22, when, between seven and eight o'clock, he expired, +almost without a groan." + +His lordship was buried at Hagley, and the following inscription is cut +on the side of his lady's monument:-- + + "This unadorned stone was placed here by the particular + desire and express directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE LORD LYTTELTON, + who died August 22, 1773, aged 64." + +Lord Lyttelton's Poems are the works of a man of literature and +judgment, devoting part of his time to versification. They have nothing +to be despised, and little to be admired. Of his "Progress of Love," +it is sufficient blame to say that it is pastoral. His blank verse +in "Blenheim" has neither much force nor much elegance. His little +performances, whether songs or epigrams, are sometimes sprightly, and +sometimes insipid. His epistolary pieces have a smooth equability, which +cannot much tire, because they are short, but which seldom elevates or +surprises. But from this censure ought to be excepted his "Advice to +Belinda," which, though for the most part written when he was very +young, contains much truth and much prudence, very elegantly and +vigorously expressed, and shows a mind attentive to life, and a power of +poetry which cultivation might have raised to excellence. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, +Young, and Others, by Samuel Johnson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE POETS *** + +***** This file should be named 4678.txt or 4678.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/7/4678/ + +Produced by Les Bowler + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg file. + +Please do not remove this header information. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the eBook. Do not change or edit it without written permission. +The words are carefully chosen to provide users with the information +needed to understand what they may and may not do with the eBook. +To encourage this, we have moved most of the information to the end, +rather than having it all here at the beginning. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get eBooks, and +further information, is included below. We need your donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 +Find out about how to make a donation at the bottom of this file. + + +Title: Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young etc. + +Author: Samuel Johnson + +Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4678] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 26, 2002] +[Most recently updated: February 26, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young etc. +by Samuel Johnson +******This file should be named lvgay10.txt or lvgay10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lvgay11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lvgay10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book +may now be found at the end of this file. Please read this +important information, as it gives you specific rights and +tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used. + +*** +This etext was produced by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset. + +LIVES OF THE POETS (GAY, THOMSON, YOUNG, GRAY ETC) + + + + +Contents. + +Introduction by Henry Morley. + +William King. +Charles Montague, Earl of Halifax. +Dr. Thomas Parnell. +Samuel Garth. +Nicholas Rowe. +John Gay. +Thomas Tickell. +William Somervil[l]e. +James Thomson. +Dr. Isaac Watts. +Ambrose Philips. +Gilbert West. +William Collins. +John Dyer. +William Shenstone. +Edward Young. +David Mallet. +Mark Akenside. +Thomas Gray. +George Lyttelton. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + + +This volume contains a record of twenty lives, of which only one-- +that of Edward Young--is treated at length. It completes our +edition of Johnson's Lives of the Poets, from which a few only of +the briefest and least important have been omitted. + +The eldest of the Poets here discussed were Samuel Garth, Charles +Montague (Lord Halifax), and William King, who were born within the +years 1660-63. Next in age were Addison's friend Ambrose Philips, +and Nicholas Rowe the dramatist, who was also the first editor of +Shakespeare's plays after the four folios had appeared. Ambrose +Philips and Rowe were born in 1671 and 1673, and Isaac Watts in +1674. Thomas Parnell, born in 1679, would follow next, nearly of +like age with Young, whose birth-year was 1681. Pope's friend John +Gay was of Pope's age, born in 1688, two years later than Addison's +friend Thomas Tickell, who was born in 1686. Next in the course of +years came, in 1692, William Somerville, the author of "The Chace." +John Dyer, who wrote "Grongar Hill," and James Thomson, who wrote +the "Seasons," were both born in the year 1700. They were two of +three poets--Allan Ramsay, the third--who, almost at the same time, +wrote verse instinct with a fresh sense of outward Nature which was +hardly to be found in other writers of that day. David Mallet, +Thomson's college-friend and friend of after-years--who shares with +Thomson the curiosity of critics who would decide which of them +wrote "Rule Britannia"--was of Thomson's age. + +The other writers of whose lives Johnson here gives his note were +men born in the beginning of the eighteenth century: Gilbert West, +the translator of Pindar, in 1706; George Lyttelton, in 1709. +William Shenstone, whose sense of Nature, although true, was mixed +with the conventions of his time, and who once asked a noble friend +to open a waterfall in the garden upon which the poet spent his +little patrimony, was born in 1714; Thomas Gray, in 1716; William +Collins, in 1720; and Mark Akenside, in 1721. In Collins, while he +lived with loss of reason, Johnson, who had fears for himself, took +pathetic interest. Akenside could not interest him much. Akenside +made his mark when young with "The Pleasures of Imagination," a good +poem, according to the fashion of the time, when read with due +consideration as a young man's first venture for fame. He spent +much of the rest of his life in overloading it with valueless +additions. The writer who begins well should let well alone, and, +instead of tinkering at bygone work, follow the course of his own +ripening thought. He should seek new ways of doing worthy service +in the years of labour left to him. + +H. M. + + + +KING. + + + +William King was born in London in 1663; the son of Ezekiel King, a +gentleman. He was allied to the family of Clarendon. + +From Westminster School, where he was a scholar on the foundation +under the care of Dr. Busby, he was at eighteen elected to Christ +Church in 1681; where he is said to have prosecuted his studies with +so much intenseness and activity, that before he was eight years' +standing he had read over, and made remarks upon, twenty-two +thousand odd hundred books and manuscripts. The books were +certainly not very long, the manuscripts not very difficult, nor the +remarks very large; for the calculator will find that he despatched +seven a day for every day of his eight years; with a remnant that +more than satisfies most other students. He took his degree in the +most expensive manner, as a GRAND COMPOUNDER; whence it is inferred +that he inherited a considerable fortune. + +In 1688, the same year in which he was made Master of Arts, he +published a confutation of Varillas's account of Wickliffe; and, +engaging in the study of the civil law, became Doctor in 1692, and +was admitted advocate at Doctors' Commons. + +He had already made some translations from the French, and written +some humorous and satirical pieces; when, in 1694, Molesworth +published his "Account of Denmark," in which he treats the Danes and +their monarch with great contempt; and takes the opportunity of +insinuating those wild principles by which he supposes liberty to be +established, and by which his adversaries suspect that all +subordination and government is endangered. + +This book offended Prince George; and the Danish Minister presented +a memorial against it. The principles of its author did not please +Dr. King; and therefore he undertook to confute part, and laugh at +the rest. The controversy is now forgotten: and books of this kind +seldom live long when interest and resentment have ceased. + +In 1697 he mingled in the controversy between Boyle and Bentley; and +was one of those who tried what wit could perform in opposition to +learning, on a question which learning only could decide. + +In 1699 was published by him "A Journey to London," after the method +of Dr. Martin Lister, who had published "A Journey to Paris." And +in 1700 he satirised the Royal Society--at least, Sir Hans Sloane, +their president--in two dialogues, intituled "The Transactioner." + +Though he was a regular advocate in the courts of civil and canon +law, he did not love his profession, nor, indeed, any kind of +business which interrupted his voluptuary dreams or forced him to +rouse from that indulgence in which only he could find delight. His +reputation as a civilian was yet maintained by his judgments in the +Courts of Delegates, and raised very high by the address and +knowledge which he discovered in 1700, when he defended the Earl of +Anglesea against his lady, afterwards Duchess of Buckinghamshire, +who sued for a divorce and obtained it. + +The expense of his pleasures, and neglect of business, had now +lessened his revenues; and he was willing to accept of a settlement +in Ireland, where, about 1702, he was made Judge of the Admiralty, +Commissioner of the Prizes, Keeper of the Records in Birmingham's +Tower, and Vicar-General to Dr. Marsh, the primate. + +But it is vain to put wealth within the reach of him who will not +stretch out his hand to take it. King soon found a friend, as idle +and thoughtless as himself, in Upton, one of the judges, who had a +pleasant house called Mountown, near Dublin, to which King +frequently retired; delighting to neglect his interest, forget his +cares, and desert his duty. + +Here he wrote "Mully of Mountown," a poem; by which, though fanciful +readers in the pride of sagacity have given it a poetical +interpretation, was meant originally no more than it expressed, as +it was dictated only by the author's delight in the quiet of +Mountown. + +In 1708, when Lord Wharton was sent to govern Ireland, King returned +to London, with his poverty, his idleness, and his wit; and +published some essays, called "Useful Transactions." His "Voyage to +the Island of Cajamai" is particularly commended. He then wrote the +"Art of Love," a poem remarkable, notwithstanding its title, for +purity of sentiment; and in 1709 imitated Horace in an "Art of +Cookery," which he published with some letters to Dr. Lister. + +In 1710 he appeared as a lover of the Church, on the side of +Sacheverell; and was supposed to have concurred at least in the +projection of the Examiner. His eyes were open to all the +operations of Whiggism; and he bestowed some strictures upon Dr. +Kennet's adulatory sermon at the funeral of the Duke of Devonshire. + +"The History of the Heathen Gods," a book composed for schools, was +written by him in 1711. The work is useful, but might have been +produced without the powers of King. The same year he published +"Rufinus," an historical essay; and a poem intended to dispose the +nation to think as he thought of the Duke of Marlborough and his +adherents. + +In 1711, competence, if not plenty, was again put into his power. +He was, without the trouble of attendance or the mortification of a +request, made Gazetteer. Swift, Freind, Prior, and other men of the +same party, brought him the key of the Gazetteer's office. He was +now again placed in a profitable employment, and again threw the +benefit away. An Act of Insolvency made his business at that time +particularly troublesome; and he would not wait till hurry should be +at an end, but impatiently resigned it, and returned to his wonted +indigence and amusements. + +One of his amusements at Lambeth, where he resided, was to mortify +Dr. Tenison, the archbishop, by a public festivity on the surrender +of Dunkirk to Hill; an event with which Tenison's political bigotry +did not suffer him to be delighted. King was resolved to counteract +his sullenness, and at the expense of a few barrels of ale filled +the neighbourhood with honest merriment. + +In the autumn of 1712 his health declined; he grew weaker by +degrees, and died on Christmas Day. Though his life had not been +without irregularity, his principles were pure and orthodox, and his +death was pious. + +After this relation it will be naturally supposed that his poems +were rather the amusements of idleness than efforts of study; that +he endeavoured rather to divert than astonish; that his thoughts +seldom aspired to sublimity; and that, if his verse was easy and his +images familiar, he attained what he desired. His purpose is to be +merry; but perhaps, to enjoy his mirth, it may be sometimes +necessary to think well of his opinions. + + + +HALIFAX. + + + +The life of the Earl of Halifax was properly that of an artful and +active statesman, employed in balancing parties, contriving +expedients, and combating opposition, and exposed to the +vicissitudes of advancement and degradation; but in this collection +poetical merit is the claim to attention; and the account which is +here to be expected may properly be proportioned, not to his +influence in the State, but to his rank among the writers of verse. + +Charles Montague was born April 16, 1661, at Horton, in +Northamptonshire, the son of Mr. George Montague, a younger son of +the Earl of Manchester. He was educated first in the country, and +then removed to Westminster, where, in 1677, he was chosen a King's +Scholar, and recommended himself to Busby by his felicity in +extemporary epigrams. He contracted a very intimate friendship with +Mr. Stepney; and in 1682, when Stepney was elected at Cambridge, the +election of Montague being not to proceed till the year following, +he was afraid lest by being placed at Oxford he might be separated +from his companion, and therefore solicited to be removed to +Cambridge, without waiting for the advantages of another year. + +It seemed indeed time to wish for a removal, for he was already a +schoolboy of one-and-twenty. + +His relation, Dr. Montague, was then Master of the college in which +he was placed a Fellow-Commoner, and took him under his particular +care. Here he commenced an acquaintance with the great Newton, +which continued through his life, and was at last attested by a +legacy. + +In 1685 his verses on the death of King Charles made such an +impression on the Earl of Dorset that he was invited to town, and +introduced by that universal patron to the other wits. In 1687 he +joined with Prior in "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," a +burlesque of Dryden's "Hind and Panther." He signed the invitation +to the Prince of Orange, and sat in the Convention. He about the +same time married the Countess Dowager of Manchester, and intended +to have taken Orders; but, afterwards altering his purpose, he +purchased for 1,500 pounds the place of one of the clerks of the +Council. + +After he had written his epistle on the victory of the Boyne, his +patron Dorset introduced him to King William with this expression, +"Sir, I have brought a MOUSE to wait on your Majesty." To which the +King is said to have replied, "You do well to put me in the way of +making a MAN of him;" and ordered him a pension of 500 pounds. This +story, however current, seems to have been made after the event. +The King's answer implies a greater acquaintance with our proverbial +and familiar diction than King William could possibly have attained. + +In 1691, being member of the House of Commons, he argued warmly in +favour of a law to grant the assistance of counsel in trials for +high treason; and in the midst of his speech falling into some +confusion, was for a while silent; but, recovering himself, +observed, "how reasonable it was to allow counsel to men called as +criminals before a court of justice, when it appeared how much the +presence of that assembly could disconcert one of their own body." + +After this he rose fast into honours and employments, being made one +of the Commissioners of the Treasury, and called to the Privy +Council. In 1694 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the +next year engaged in the great attempt of the recoinage, which was +in two years happily completed. In 1696 he projected the GENERAL +FUND and raised the credit of the Exchequer; and after inquiry +concerning a grant of Irish Crown lands, it was determined by a vote +of the Commons that Charles Montague, Esq., HAD DESERVED HIS +MAJESTY'S FAVOUR. In 1698, being advanced to the first Commission +of the Treasury, he was appointed one of the regency in the King's +absence: the next year he was made Auditor of the Exchequer, and +the year after created Baron Halifax. He was, however, impeached by +the Commons; but the Articles were dismissed by the Lords. + +At the accession of Queen Anne he was dismissed from the Council; +and in the first Parliament of her reign was again attacked by the +Commons, and again escaped by the protection of the Lords. In 1704 +he wrote an answer to Bromley's speech against occasional +conformity. He headed the inquiry into the danger of the Church. +In 1706 he proposed and negotiated the Union with Scotland; and when +the Elector of Hanover received the Garter, after the Act had passed +for securing the Protestant Succession, he was appointed to carry +the ensigns of the Order to the Electoral Court. He sat as one of +the judges of Sacheverell, but voted for a mild sentence. Being now +no longer in favour, he contrived to obtain a writ for summoning the +Electoral Prince to Parliament as Duke of Cambridge. + +At the Queen's death he was appointed one of the regents; and at the +accession of George I. was made Earl of Halifax, Knight of the +Garter, and First Commissioner of the Treasury, with a grant to his +nephew of the reversion of the Auditorship of the Exchequer. More +was not to be had, and this he kept but a little while; for on the +19th of May, 1715, he died of an inflammation of his lungs. + +Of him, who from a poet became a patron of poets, it will be readily +believed that the works would not miss of celebration. Addison +began to praise him early, and was followed or accompanied by other +poets; perhaps by almost all, except Swift and Pope, who forbore to +flatter him in his life, and after his death spoke of him--Swift +with slight censure, and Pope, in the character of Bufo, with +acrimonious contempt. + +He was, as Pope says, "fed with dedications;" for Tickell affirms +that no dedication was unrewarded. To charge all unmerited praise +with the guilt of flattery, and to suppose that the encomiast always +knows and feels the falsehoods of his assertions, is surely to +discover great ignorance of human nature and human life. In +determinations depending not on rules, but on experience and +comparison, judgment is always in some degree subject to affection. +Very near to admiration is the wish to admire. + +Every man willingly gives value to the praise which he receives, and +considers the sentence passed in his favour as the sentence of +discernment. We admire in a friend that understanding that selected +us for confidence; we admire more, in a patron, that judgment which, +instead of scattering bounty indiscriminately, directed it to us; +and, if the patron be an author, those performances which gratitude +forbids us to blame, affection will easily dispose us to exalt. + +To these prejudices, hardly culpable, interest adds a power always +operating, though not always, because not willingly, perceived. The +modesty of praise wears gradually away; and perhaps the pride of +patronage may be in time so increased that modest praise will no +longer please. + +Many a blandishment was practised upon Halifax which he would never +have known had he no other attractions than those of his poetry, of +which a short time has withered the beauties. It would now be +esteemed no honour, by a contributor to the monthly bundles of +verses, to be told that, in strains either familiar or solemn, he +sings like Montague. + + + +PARNELL. + + + +The life of Dr. Parnell is a task which I should very willingly +decline, since it has been lately written by Goldsmith, a man of +such variety of powers, and such felicity of performance, that he +always seemed to do best that which he was doing; a man who had the +art of being minute without tediousness, and general without +confusion; whose language was copious without exuberance, exact +without constraint, and easy without weakness. + +What such an author has told, who would tell again? I have made an +abstract from his larger narrative; and have this gratification from +my attempt, that it gives me an opportunity of paying due tribute to +the memory of Goldsmith. + +Thomas Parnell was the son of a Commonwealthsman of the same name, +who, at the Restoration, left Congleton, in Cheshire, where the +family had been established for several centuries, and, settling in +Ireland, purchased an estate, which, with his lands in Cheshire, +descended to the poet, who was born at Dublin in 1679; and, after +the usual education at a grammar school, was, at the age of +thirteen, admitted into the College where, in 1700, he became Master +of Arts; and was the same year ordained a deacon, though under the +canonical age, by a dispensation from the Bishop of Derry. + +About three years afterwards he was made a priest and in 1705 Dr. +Ashe, the Bishop of Clogher, conferred upon him the archdeaconry of +Clogher. About the same time he married Mrs. Anne Minchin, an +amiable lady, by whom he had two sons, who died young, and a +daughter, who long survived him. + +At the ejection of the Whigs, in the end of Queen Anne's reign, +Parnell was persuaded to change his party, not without much censure +from those whom he forsook, and was received by the new Ministry as +a valuable reinforcement. When the Earl of Oxford was told that Dr. +Parnell waited among the crowd in the outer room, he went, by the +persuasion of Swift, with his Treasurer's staff in his hand, to +inquire for him, and to bid him welcome; and, as may be inferred +from Pope's dedication, admitted him as a favourite companion to his +convivial hours, but, as it seems often to have happened in those +times to the favourites of the great, without attention to his +fortune, which, however, was in no great need of improvement. + +Parnell, who did not want ambition or vanity, was desirous to make +himself conspicuous, and to show how worthy he was of high +preferment. As he thought himself qualified to become a popular +preacher, he displayed his elocution with great success in the +pulpits of London; but the Queen's death putting an end to his +expectations, abated his diligence; and Pope represents him as +falling from that time into intemperance of wine. That in his +latter life he was too much a lover of the bottle, is not denied; +but I have heard it imputed to a cause more likely to obtain +forgiveness from mankind, the untimely death of a darling son; or, +as others tell, the loss of his wife, who died (1712) in the midst +of his expectations. + +He was now to derive every future addition to his preferments from +his personal interest with his private friends, and he was not long +unregarded. He was warmly recommended by Swift to Archbishop King, +who gave him a prebend in 1713; and in May, 1716, presented him to +the vicarage of Finglass, in the diocese of Dublin, worth 400 pounds +a year. Such notice from such a man inclines me to believe that the +vice of which he has been accused was not gross or not notorious. + +But his prosperity did not last long. His end, whatever was its +cause, was now approaching. He enjoyed his preferment little more +than a year; for in July, 1717, in his thirty-eighth year, he died +at Chester on his way to Ireland. + +He seems to have been one of those poets who take delight in +writing. He contributed to the papers of that time, and probably +published more than he owned. He left many compositions behind him, +of which Pope selected those which he thought best, and dedicated +them to the Earl of Oxford. Of these Goldsmith has given an +opinion, and his criticism it is seldom safe to contradict. He +bestows just praise upon "The Rise of Woman," "The Fairy Tale," and +"The Pervigilium Veneris;" but has very properly remarked that in +"The Battle of Mice and Frogs" the Greek names have not in English +their original effect. He tells us that "The Bookworm" is borrowed +from Beza; but he should have added with modern applications: and +when he discovers that "Gay Bacchus" is translated from Augurellus, +he ought to have remarked that the latter part is purely Parnell's. +Another poem, "When Spring Comes On," is, he says, taken from the +French. I would add that the description of "Barrenness," in his +verses to Pope, was borrowed from Secundus; but lately searching for +the passage which I had formerly read, I could not find it. "The +Night Piece on Death" is indirectly preferred by Goldsmith to Gray's +"Churchyard;" but, in my opinion, Gray has the advantage in dignity, +variety, and originality of sentiment. He observes that the story +of "The Hermit" is in More's "Dialogues" and Howell's "Letters," and +supposes it to have been originally Arabian. + +Goldsmith has not taken any notice of "The Elegy to the Old Beauty," +which is perhaps the meanest; nor of "The Allegory on Man," the +happiest of Parnell's performances. The hint of "The Hymn to +Contentment" I suspect to have been borrowed from Cleveland. + +The general character of Parnell is not great extent of +comprehension or fertility of mind. Of the little that appears, +still less is his own. His praise must be derived from the easy +sweetness of his diction: in his verses there is more happiness +than pains; he is sprightly without effort, and always delights, +though he never ravishes; everything is proper, yet everything seems +casual. If there is some appearance of elaboration in "The Hermit," +the narrative, as it is less airy, is less pleasing. Of his other +compositions it is impossible to say whether they are the +productions of nature, so excellent as not to want the help of art, +or of art so refined as to resemble nature. + +This criticism relates only to the pieces published by Pope. Of the +large appendages which I find in the last edition, I can only say +that I know not whence they came, nor have ever inquired whither +they are going. They stand upon the faith of the compilers. + + + +GARTH. + + + +Samuel Garth was of a good family in Yorkshire, and from some school +in his own county became a student at Peter House, in Cambridge, +where he resided till he became Doctor of Physic on July the 7th, +1691. He was examined before the College at London on March the +12th, 1691-2, and admitted Fellow June 26th, 1693. He was soon so +much distinguished by his conversation and accomplishments as to +obtain very extensive practice; and, if a pamphlet of those times +may be credited, had the favour and confidence of one party, as +Radcliffe had of the other. He is always mentioned as a man of +benevolence; and it is just to suppose that his desire of helping +the helpless disposed him to so much zeal for "The Dispensary;" an +undertaking of which some account, however short, is proper to be +given. + +Whether what Temple says be true, that physicians have had more +learning than the other faculties, I will not stay to inquire; but I +believe every man has found in physicians great liberality and +dignity of sentiment, very prompt effusion of beneficence, and +willingness to exert a lucrative art where there is no hope of +lucre. Agreeably to this character, the College of Physicians, in +July, 1687, published an edict, requiring all the Fellows, +Candidates, and Licentiates to give gratuitous advice to the +neighbouring poor. This edict was sent to the Court of Aldermen; +and, a question being made to whom the appellation of the POOR +should be extended, the College answered that it should be +sufficient to bring a testimonial from the clergyman officiating in +the parish where the patient resided. + +After a year's experience the physicians found their charity +frustrated by some malignant opposition, and made to a great degree +vain by the high price of physic; they therefore voted, in August, +1688, that the laboratory of the College should be accommodated to +the preparation of medicines, and another room prepared for their +reception; and that the contributors to the expense should manage +the charity. + +It was now expected that the apothecaries would have undertaken the +care of providing medicines; but they took another course. Thinking +the whole design pernicious to their interest, they endeavoured to +raise a faction against it in the College, and found some physicians +mean enough to solicit their patronage by betraying to them the +counsels of the College. The greater part, however, enforced by a +new edict, in 1694, the former order of 1687, and sent it to the +Mayor and Aldermen, who appointed a committee to treat with the +College and settle the mode of administering the charity. + +It was desired by the aldermen that the testimonials of +churchwardens and overseers should be admitted; and that all hired +servants, and all apprentices to handicraftsmen, should be +considered as POOR. This likewise was granted by the College. + +It was then considered who should distribute the medicines, and who +should settle their prices. The physicians procured some +apothecaries to undertake the dispensation, and offered that the +warden and company of the apothecaries should adjust the price. +This offer was rejected; and the apothecaries who had engaged to +assist the charity were considered as traitors to the company, +threatened with the imposition of troublesome offices, and deterred +from the performance of their engagements. The apothecaries +ventured upon public opposition, and presented a kind of +remonstrance against the design to the committee of the City, which +the physicians condescended to confute: and at last the traders +seem to have prevailed among the sons of trade; for the proposal of +the College having been considered, a paper of approbation was drawn +up, but postponed and forgotten. + +The physicians still persisted; and in 1696 a subscription was +raised by themselves according to an agreement prefixed to "The +Dispensary." The poor were, for a time, supplied with medicines; +for how long a time I know not. The medicinal charity, like others, +began with ardour, but soon remitted, and at last died gradually +away. + +About the time of the subscription begins the action of "The +Dispensary." The poem, as its subject was present and popular, co- +operated with passions and prejudices then prevalent, and, with such +auxiliaries to its intrinsic merit, was universally and liberally +applauded. It was on the side of charity against the intrigues of +interest; and of regular learning against licentious usurpation of +medical authority, and was therefore naturally favoured by those who +read and can judge of poetry. + +In 1697 Garth spoke that which is now called "The Harveian Oration;" +which the authors of "The Biographia" mention with more praise than +the passage quoted in their notes will fully justify. Garth, +speaking of the mischiefs done by quacks, has these expressions: +"Non tamen telis vulnerat ista agyrtarum colluvies, sed theriaca +quadam magis perniciosa, non pyrio, sed pulvere nescio quo exotico +certat, non globulis plumbeis, sed pilulis aeque lethalibus +interficit." This was certainly thought fine by the author, and is +still admired by his biographer. In October, 1702, he became one of +the censors of the College, + +Garth, being an active and zealous Whig, was a member of the Kit-Cat +Club, and, by consequence, familiarly known to all the great men of +that denomination. In 1710, when the government fell into other +hands, he writ to Lord Godolphin, on his dismission, a short poem, +which was criticised in the Examiner, and so successfully either +defended or excused by Mr. Addison that, for the sake of the +vindication, it ought to be preserved. + +At the accession of the present family his merits were acknowledged +and rewarded. He was knighted with the sword of his hero, +Marlborough; and was made Physician-in-Ordinary to the King, and +Physician-General to the army. He then undertook an edition of +Ovid's "Metamorphoses," translated by several hands; which he +recommended by a preface, written with more ostentation than +ability; his notions are half-formed, and his materials +immethodically confused. This was his last work. He died January +18th, 1717-18, and was buried at Harrow-on-the-Hill. + +His personal character seems to have been social and liberal. He +communicated himself through a very wide extent of acquaintance; and +though firm in a party, at a time when firmness included virulence, +yet he imparted his kindness to those who were not supposed to +favour his principles. He was an early encourager of Pope, and was +at once the friend of Addison and of Granville. He is accused of +voluptuousness and irreligion; and Pope, who says that "if ever +there was a good Christian, without knowing himself to be so, it was +Dr. Garth," seems not able to deny what he is angry to hear and loth +to confess. + +Pope afterwards declared himself convinced that Garth died in the +communion of the Church of Rome, having been privately reconciled. +It is observed by Lowth that there is less distance than is thought +between scepticism and Popery; and that a mind wearied with +perpetual doubt, willingly seeks repose in the bosom of an +infallible Church. + +His poetry has been praised at least equally to its merit. In "The +Dispensary" there is a strain of smooth and free versification; but +few lines are eminently elegant. No passages fall below mediocrity, +and few rise much above it. The plan seems formed without just +proportion to the subject; the means and end have no necessary +connection. Resnel, in his preface to Pope's Essay, remarks that +Garth exhibits no discrimination of characters; and that what any +one says might, with equal propriety, have been said by another. +The general design is, perhaps, open to criticism; but the +composition can seldom be charged with inaccuracy or negligence. +The author never slumbers in self-indulgence; his full vigour is +always exerted; scarcely a line is left unfinished; nor is it easy +to find an expression used by constraint, or a thought imperfectly +expressed. It was remarked by Pope, that "The Dispensary" had been +corrected in every edition, and that every change was an +improvement. It appears, however, to want something of poetical +ardour, and something of general delectation; and therefore, since +it has been no longer supported by accidental and intrinsic +popularity, it has been scarcely able to support itself. + + + +ROWE. + + + +Nicholas Rowe was born at Little Beckford, in Bedfordshire, in 1673. +His family had long possessed a considerable estate, with a good +house, at Lambertoun in Devonshire. The ancestor from whom he +descended in a direct line received the arms borne by his +descendants for his bravery in the Holy War. His father, John Rowe, +who was the first that quitted his paternal acres to practise any +part of profit, professed the law, and published Benlow's and +Dallison's Reports in the reign of James the Second, when, in +opposition to the notions then diligently propagated of dispensing +power, he ventured to remark how low his authors rated the +prerogative. He was made a serjeant, and died April 30, 1692. He +was buried in the Temple church. + +Nicholas was first sent to a private school at Highgate; and, being +afterwards removed to Westminster, was at twelve years chosen one of +the King's Scholars. His master was Busby, who suffered none of his +scholars to let their powers lie useless; and his exercises in +several languages are said to have been written with uncommon +degrees of excellence, and yet to have cost him very little labour. +At sixteen he had, in his father's opinion, made advances in +learning sufficient to qualify him for the study of law, and was +entered a student of the Middle Temple, where for some time he read +statutes and reports with proficiency proportionate to the force of +his mind, which was already such that he endeavoured to comprehend +law, not as a series of precedents, or collection of positive +precepts, but as a system of rational government and impartial +justice. When he was nineteen, he was, by the death of his father, +left more to his own direction, and probably from that time suffered +law gradually to give way to poetry. At twenty-five he produced the +Ambitious Step-Mother, which was received with so much favour that +he devoted himself from that time wholly to elegant literature. + +His next tragedy (1702) was Tamerlane, in which, under the name of +Tamerlane, he intended to characterise King William, and Louis the +Fourteenth under Bajazet. The virtues of Tamerlane seem to have +been arbitrarily assigned him by his poet, for I know not that +history gives any other qualities than those which make a conqueror. +The fashion, however, of the time was to accumulate upon Louis all +that can raise horror and detestation; and whatever good was +withheld from him, that it might not be thrown away was bestowed +upon King William. This was the tragedy which Rowe valued most, and +that which probably, by the help of political auxiliaries, excited +most applause; but occasional poetry must often content itself with +occasional praise. Tamerlane has for a long time been acted only +once a year, on the night when King William landed. Our quarrel +with Louis has been long over; and it now gratifies neither zeal nor +malice to see him painted with aggravated features, like a Saracen +upon a sign. + +The Fair Penitent, his next production (1703), is one of the most +pleasing tragedies on the stage, where it still keeps its turns of +appearing, and probably will long keep them, for there is scarcely +any work of any poet at once so interesting by the fable, and so +delightful by the language. The story is domestic, and therefore +easily received by the imagination, and assimilated to common life; +the diction is exquisitely harmonious, and soft or sprightly as +occasion requires. + +The character of Lothario seems to have been expanded by Richardson +into Lovelace; but he has excelled his original in the moral effect +of the fiction. Lothario, with gaiety which cannot be hated, and +bravery which cannot be despised, retains too much of the +spectator's kindness. It was in the power of Richardson alone to +teach us at once esteem and detestation, to make virtuous resentment +overpower all the benevolence which wit, elegance, and courage, +naturally excite; and to lose at last the hero in the villain. The +fifth act is not equal to the former; the events of the drama are +exhausted, and little remains but to talk of what is past. It has +been observed that the title of the play does not sufficiently +correspond with the behaviour of Calista, who at last shows no +evident signs of repentance, but may be reasonably suspected of +feeling pain from detection rather than from guilt, and expresses +more shame than sorrow, and more rage than shame. + +His next (1706) was Ulysses; which, with the common fate of +mythological stories, is now generally neglected. We have been too +early acquainted with the poetical heroes to expect any pleasure +from their revival; to show them as they have already been shown, is +to disgust by repetition; to give them new qualities, or new +adventures, is to offend by violating received notions. + +"The Royal Convert" (1708) seems to have a better claim to +longevity. The fable is drawn from an obscure and barbarous age, to +which fictions are more easily and properly adapted; for when +objects are imperfectly seen, they easily take forms from +imagination. The scene lies among our ancestors in our own country, +and therefore very easily catches attention. Rodogune is a +personage truly tragical, of high spirit, and violent passions, +great with tempestuous dignity, and wicked with a soul that would +have been heroic if it had been virtuous. The motto seems to tell +that this play was not successful. + +Rowe does not always remember what his characters require. In +Tamerlane there is some ridiculous mention of the God of Love; and +Rodogune, a savage Saxon, talks of Venus and the eagle that bears +the thunder of Jupiter. + +This play discovers its own date, by a prediction of the Union, in +imitation of Cranmer's prophetic promises to Henry VIII. The +anticipated blessings of union are not very naturally introduced, +nor very happily expressed. He once (1706) tried to change his +hand. He ventured on a comedy, and produced the Biter, with which, +though it was unfavourably treated by the audience, he was himself +delighted; for he is said to have sat in the house laughing with +great vehemence, whenever he had, in his own opinion, produced a +jest. But finding that he and the public had no sympathy of mirth, +he tried at lighter scenes no more. + +After the Royal Convert (1714) appeared Jane Shore, written, as its +author professes, IN IMITATION OF SHAKESPEARE'S STYLE. In what he +thought himself an imitator of Shakespeare it is not easy to +conceive. The numbers, the diction, the sentiments, and the +conduct, everything in which imitation can consist, are remote in +the utmost degree from the manner of Shakespeare, whose dramas it +resembles only as it is an English story, and as some of the persons +have their names in history. This play, consisting chiefly of +domestic scenes and private distress, lays hold upon the heart. The +wife is forgiven because she repents, and the husband is honoured +because he forgives. This, therefore, is one of those pieces which +we still welcome on the stage. + +His last tragedy (1715) was Lady Jane Grey. This subject had been +chosen by Mr. Smith, whose papers were put into Rowe's hands such as +he describes them in his preface. This play has likewise sunk into +oblivion. From this time he gave nothing more to the stage. + +Being by a competent fortune exempted from any necessity of +combating his inclination, he never wrote in distress, and therefore +does not appear to have ever written in haste. His works were +finished to his own approbation, and bear few marks of negligence or +hurry. It is remarkable that his prologues and epilogues are all +his own, though he sometimes supplied others; he afforded help, but +did not solicit it. + +As his studies necessarily made him acquainted with Shakespeare, and +acquaintance produced veneration, he undertook (1709) an edition of +his works, from which he neither received much praise, nor seems to +have expected it; yet I believe those who compare it with former +copies will find that he has done more than he promised; and that, +without the pomp of notes or boasts of criticism, many passages are +happily restored. He prefixed a life of the author, such as +tradition, then almost expiring, could supply, and a preface, which +cannot be said to discover much profundity or penetration. He at +least contributed to the popularity of his author. He was willing +enough to improve his fortune by other arts than poetry. He was +under-secretary for three years when the Duke of Queensberry was +Secretary of State, and afterwards applied to the Earl of Oxford for +some public employment. Oxford enjoined him to study Spanish; and +when, some time afterwards, he came again, and said that he had +mastered it, dismissed him with this congratulation, "Then, sir, I +envy you the pleasure of reading 'Don Quixote' in the original." + +This story is sufficiently attested; but why Oxford, who desired to +be thought a favourer of literature, should thus insult a man of +acknowledged merit, or how Rowe, who was so keen a Whig that he did +not willingly converse with men of the opposite party, could ask +preferment from Oxford, it is not now possible to discover. Pope, +who told the story, did not say on what occasion the advice was +given; and, though he owned Rowe's disappointment, doubted whether +any injury was intended him, but thought it rather Lord Oxford's ODD +WAY. + +It is likely that he lived on discontented through the rest of Queen +Anne's reign; but the time came at last when he found kinder +friends. At the accession of King George he was made Poet-Laureate- +-I am afraid, by the ejection of poor Nahum Tate, who (1716) died in +the Mint, where he was forced to seek shelter by extreme poverty. +He was made likewise one of the land-surveyors of the customs of the +Port of London. The Prince of Wales chose him Clerk of his Council; +and the Lord Chancellor Parker, as soon as he received the seals, +appointed him, unasked, Secretary of the Presentations. Such an +accumulation of employments undoubtedly produced a very considerable +revenue. + +Having already translated some parts of Lucan's "Pharsalia," which +had been published in the Miscellanies, and doubtless received many +praises, he undertook a version of the whole work, which he lived to +finish, but not to publish. It seems to have been printed under the +care of Dr. Welwood, who prefixed the author's life, in which is +contained the following character:-- + +"As to his person, it was graceful and well made; his face regular, +and of a manly beauty. As his soul was well lodged, so its rational +and animal faculties excelled in a high degree. He had a quick and +fruitful invention, a deep penetration, and a large compass of +thought, with singular dexterity and easiness in making his thoughts +to be understood. He was master of most parts of polite learning, +especially the classical authors, both Greek and Latin; understood +the French, Italian, and Spanish languages, and spoke the first +fluently, and the other two tolerably well. He had likewise read +most of the Greek and Roman histories in their original languages, +and most that are wrote in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. +He had a good taste in philosophy; and, having a firm impression of +religion upon his mind, he took great delight in divinity and +ecclesiastical history, in both of which he made great advances in +the times he retired into the country, which was frequent. He +expressed on all occasions his full persuasion of the truth of +revealed religion; and, being a sincere member of the Established +Church himself, he pitied, but condemned not, those that dissented +from it. He abhorred the principles of persecuting men upon the +account of their opinions in religion; and, being strict in his own, +he took it not upon him to censure those of another persuasion. His +conversation was pleasant, witty, and learned, without the least +tincture of affectation or pedantry; and his inimitable manner of +diverting and enlivening the company made it impossible for any one +to be out of humour when he was in it. Envy and detraction seemed +to be entirely foreign to his constitution; and whatever +provocations he met with at any time, he passed them over without +the least thought of resentment or revenge. As Homer had a Zoilus, +so Mr. Rowe had sometimes his; for there were not wanting malevolent +people, and pretenders to poetry too, that would now and then bark +at his best performances; but he was so conscious of his own genius, +and had so much good-nature, as to forgive them, nor could he ever +be tempted to return them an answer. + +"The love of learning and poetry made him not the less fit for +business, and nobody applied himself closer to it when it required +his attendance. The late Duke of Queensberry, when he was Secretary +of State, made him his secretary for public affairs; and when that +truly great man came to know him well, he was never so pleased as +when Mr. Rowe was in his company. After the duke's death, all +avenues were stopped to his preferment; and during the rest of that +reign he passed his time with the Muses and his books, and sometimes +the conversation of his friends. When he had just got to be easy in +his fortune, and was in a fair way to make it better, death swept +him away, and in him deprived the world of one of the best men, as +well as one of the best geniuses, of the age. He died like a +Christian and a philosopher, in charity with all mankind, and with +an absolute resignation to the will of God. He kept up his good- +humour to the last; and took leave of his wife and friends, +immediately before his last agony, with the same tranquillity of +mind, and the same indifference for life, as though he had been upon +taking but a short journey. He was twice married--first to a +daughter of Mr. Parsons, one of the auditors of the revenue; and +afterwards to a daughter of Mr. Devenish, of a good family in +Dorsetshire. By the first he had a son; and by the second a +daughter, married afterwards to Mr. Fane. He died 6th December, +1718, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and was buried on the 19th +of the same month in Westminster Abbey, in the aisle where many of +our English poets are interred, over against Chaucer, his body being +attended by a select number of his friends, and the dean and choir +officiating at the funeral." + +To this character, which is apparently given with the fondness of a +friend, may be added the testimony of Pope, who says, in a letter to +Blount, "Mr. Rowe accompanied me, and passed a week in the Forest. +I need not tell you how much a man of his turn entertained me; but I +must acquaint you, there is a vivacity and gaiety of disposition, +almost peculiar to him, which make it impossible to part from him +without that uneasiness which generally succeeds all our pleasure." + +Pope has left behind him another mention of his companion less +advantageous, which is thus reported by Dr. Warburton:-- + +"Rowe, in Mr. Pope's opinion, maintained a decent character, but had +no heart. Mr. Addison was justly offended with some behaviour which +arose from that want, and estranged himself from him, which Rowe +felt very severely. Mr. Pope, their common friend, knowing this, +took an opportunity, at some juncture of Mr. Addison's advancement, +to tell him how poor Rowe was grieved at his displeasure, and what +satisfaction he expressed at Mr. Addison's good fortune, which he +expressed so naturally that he (Mr. Pope) could not but think him +sincere. Mr. Addison replied, 'I do not suspect that he feigned; +but the levity of his heart is such, that he is struck with any new +adventure, and it would affect him just in the same manner if he +heard I was going to be hanged.' Mr. Pope said he could not deny +but Mr. Addison understood Rowe well." + +This censure time has not left us the power of confirming or +refuting; but observation daily shows that much stress is not to be +laid on hyperbolical accusations and pointed sentences, which even +he that utters them desires to be applauded rather than credited. +Addison can hardly be supposed to have meant all that he said. Few +characters can bear the microscopic scrutiny of wit quickened by +anger; and, perhaps, the best advice to authors would be, that they +should keep out of the way of one another. + +Rowe is chiefly to be considered as a tragic writer and a +translator. In his attempt at comedy he failed so ignominiously +that his Biter is not inserted in his works: and his occasional +poems and short compositions are rarely worthy either praise or +censure, for they seem the casual sports of a mind seeking rather to +amuse its leisure than to exercise its powers. In the construction +of his dramas there is not much art; he is not a nice observer of +the unities. He extends time and varies places as his convenience +requires. To vary the place is not, in my opinion, any violation of +nature, if the change be made between the acts, for it is no less +easy for the spectator to suppose himself at Athens in the second +act, than at Thebes in the first; but to change the scene, as is +done by Rowe, in the middle of an act, is to add more acts to the +play, since an act is so much of the business as is transacted +without interruption. Rowe, by this licence, easily extricates +himself from difficulties; as in Jane Grey, when we have been +terrified with all the dreadful pomp of public execution; and are +wondering how the heroine or the poet will proceed, no sooner has +Jane pronounced some prophetic rhymes than--pass and be gone--the +scene closes, and Pembroke and Gardiner are turned out upon the +stage. + +I know not that there can be found in his plays any deep search into +nature, any accurate discriminations of kindred qualities, or nice +display of passion in its progress; all is general and undefined. +Nor does he much interest or affect the auditor, except in Jane +Shore, who is always seen and heard with pity. Alicia is a +character of empty noise, with no resemblance to real sorrow or to +natural madness. + +Whence, then, has Rowe his reputation? From the reasonableness and +propriety of some of his scenes, from the elegance of his diction, +and the suavity of his verse. He seldom moves either pity or +terror, but he often elevates the sentiments; he seldom pierces the +breast, but he always delights the ear, and often improves the +understanding. His translation of the "Golden Verses," and of the +first book of Quillet's poem, have nothing in them remarkable. The +"Golden Verses" are tedious. + +The version of Lucan is one of the greatest productions of English +poetry, for there is perhaps none that so completely exhibits the +genius and spirit of the original. Lucan is distinguished by a kind +of dictatorial or philosophic dignity, rather, as Quintilian +observes, declamatory than poetical; full of ambitious morality and +pointed sentences, comprised in vigorous and animated lines. This +character Rowe has very diligently and successfully preserved. His +versification, which is such as his contemporaries practised, +without any attempt at innovation or improvement, seldom wants +either melody or force. His author's sense is sometimes a little +diluted by additional infusions, and sometimes weakened by too much +expansion. But such faults are to be expected in all translations, +from the constraint of measures and dissimilitude of languages. The +"Pharsalia" of Rowe deserves more notice than it obtains, and as it +is more read will be more esteemed. + + + +GAY. + + + +John Gay, descended from an old family that had been long in +possession of the manor of Goldworthy, in Devonshire, was born in +1688, at or near Barnstaple, where he was educated by Mr. Luck, who +taught the school of that town with good reputation, and, a little +before he retired from it, published a volume of Latin and English +verses. Under such a master he was likely to form a taste for +poetry. Being born without prospect of hereditary riches, he was +sent to London in his youth, and placed apprentice with a silk +mercer. How long he continued behind the counter, or with what +degree of softness and dexterity he received and accommodated the +ladies, as he probably took no delight in telling it, is not known. +The report is that he was soon weary of either the restraint or +servility of his occupation, and easily persuaded his master to +discharge him. + +The Duchess of Monmouth, remarkable for inflexible perseverance in +her demand to be treated as a princess, in 1712 took Gay into her +service as secretary: by quitting a shop for such service he might +gain leisure, but he certainly advanced little in the boast of +independence. Of his leisure he made so good use that he published +next year a poem on "Rural Sports," and inscribed it to Mr. Pope, +who was then rising fast into reputation. Pope was pleased with the +honour, and when he became acquainted with Gay, found such +attractions in his manners and conversation that he seems to have +received him into his inmost confidence; and a friendship was formed +between them which lasted to their separation by death, without any +known abatement on either part. Gay was the general favourite of +the whole association of wits; but they regarded him as a playfellow +rather than a partner, and treated him with more fondness than +respect. + +Next year he published "The Shepherd's Week," six English pastorals, +in which the images are drawn from real life, such as it appears +among the rustics in parts of England remote from London. Steele, +in some papers of the Guardian, had praised Ambrose Philips as the +pastoral writer that yielded only to Theocritus, Virgil, and +Spenser. Pope, who had also published pastorals, not pleased to be +overlooked, drew up a comparison of his own compositions with those +of Philips, in which he covertly gave himself the preference, while +he seemed to disown it. Not content with this, he is supposed to +have incited Gay to write "The Shepherd's Week," to show that, if it +be necessary to copy nature with minuteness, rural life must be +exhibited such as grossness and ignorance have made it. So far the +plan was reasonable; but the pastorals are introduced by a Proeme, +written with such imitation as they could attain of obsolete +language, and, by consequence, in a style that was never spoken nor +written in any language or in any place. But the effect of reality +and truth became conspicuous, even when the intention was to show +them grovelling and degraded. These pastorals became popular, and +were read with delight as just representations of rural manners and +occupations by those who had no interest in the rivalry of the +poets, nor knowledge of the critical dispute. + +In 1713 he brought a comedy called The Wife of Bath upon the stage, +but it received no applause; he printed it, however, and seventeen +years after, having altered it and, as he thought, adapted it more +to the public taste, he offered it again to the town; but, though he +was flushed with the success of the Beggar's Opera, had the +mortification to see it again rejected. + +In the last year of Queen Anne's life Gay was made secretary to the +Earl of Clarendon, Ambassador to the Court of Hanover. This was a +station that naturally gave him hopes of kindness from every party; +but the Queen's death put an end to her favours, and he had +dedicated his "Shepherd's Week" to Bolingbroke, which Swift +considered as the crime that obstructed all kindness from the House +of Hanover. He did not, however, omit to improve the right which +his office had given him to the notice of the Royal Family. On the +arrival of the Princess of Wales he wrote a poem, and obtained so +much favour that both the Prince and the Princess went to see his +What D'ye Call It, a kind of mock tragedy, in which the images were +comic and the action grave; so that, as Pope relates, Mr. Cromwell, +who could not hear what was said, was at a loss how to reconcile the +laughter of the audience with the solemnity of the scene. + +Of this performance the value certainly is but little; but it was +one of the lucky trifles that give pleasure by novelty, and was so +much favoured by the audience that envy appeared against it in the +form of criticism; and Griffin, a player, in conjunction with Mr. +Theobald, a man afterwards more remarkable, produced a pamphlet +called "The Key to the What D'ye Call It," "which," says Gay, "calls +me a blockhead, and Mr. Pope a knave." + +But fortune has always been inconstant. Not long afterwards (1717) +he endeavoured to entertain the town with Three Hours after +Marriage, a comedy written, as there is sufficient reason for +believing, by the joint assistance of Pope and Arbuthnot. One +purpose of it was to bring into contempt Dr. Woodward, the +fossilist, a man not really or justly contemptible. It had the fate +which such outrages deserve. The scene in which Woodward was +directly and apparently ridiculed, by the introduction of a mummy +and a crocodile, disgusted the audience, and the performance was +driven off the stage with general condemnation. + +Gay is represented as a man easily incited to hope, and deeply +depressed when his hopes were disappointed. This is not the +character of a hero, but it may naturally imply something more +generally welcome, a soft and civil companion. Whoever is apt to +hope good from others is diligent to please them; but he that +believes his powers strong enough to force their own way, commonly +tries only to please himself. He had been simple enough to imagine +that those who laughed at the What D'ye Call It would raise the +fortune of its author, and, finding nothing done, sunk into +dejection. His friends endeavoured to divert him. The Earl of +Burlington sent him (1716) into Devonshire, the year after Mr. +Pulteney took him to Aix, and in the following year Lord Harcourt +invited him to his seat, where, during his visit, two rural lovers +were killed with lightning, as is particularly told in Pope's +"Letters." + +Being now generally known, he published (1720) his poems by +subscription, with such success that he raised a thousand pounds, +and called his friends to a consultation what use might be best made +of it. Lewis, the steward of Lord Oxford, advised him to intrust it +to the Funds, and live upon the interest; Arbuthnot bade him to +intrust it to Providence, and live upon the principal; Pope directed +him, and was seconded by Swift, to purchase an annuity. + +Gay in that disastrous year had a present from young Craggs of some +South Sea Stock, and once supposed himself to be master of twenty +thousand pounds. His friends persuaded him to sell his share; but +he dreamed of dignity and splendour, and could not bear to obstruct +his own fortune. He was then importuned to sell as much as would +purchase a hundred a year for life, "which," says Penton, "will make +you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton every day." This +counsel was rejected; the profit and principal were lost, and Gay +sunk under the calamity so low that his life became in danger. By +the care of his friends, among whom Pope appears to have shown +particular tenderness, his health was restored; and, returning to +his studies, he wrote a tragedy called The Captives, which he was +invited to read before the Princess of Wales. When the hour came, +he saw the Princess and her ladies all in expectation, and, +advancing with reverence too great for any other attention, stumbled +at a stool, and, falling forwards, threw down a weighty Japan +screen. The Princess started, the ladies screamed, and poor Gay, +after all the disturbance, was still to read his play. + +The fate of The Captives, which was acted at Drury Lane in 1723-4, I +know not; but he now thought himself in favour, and undertook (1726) +to write a volume of "Fables" for the improvement of the young Duke +of Cumberland. For this he is said to have been promised a reward, +which he had doubtless magnified with all the wild expectations of +indigence and vanity. + +Next year the Prince and Princess became King and Queen, and Gay was +to be great and happy; but on the settlement of the household, he +found himself appointed gentleman usher to the Princess Louisa. By +this offer he thought himself insulted, and sent a message to the +Queen that he was too old for the place. There seem to have been +many machinations employed afterwards in his favour, and diligent +court was paid to Mrs. Howard, afterwards Countess of Suffolk, who +was much beloved by the King and Queen, to engage her interest for +his promotion; but solicitation, verses, and flatteries were thrown +away; the lady heard them, and did nothing. All the pain which he +suffered from neglect, or, as he perhaps termed it, the ingratitude +of the Court, may be supposed to have been driven away by the +unexampled success of the Beggar's Opera. This play, written in +ridicule of the musical Italian drama, was first offered to Cibber +and his brethren at Drury Lane and rejected: it being then carried +to Rich, had the effect, as was ludicrously said, of making Gay RICH +and Rich GAY. Of this lucky piece, as the reader cannot but wish to +know the original and progress, I have inserted the relation which +Spence has given in Pope's words:-- + +"Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay what an odd pretty +sort of a thing a Newgate Pastoral might make. Gay was inclined to +try at such a thing for some time; but afterwards thought it would +be better to write a comedy on the same plan. This was what gave +rise to the Beggar's Opera. He began on it, and when first he +mentioned it to Swift, the doctor did not much like the project. As +he carried it on, he showed what he wrote to both of us, and we now +and then gave a correction, or a word or two of advice; but it was +wholly of his own writing. When it was done, neither of us thought +it would succeed. We showed it to Congreve, who, after reading it +over, said it would either take greatly or be damned confoundedly. +We were all, at the first night of it, in great uncertainty of the +event, till we were very much encouraged by overhearing the Duke of +Argyll, who sat in the next box to us, say, 'It will do--it must do! +I see it in the eyes of them.' This was a good while before the +first act was over, and so gave us ease soon; for that Duke (besides +his own good taste) has a particular knack, as any one now living, +in discovering the taste of the public. He was quite right in this, +as usual; the good-nature of the audience appeared stronger and +stronger every act, and ended in a clamour of applause." + +Its reception is thus recorded in the notes to the "Dunciad":-- + +"This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known. +Besides being acted in London sixty-three days without interruption, +and renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread into all +the great towns of England; was played in many places to the +thirtieth and fortieth time; at Bath and Bristol fifty, etc. It +made its progress into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where it was +performed twenty-four days successively. The ladies carried about +with them the favourite songs of it in fans, and houses were +furnished with it in screens. The fame of it was not confined to +the author only. The person who acted Polly, till then obscure, +became all at once the favourite of the town; her pictures were +engraved and sold in great numbers; her life written, books of +letters and verses to her published, and pamphlets made even of her +sayings and jests. Furthermore, it drove out of England (for that +season) the Italian Opera, which had carried all before it for ten +years." + +Of this performance, when it was printed, the reception was +different, according to the different opinions of its readers. +Swift commended it for the excellence of its morality, as a piece +that "placed all kinds of vice in the strongest and most odious +light;" but others, and among them Dr. Herring, afterwards +Archbishop of Canterbury, censured it as giving encouragement, not +only to vice, but to crimes, by making a highwayman the hero and +dismissing him at last unpunished. It has been even said that after +the exhibition of the Beggar's Opera the gangs of robbers were +evidently multiplied. + +Both these decisions are surely exaggerated. The play, like many +others, was plainly written only to divert, without any moral +purpose, and is therefore not likely to do good; nor can it be +conceived, without more speculation than life requires or admits, to +be productive of much evil. Highwaymen and housebreakers seldom +frequent the playhouse, or mingle in any elegant diversion; nor is +it possible for any one to imagine that he may rob with safety, +because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage. This objection, +however, or some other rather political than moral, obtained such +prevalence that when Gay produced a second part under the name of +Polly, it was prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain; and he was forced +to recompense his repulse by a subscription, which is said to have +been so liberally bestowed that what he called oppression ended in +profit. The publication was so much favoured that though the first +part gained him four hundred pounds, near thrice as much was the +profit of the second. He received yet another recompense for this +supposed hardship, in the affectionate attention of the Duke and +Duchess of Queensberry, into whose house he was taken, and with whom +he passed the remaining part of his life. The Duke, considering his +want of economy, undertook the management of his money, and gave it +to him as he wanted it. But it is supposed that the discountenance +of the Court sunk deep into his heart, and gave him more discontent +than the applauses or tenderness of his friends could overpower. He +soon fell into his old distemper, an habitual colic, and languished, +though with many intervals of ease and cheerfulness, till a violent +fit at last seized him and carried him to the grave, as Arbuthnot +reported, with more precipitance than he had ever known. He died on +the 4th of December, 1732, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The +letter which brought an account of his death to Swift, was laid by +for some days unopened, because when he received it, he was +impressed with the preconception of some misfortune. + +After his death was published a second volume of "Fables," more +political than the former. His opera of Achilles was acted, and the +profits were given to two widow sisters, who inherited what he left, +as his lawful heirs; for he died without a will, though he had +gathered three thousand pounds. There have appeared likewise under +his name a comedy called the Distressed Wife, and the Rehearsal at +Gotham, a piece of humour. + +The character given him by Pope is this, that "he was a natural man, +without design, who spoke what he thought, and just as he thought +it," and that "he was of a timid temper, and fearful of giving +offence to the great;" which caution, however, says Pope, was of no +avail. + +As a poet he cannot be rated very high. He was, I once heard a +female critic remark, "of a lower order." He had not in any great +degree the MENS DIVINIOR, the dignity of genius. Much, however, +must be allowed to the author of a new species of composition, +though it be not of the highest kind. We owe to Gay the ballad +opera, a mode of comedy which at first was supposed to delight only +by its novelty, but has now, by the experience of half a century, +been found so well accommodated to the disposition of a popular +audience that it is likely to keep long possession of the stage. +Whether this new drama was the product of judgment or of luck, the +praise of it must be given to the inventor; and there are many +writers read with more reverence to whom such merit or originality +cannot be attributed. + +His first performance, the Rural Sports, is such as was easily +planned and executed; it is never contemptible, nor ever excellent. +The Fan is one of those mythological fictions which antiquity +delivers ready to the hand, but which, like other things that lie +open to every one's use, are of little value. The attention +naturally retires from a new tale of Venus, Diana, and Minerva. + +His "Fables" seem to have been a favourite work; for, having +published one volume, he left another behind him. Of this kind of +Fables the author does not appear to have formed any distinct or +settled notion. Phaedrus evidently confounds them with Tales, and +Gay both with Tales and Allegorical Prosopopoeias. A Fable or +Apologue, such as is now under consideration, seems to be, in its +genuine state, a narrative in which beings irrational, and sometimes +inanimate, arbores loquuntur, non tantum ferae, are, for the purpose +of moral instruction, feigned to act and speak with human interests +and passions. To this description the compositions of Gay do not +always conform. For a fable he gives now and then a tale, or an +abstracted allegory; and from some, by whatever name they may be +called, it will be difficult to extract any moral principle. They +are, however, told with liveliness, the versification is smooth, and +the diction, though now and then a little constrained by the measure +or the rhyme, is generally happy. + +To "Trivia" may be allowed all that it claims; it is sprightly, +various, and pleasant. The subject is of that kind which Gay was by +nature qualified to adorn, yet some of his decorations may be justly +wished away. An honest blacksmith might have done for Patty what is +performed by Vulcan. The appearance of Cloacina is nauseous and +superfluous; a shoe-boy could have been produced by the casual +cohabitation of mere mortals. Horace's rule is broken in both +cases; there is no dignus vindice nodus, no difficulty that required +any supernatural interposition. A patten may be made by the hammer +of a mortal, and a bastard may be dropped by a human strumpet. On +great occasions, and on small, the mind is repelled by useless and +apparent falsehood. + +Of his little poems the public judgment seems to be right; they are +neither much esteemed nor totally despised. The story of "The +Apparition" is borrowed from one of the tales of Poggio. Those that +please least are the pieces to which Gulliver gave occasion, for who +can much delight in the echo of an unnatural fiction? + +"Dione" is a counterpart to "Amynta" and "Pastor Fido" and other +trifles of the same kind, easily imitated, and unworthy of +imitation. What the Italians call comedies from a happy conclusion, +Gay calls a tragedy from a mournful event, but the style of the +Italians and of Gay is equally tragical. There is something in the +poetical Arcadia so remote from known reality and speculative +possibility that we can never support its representation through a +long work. A pastoral of an hundred lines may be endured, but who +will hear of sheep and goats, and myrtle bowers and purling +rivulets, through five acts? Such scenes please barbarians in the +dawn of literature, and children in the dawn of life, but will be +for the most part thrown away as men grow wise and nations grow +learned. + + + +TICKELL. + + + +Thomas Tickell, the son of the Rev. Richard Tickell, was born in +1686, at Bridekirk, in Cumberland, and in 1701 became a member of +Queen's College in Oxford; in 1708 he was made Master of Arts, and +two years afterwards was chosen Fellow, for which, as he did not +comply with the statutes by taking orders, he obtained a +dispensation from the Crown. He held his fellowship till 1726, and +then vacated it by marrying, in that year, at Dublin. + +Tickell was not one of those scholars who wear away their lives in +closets; he entered early into the world and was long busy in public +affairs, in which he was initiated under the patronage of Addison, +whose notice he is said to have gained by his verses in praise of +Rosamond. To those verses it would not have been just to deny +regard, for they contain some of the most elegant encomiastic +strains; and among the innumerable poems of the same kind it will be +hard to find one with which they need to fear a comparison. It may +deserve observation that when Pope wrote long afterwards in praise +of Addison, he has copied--at least, has resembled--Tickell. + + "Let joy salute fair Rosamonda's shade, + And wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely maid. + While now perhaps with Dido's ghost she roves, + And hears and tells the story of their loves, + Alike they mourn, alike they bless their fate, + Since Love, which made them wretched, made them great. + Nor longer that relentless doom bemoan, + Which gained a Virgil and an Addison."--TICKELL. + + + "Then future ages with delight shall see + How Plato's, Bacon's, Newton's, looks agree; + Or in fair series laurelled bards be shown, + A Virgil there, and here an Addison."--POPE. + +He produced another piece of the same kind at the appearance of +Cato, with equal skill, but not equal happiness. + +When the Ministers of Queen Anne were negotiating with France, +Tickell published "The Prospect of Peace," a poem of which the +tendency was to reclaim the nation from the pride of conquest to the +pleasures of tranquillity. How far Tickell, whom Swift afterwards +mentioned as Whiggissimus, had then connected himself with any +party, I know not; this poem certainly did not flatter the +practices, or promote the opinions, of the men by whom he was +afterwards befriended. + +Mr. Addison, however he hated the men then in power, suffered his +friendship to prevail over his public spirit, and gave in the +Spectator such praises of Tickell's poem that when, after having +long wished to peruse it, I laid hold of it at last, I thought it +unequal to the honours which it had received, and found it a piece +to be approved rather than admired. But the hope excited by a work +of genius, being general and indefinite, is rarely gratified. It +was read at that with so much favour that six editions were sold. + +At the arrival of King George, he sang "The Royal Progress," which, +being inserted in the Spectator, is well known, and of which it is +just to say that it is neither high nor low. + +The poetical incident of most importance in Tickell's life was his +publication of the first book of the "Iliad," as translated by +himself, an apparent opposition to Pope's "Homer," of which the +first part made its entrance into the world at the same time. +Addison declared that the rival versions were both good, but that +Tickell's was the best that ever was made; and with Addison, the +wits, his adherents and followers, were certain to concur. Pope +does not appear to have been much dismayed, "for," says he, "I have +the town--that is, the mob--on my side." But he remarks "that it is +common for the smaller party to make up in diligence what they want +in numbers. He appeals to the people as his proper judges, and if +they are not inclined to condemn him, he is in little care about the +highflyers at Button's." + +Pope did not long think Addison an impartial judge, for he +considered him as the writer of Tickell's version. The reasons for +his suspicion I will literally transcribe from Mr. Spence's +Collection:-- + +"There had been a coldness," said Mr. Pope, "between Mr. Addison and +me for some time, and we had not been in company together, for a +good while, anywhere but at Button's Coffee House, where I used to +see him almost every day. On his meeting me there, one day in +particular, he took me aside and said he should be glad to dine with +me at such a tavern, if I stayed till those people were gone +(Budgell and Philips). He went accordingly, and after dinner Mr. +Addison said 'that he had wanted for some time to talk with me: +that his friend Tickell had formerly, whilst at Oxford, translated +the first book of the Iliad; that he designed to print it, and had +desired him to look it over; that he must therefore beg that I would +not desire him to look over my first book, because, if he did, it +would have the air of double-dealing.' I assured him that I did not +at all take it ill of Mr. Tickell that he was going to publish his +translation; that he certainly had as much right to translate any +author as myself; and that publishing both was entering on a fair +stage. I then added that I would not desire him to look over my +first book of the Iliad, because he had looked over Mr. Tickell's, +but could wish to have the benefit of his observations on my second, +which I had then finished, and which Mr. Tickell had not touched +upon. Accordingly I sent him the second book the next morning, and +Mr. Addison a few days after returned it, with very high +commendations. Soon after it was generally known that Mr. Tickell +was publishing the first book of the Iliad, I met Dr. Young in the +street, and upon our falling into that subject, the doctor expressed +a great deal of surprise at Tickell's having had such a translation +so long by him. He said that it was inconceivable to him, and that +there must be some mistake in the matter; that each used to +communicate to the other whatever verses they wrote, even to the +least things; that Tickell could not have been busied in so long a +work there without his knowing something of the matter; and that he +had never heard a single word of it till on this occasion. This +surprise of Dr. Young, together with what Steele has said against +Tickell in relation to this affair, make it highly probable that +there was some underhand dealing in that business; and indeed +Tickell himself, who is a very fair worthy man, has since, in a +manner, as good as owned it to me. When it was introduced into a +conversation between Mr. Tickell and Mr. Pope by a third person, +Tickell did not deny it, which, considering his honour and zeal for +his departed friend, was the same as owning it." + +Upon these suspicions, with which Dr. Warburton hints that other +circumstances concurred, Pope always in his "Art of Sinking" quotes +this book as the work of Addison. + +To compare the two translations would be tedious; the palm is now +given universally to Pope, but I think the first lines of Tickell's +were rather to be preferred; and Pope seems to have since borrowed +something from them in the correction of his own. + +When the Hanover succession was disputed, Tickell gave what +assistance his pen would supply. His "Letter to Avignon" stands +high among party poems; it expresses contempt without coarseness, +and superiority without insolence. It had the success which it +deserved, being five times printed. + +He was now intimately united to Mr. Addison, who, when he went into +Ireland as secretary to the Lord Sunderland, took him thither, and +employed him in public business; and when (1717) afterwards he rose +to be Secretary of State, made him Under-Secretary. Their +friendship seems to have continued without abatement; for, when +Addison died, he left him the charge of publishing his works, with a +solemn recommendation to the patronage of Craggs. To these works he +prefixed an elegy on the author, which could owe none of its +beauties to the assistance which might be suspected to have +strengthened or embellished his earlier compositions; but neither he +nor Addison ever produced nobler lines than are contained in the +third and fourth paragraphs; nor is a more elegant funeral poem to +be found in the whole compass of English literature. He was +afterwards (about 1725) made secretary to the Lords Justices of +Ireland, a place of great honour; in which he continued till 1740, +when he died on the 23rd of April at Bath. + +Of the poems yet unmentioned, the longest is "Kensington Gardens," +of which the versification is smooth and elegant, but the fiction +unskilfully compounded of Grecian deities and Gothic fairies. +Neither species of those exploded beings could have done much; and +when they are brought together, they only make each other +contemptible. To Tickell, however, cannot be refused a high place +among the minor poets; nor should it be forgotten that he was one of +the contributors to the Spectator. With respect to his personal +character, he is said to have been a man of gay conversation, at +least a temperate lover of wine and company, and in his domestic +relations without censure. + + + +SOMERVILE. + + + +Of Mr. Somervile's life I am not able to say anything that can +satisfy curiosity. He was a gentleman whose estate lay in +Warwickshire; his house, where he was born in 1693, is called +Edston, a seat inherited from a long line of ancestors; for he was +said to be of the first family in his county. He tells of himself +that he was born near the Avon's banks. He was bred at Winchester +school, and was elected fellow of New College. It does not appear +that in the places of his education he exhibited any uncommon proofs +of genius or literature. His powers were first displayed in the +country, where he was distinguished as a poet, a gentleman, and a +skilful and useful justice of the peace. + +Of the close of his life, those whom his poems have delighted will +read with pain the following account, copied from the "Letters" of +his friend Shenstone, by whom he was too much resembled:-- + +"--Our old friend Somervile is dead! I did not imagine I could have +been so sorry as I find myself on this occasion. Sublatum +quaerimus. I can now excuse all his foibles; impute them to age, +and to distress of circumstances: the last of these considerations +wrings my very soul to think on. For a man of high spirit conscious +of having (at least in one production) generally pleased the world, +to be plagued and threatened by wretches that are low in every +sense; to be forced to drink himself into pains of the body, in +order to get rid of the pains of the mind is a misery."--He died +July 19, 1742, and was buried at Wotton, near Henley on Arden. + +His distresses need not be much pitied: his estate is said to be +fifteen hundred a year, which by his death has devolved to Lord +Somervile of Scotland. His mother. indeed, who lived till ninety, +had a jointure of six hundred. + +It is with regret that I find myself not better enabled to exhibit +memorials of a writer who at least must be allowed to have set a +good example to men of his own class, by devoting part of his time +to elegant knowledge; and who has shown, by the subjects which his +poetry has adorned, that it is practicable to be at once a skilful +sportsman and a man of letters. + +Somervile has tried many modes of poetry; and though perhaps he has +not in any reached such excellence as to raise much envy, it may +commonly be said at least, that "he writes very well for a +gentleman." His serious pieces are sometimes elevated; and his +trifles are sometimes elegant. In his verses to Addison, the +couplet which mentions Clio is written with the most exquisite +delicacy of praise; it exhibits one of those happy strokes that are +seldom attained. In his Odes to Marlborough there are beautiful +lines; but in the second Ode he shows that he knew little of his +hero, when he talks of his private virtues. His subjects are +commonly such as require no great depth of thought or energy of +expression. His Fables are generally stale, and therefore excite no +curiosity. Of his favourite, "The Two Springs," the fiction is +unnatural, and the moral inconsequential. In his Tales there is too +much coarseness, with too little care of language, and not +sufficient rapidity of narration. His great work is his Chase, +which he undertook in his maturer age, when his ear was improved to +the approbation of blank verse, of which, however, his two first +lines give a bad specimen. To this poem praise cannot be totally +denied. He is allowed by sportsmen to write with great intelligence +of his subject, which is the first requisite to excellence; and +though it is impossible to interest the common readers of verse in +the dangers or pleasures of the chase, he has done all that +transition and variety could easily effect; and has with great +propriety enlarged his plan by the modes of hunting used in other +countries. + +With still less judgment did he choose blank verse as the vehicle of +"Rural Sports." If blank verse be not tumid and gorgeous, it is +crippled prose; and familiar images in laboured language have +nothing to recommend them but absurd novelty, which, wanting the +attractions of nature, cannot please long. One excellence of the +"Splendid Shilling" is, that it is short. Disguise can gratify no +longer than it deceives. + + + +THOMSON. + + + +James Thomson, the son of a minister well esteemed for his piety and +diligence, was born September 7, 1700, at Ednam, in the shire of +Roxburgh, of which his father was pastor. His mother, whose name +was Hume, inherited as co-heiress a portion of a small estate. The +revenue of a parish in Scotland is seldom large; and it was probably +in commiseration of the difficulty with which Mr. Thomson supported +his family, having nine children, that Mr. Riccarton, a neighbouring +minister, discovering in James uncommon promises of future +excellence, undertook to superintend his education, and provide him +books. He was taught the common rudiments of learning at the school +of Jedburgh, a place which he delights to recollect in his poem of +"Autumn;" but was not considered by his master as superior to common +boys, though in those early days he amused his patron and his +friends with poetical compositions; with which, however, he so +little pleased himself that on every New Year's Day he threw into +the fire all the productions of the foregoing year. + +From the school he was removed to Edinburgh, where he had not +resided two years when his father died, and left all his children to +the care of their mother, who raised upon her little estate what +money a mortgage could afford; and, removing with her family to +Edinburgh, lived to see her son rising into eminence. + +The design of Thomson's friends was to breed him a minister. He +lived at Edinburgh, at a school, without distinction or expectation, +till at the usual time he performed a probationary exercise by +explaining a psalm. His diction was so poetically splendid, that +Mr. Hamilton, the professor of divinity, reproved him for speaking +language unintelligible to a popular audience; and he censured one +of his expressions as indecent, if not profane. This rebuke is +reported to have repressed his thoughts of an ecclesiastical +character, and he probably cultivated with new diligence his +blossoms of poetry, which, however, were in some danger of a blast; +for, submitting his productions to some who thought themselves +qualified to criticise, he heard of nothing but faults; but, finding +other judges more favourable, he did not suffer himself to sink into +despondence. He easily discovered that the only stage on which a +poet could appear with any hope of advantage was London; a place too +wide for the operation of petty competition and private malignity, +where merit might soon become conspicuous, and would find friends as +soon as it became reputable to befriend it. A lady who was +acquainted with his mother advised him to the journey, and promised +some countenance or assistance, which at last he never received; +however, he justified his adventure by her encouragement, and came +to seek in London patronage and fame. At his arrival he found his +way to Mr. Mallet, then tutor to the sons of the Duke of Montrose. +He had recommendations to several persons of consequence, which he +had tied up carefully in his handkerchief; but as he passed along +the street, with the gaping curiosity of a newcomer, his attention +was upon everything rather than his pocket, and his magazine of +credentials was stolen from him. + +His first want was a pair of shoes. For the supply of all his +necessities, his whole fund was his "Winter," which for a time could +find no purchaser; till at last Mr. Millan was persuaded to buy it +at a low price; and this low price he had for some time reason to +regret; but, by accident, Mr. Whately, a man not wholly unknown +among authors, happening to turn his eye upon it, was so delighted +that he ran from place to place celebrating its excellence. Thomson +obtained likewise the notice of Aaron Hill, whom, being friendless +and indigent, and glad of kindness, he courted with every expression +of servile adulation. + +"Winter" was dedicated to Sir Spencer Compton, but attracted no +regard from him to the author; till Aaron Hill awakened his +attention by some verses addressed to Thomson, and published in one +of the newspapers, which censured the great for their neglect of +ingenious men. Thomson then received a present of twenty guineas, +of which he gives this account to Mr. Hill:-- + +I hinted to you in my last that on Saturday morning I was with Sir +Spencer Compton. A certain gentleman, without my desire, spoke to +him concerning me: his answer was that I had never come near him. +Then the gentleman put the question, if he desired that I should +wait on him? He returned, he did. On this the gentleman gave me an +introductory letter to him. He received me in what they commonly +call a civil manner; asked me some common-place questions, and made +me a present of twenty guineas. I am very ready to own that the +present was larger than my performance deserved; and shall ascribe +it to his generosity, or any other cause, rather than the merit of +the address." + +The poem, which, being of a new kind, few would venture at first to +like, by degrees gained upon the public; and one edition was very +speedily succeeded by another. + +Thomson's credit was now high, and every day brought him new +friends; among others Dr. Rundle, a man afterwards unfortunately +famous, sought his acquaintance, and found his qualities such that +he recommended him to the Lord Chancellor Talbot. + +"Winter" was accompanied, in many editions, not only with a preface +and dedication, but with poetical praises by Mr. Hill, Mr. Mallet +(then Malloch), and Mira, the fictitious name of a lady once too +well known. Why the dedications are, to "Winter" and the other +Seasons, contrarily to custom, left out in the collected works, the +reader may inquire. + +The next year (1727) he distinguished himself by three publications: +of "Summer," in pursuance of his plan; of "A Poem on the Death of +Sir Isaac Newton," which he was enabled to perform as an exact +philosopher by the instruction of Mr. Gray; and of "Britannia," a +kind of poetical invective against the Ministry, whom the nation +then thought not forward enough in resenting the depredations of the +Spaniards. By this piece he declared himself an adherent to the +Opposition, and had therefore no favour to expect from the Court. + +Thomson, having been some time entertained in the family of Lord +Binning, was desirous of testifying his gratitude by making him the +patron of his "Summer;" but the same kindness which had first +disposed Lord Binning to encourage him, determined him to refuse the +dedication, which was by his advice addressed to Mr. Dodington, a +man who had more power to advance the reputation and fortune of a +poet. + +"Spring" was published next year, with a dedication to the Countess +of Hertford, whose practice it was to invite every summer some poet +into the country, to hear her verses and assist her studies. This +honour was one summer conferred on Thomson, who took more delight in +carousing with Lord Hertford and his friends than assisting her +ladyship's poetical operations, and therefore never received another +summons. + +"Autumn," the season to which the "Spring" and "Summer" are +preparatory, still remained unsung, and was delayed till he +published (1730) his works collected. + +He produced in 1727 the tragedy of Sophonisba, which raised such +expectation that every rehearsal was dignified with a splendid +audience, collected to anticipate the delight that was preparing for +the public. It was observed, however, that nobody was much +affected, and that the company rose as from a moral lecture. It had +upon the stage no unusual degree of success. Slight accidents will +operate upon the taste of pleasure. There is a feeble line in the +play:-- + + "O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O!" + +This gave occasion to a waggish parody-- + + "O, Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O!" + +which for a while was echoed through the town. + +I have been told by Savage, that of the prologue to Sophonisba, the +first part was written by Pope, who could not be persuaded to finish +it; and that the concluding lines were added by Mallet. + +Thomson was not long afterwards, by the influence of Dr. Rundle, +sent to travel with Mr. Charles Talbot, the eldest son of the +Chancellor. He was yet young enough to receive new impressions, to +have his opinions rectified and his views enlarged; nor can he be +supposed to have wanted that curiosity which is inseparable from an +active and comprehensive mind. He may therefore now be supposed to +have revelled in all the joys of intellectual luxury; he was every +day feasted with instructive novelties; he lived splendidly without +expense: and might expect when he returned home a certain +establishment. + +At this time a long course of opposition to Sir Robert Walpole had +filled the nation with clamours for liberty, of which no man felt +the want, and with care for liberty which was not in danger. +Thomson, in his travels on the Continent, found or fancied so many +evils arising from the tyranny of other governments, that he +resolved to write a very long poem, in five parts, upon Liberty. +While he was busy on the first book, Mr. Talbot died; and Thomson, +who had been rewarded for his attendance by the place of secretary +of the briefs, pays in the initial lines a decent tribute to his +memory. Upon this great poem two years were spent, and the author +congratulated himself upon it as his noblest work; but an author and +his reader are not always of a mind. Liberty called in vain upon +her votaries to read her praises, and reward her encomiast: her +praises were condemned to harbour spiders, and to gather dust: none +of Thomson's performances were so little regarded. The judgment of +the public was not erroneous; the recurrence of the same images must +tire in time; an enumeration of examples to prove a position which +nobody denied, as it was from the beginning superfluous, must +quickly grow disgusting. + +The poem of "Liberty" does not now appear in its original state; +but, when the author's works were collected after his death, was +shortened by Sir George Lyttelton, with a liberty which, as it has a +manifest tendency to lessen the confidence of society, and to +confound the characters of authors, by making one man write by the +judgment of another, cannot be justified by any supposed propriety +of the alteration, or kindness of the friend. I wish to see it +exhibited as its author left it. + +Thomson now lived in ease and plenty, and seems for a while to have +suspended his poetry: but he was soon called back to labour by the +death of the Chancellor, for his place then became vacant; and +though the Lord Hardwicke delayed for some time to give it away, +Thomson's bashfulness or pride, or some other motive perhaps not +more laudable, withheld him from soliciting; and the new Chancellor +would not give him what he would not ask. He now relapsed to his +former indigence; but the Prince of Wales was at that time +struggling for popularity, and by the influence of Mr. Lyttelton +professed himself the patron of wit; to him Thomson was introduced, +and being gaily interrogated about the state of his affairs said +"that they were in a more poetical posture than formerly," and had a +pension allowed him of one hundred pounds a year. + +Being now obliged to write, he produced (1738) the tragedy of +Agamemnon, which was much shortened in the representation. It had +the fate which most commonly attends mythological stories, and was +only endured, but not favoured. It struggled with such difficulty +through the first night that Thomson, coming late to his friends +with whom he was to sup, excused his delay by telling them how the +sweat of his distress had so disordered his wig that he could not +come till he had been refitted by a barber. He so interested +himself in his own drama that, if I remember right, as he sat in the +upper gallery, he accompanied the players by audible recitation, +till a friendly hint frighted him to silence. Pope countenanced +Agamemnon by coming to it, the first night, and was welcomed to the +theatre by a general clap; he had much regard for Thomson, and once +expressed it in a poetical epistle sent to Italy, of which, however, +he abated the value by transplanting some of the lines into his +Epistle to Arbuthnot. + +About this time (1737) the Act was passed for licensing plays, of +which the first operation was the prohibition of Gustavus Vasa, a +tragedy of Mr. Brooke, whom the public recompensed by a very liberal +subscription; the next was the refusal of Edward and Eleonora, +offered by Thomson. It is hard to discover why either play should +have been obstructed. Thomson likewise endeavoured to repair his +loss by a subscription, of which I cannot now tell the success. +When the public murmured at the unkind treatment of Thomson, one of +the Ministerial writers remarked that "he had taken a Liberty which +was not agreeable to Britannia in any Season." He was soon after +employed, in conjunction with Mr. Mallet, to write the masque of +Alfred, which was acted before the Prince at Cliefden House. + +His next work (1745) was, Tancred and Sigismunda, the most +successful of all his tragedies, for it still keeps its turn upon +the stage. It may be doubted whether he was, either by the bent of +nature or habits of study, much qualified for tragedy. It does not +appear that he had much sense of the pathetic; and his diffusive and +descriptive style produced declamation rather than dialogue. His +friend Mr. Lyttelton was now in power, and conferred upon him the +office of Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands; from which, when +his deputy was paid, he received about three hundred pounds a year. + +The last piece that he lived to publish was the "Castle of +Indolence," which was many years under his hand, but was at last +finished with great accuracy. The first canto opens a scene of lazy +luxury that fills the imagination. He was now at ease, but was not +long to enjoy it, for, by taking cold on the water between London +and Kew, he caught a disorder, which, with some careless +exasperation, ended in a fever that put an end to his life, August +27, 1748. He was buried in the church of Richmond, without an +inscription; but a monument has been erected to his memory in +Westminster Abbey. + +Thomson was of stature above the middle size, and "more fat than +bard beseems," of a dull countenance and a gross, unanimated, +uninviting appearance; silent in mingled company, but cheerful among +select friends, and by his friends very tenderly and warmly beloved. +He left behind him the tragedy of Coriolanus, which was, by the zeal +of his patron, Sir George Lyttelton, brought upon the stage for the +benefit of his family, and recommended by a prologue, which Quin, +who had long lived with Thomson in fond intimacy, spoke in such a +manner as showed him "to be," on that occasion, "no actor." The +commencement of this benevolence is very honourable to Quin, who is +reported to have delivered Thomson, then known to him only for his +genius, from an arrest by a very considerable present; and its +continuance is honourable to both, for friendship is not always the +sequel of obligation. By this tragedy a considerable sum was +raised, of which part discharged his debts, and the rest was +remitted to his sisters, whom, however removed from them by place or +condition, he regarded with great tenderness, as will appear by the +following letter, which I communicate with much pleasure, as it +gives me at once an opportunity of recording the fraternal kindness +of Thomson, and reflecting on the friendly assistance of Mr. +Boswell, from whom I received it:-- + + "Hagley in Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747. + +"My Dear Sister,--I thought you had known me better than to +interpret my silence into a decay of affection, especially as your +behaviour has always been such as rather to increase than diminish +it. Don't imagine, because I am a bad correspondent, that I can +ever prove an unkind friend and brother. I must do myself the +justice to tell you that my affections are naturally very fixed and +constant; and if I had ever reason of complaint against you (of +which, by-the-bye, I have not the least shadow), I am conscious of +so many defects in myself as dispose me to be not a little +charitable and forgiving. + +"It gives me the truest heart-felt satisfaction to hear you have a +good kind husband, and are in easy contented circumstances; but were +they otherwise, that would only awaken and heighten my tenderness +towards you. As our good and tender-hearted parents did not live to +receive any material testimonies of that highest human gratitude I +owed them (than which nothing could have given me equal pleasure), +the only return I can make them now is by kindness to those they +left behind them. Would to God poor Lizy had lived longer, to have +been a farther witness of the truth of what I say and that I might +have had the pleasure of seeing once more a sister who so truly +deserved my esteem and love! But she is happy, while we must toil a +little longer here below: let us, however, do it cheerfully and +gratefully, supported by the pleasing hope of meeting you again on a +safer shore, where to recollect the storms and difficulties of life +will not perhaps be inconsistent with that blissful state. You did +right to call your daughter by her name: for you must needs have +had a particular tender friendship for one another, endeared as you +were by nature, by having passed the affectionate years of your +youth together: and by that great softener and engager of hearts, +mutual hardship. That it was in my power to ease it a little, I +account one of the most exquisite pleasures of my life. But enough +of this melancholy, though not unpleasing, strain. + +"I esteem you for your sensible and disinterested advice to Mr. +Bell, as you will see by my letter to him. As I approve entirely of +his marrying again, you may readily ask me why I don't marry at all. +My circumstances have hitherto been so variable and uncertain in +this fluctuating world, as induce to keep me from engaging in such a +state: and now, though they are more settled, and of late (which +you will be glad to hear) considerably improved, I begin to think +myself too far advanced in life for such youthful undertakings, not +to mention some other petty reasons that are apt to startle the +delicacy of difficult old bachelors. I am, however, not a little +suspicious that, was I to pay a visit to Scotland (which I have some +thought of doing soon), I might possibly be tempted to think of a +thing not easily repaired if done amiss. I have always been of +opinion that none make better wives than the ladies of Scotland; and +yet who more forsaken than they, while the gentlemen are continually +running abroad all the world over? Some of them, it is true, are +wise enough to return for a wife. You see, I am beginning to make +interest already with the Scots ladies. But no more of this +infectious subject. Pray let me hear from you now and then; and +though I am not a regular correspondent, yet perhaps I may mend in +that respect. Remember me kindly to your husband, and believe me to +be + + "Your most affectionate Brother, + "James Thomson." +(Addressed) "To Mrs. Thomson in Lanark." + +The benevolence of Thomson was fervid, but not active; he would give +on all occasions what assistance his purse would supply, but the +offices of intervention or solicitation he could not conquer his +sluggishness sufficiently to perform. The affairs of others, +however, were not more neglected than his own. He had often felt +the inconveniences of idleness, but he never cured it; and was so +conscious of his own character that he talked of writing an Eastern +tale "Of the Man who Loved to be in Distress." Among his +peculiarities was a very unskilful and inarticulate manner of +pronouncing any lofty or solemn composition. He was once reading to +Dodington, who, being himself a reader eminently elegant, was so +much provoked by his odd utterance that he snatched the paper from +his hands and told him that he did not understand his own verses. + +The biographer of Thomson has remarked that an author's life is best +read in his works; his observation was not well timed. Savage, who +lived much with Thomson, once told me how he heard a lady remarking +that she could gather from his works three-parts of his character: +that he was "a great lover, a great swimmer, and rigorously +abstinent;" "but," said Savage, "he knows not any love but that of +the sex; he was, perhaps, never in cold water in his life; and he +indulges himself in all the luxury that comes within his reach." +Yet Savage always spoke with the most eager praise of his social +qualities, his warmth and constancy of friendship, and his adherence +to his first acquaintance when the advancement of his reputation had +left them behind him. + +As a writer, he is entitled to one praise of the highest kind: his +mode of thinking and of expressing his thoughts is original. His +blank verse is no more the blank verse of Milton, or of any other +poet, than the rhymes of Prior are the rhymes of Cowley. His +numbers, his pauses, his diction, are of his own growth, without +transcription, without imitation. He thinks in a peculiar train, +and he thinks always as a man of genius; he looks round on Nature +and on Life with the eye which Nature bestows only on a poet; the +eye that distinguishes in everything presented to its view whatever +there is on which imagination can delight to be detained, and with a +mind that at once comprehends the vast and attends to the minute. +The reader of the "Seasons" wonders that he never saw before what +Thomson shows him, and that he never yet has felt what Thomson +impresses. His is one of the works in which blank verse seems +properly used. Thomson's wide expansion of general views, and his +enumeration of circumstantial varieties, would have been obstructed +and embarrassed by the frequent intersections of the sense, which +are the necessary effects of rhyme. His descriptions of extended +scenes and general effects bring before us the whole magnificence of +Nature, whether pleasing or dreadful. The gaiety of Spring, the +splendour of Summer, the tranquillity of Autumn, and the horror of +Winter, take in their turns possession of the mind. The poet leads +us through the appearances of things as they are successively varied +by the vicissitudes of the year, and imparts to us so much of his +own enthusiasm that our thoughts expand with his imagery and kindle +with his sentiments. Nor is the naturalist without his part in the +entertainment, for he is assisted to recollect and to combine, to +arrange his discoveries, and to amplify the sphere of his +contemplation. The great defect of the "Seasons" is want of method; +but for this I know not that there was any remedy. Of many +appearances subsisting all at once, no rule can be given why one +should be mentioned before another; yet the memory wants the help of +order, and the curiosity is not excited by suspense or expectation. +His diction is in the highest degree florid and luxuriant, such as +may be said to be to his images and thoughts "both their lustre and +their shade;" such as invests them with splendour, through which, +perhaps, they are not always easily discerned. It is too exuberant, +and sometimes may be charged with filling the ear more than the +mind. + +These poems, with which I was acquainted at their first appearance, +I have since found altered and enlarged by subsequent revisals, as +the author supposed his judgment to grow more exact, and as books or +conversation extended his knowledge and opened his prospects. They +are, I think, improved in general; yet I know not whether they have +not lost part of what Temple calls their "race," a word which, +applied to wines in its primitive sense, means the flavour of the +soil. + +"Liberty," when it first appeared, I tried to read, and soon +desisted. I have never tried again, and therefore will not hazard +either praise or censure. The highest praise which he has received +ought not to be suppressed: it is said by Lord Lyttelton, in the +Prologue to his posthumous play, that his works contained + + "No line which, dying, he could wish to blot." + + + +WATTS. + + + +The poems of Dr. Watts were, by my recommendation, inserted in the +late Collection, the readers of which are to impute to me whatever +pleasure or weariness they may find in the perusal of Blackmore, +Watts, Pomfret, and Yalden. + +Isaac Watts was born July 17, 1674, at Southampton, where his +father, of the same name, kept a boarding-school for young +gentlemen, though common report makes him a shoemaker. He appears, +from the narrative of Dr. Gibbons, to have been neither indigent nor +illiterate. + +Isaac, the eldest of nine children, was given to books from his +infancy, and began, we are told, to learn Latin when he was four +years old--I suppose, at home. He was afterwards taught Latin, +Greek, and Hebrew, by Mr. Pinhorne, a clergyman, master of the Free +School at Southampton, to whom the gratitude of his scholar +afterwards inscribed a Latin ode. His proficiency at school was so +conspicuous that a subscription was proposed for his support at the +University, but he declared his resolution of taking his lot with +the Dissenters. Such he was as every Christian Church would rejoice +to have adopted. He therefore repaired, in 1690, to an academy +taught by Mr. Rowe, where he had for his companions and fellow +students Mr. Hughes the poet, and Dr. Horte, afterwards Archbishop +of Tuam. Some Latin Essays, supposed to have been written as +exercises at this academy, show a degree of knowledge, both +philosophical and theological, such as very few attain by a much +longer course of study. He was, as he hints in his "Miscellanies," +a maker of verses from fifteen to fifty, and in his youth he appears +to have paid attention to Latin poetry. His verses to his brother, +in the glyconic measure, written when he was seventeen, are +remarkably easy and elegant. Some of his other odes are deformed by +the Pindaric folly then prevailing, and are written with such +neglect of all metrical rules as is without example among the +ancients; but his diction, though perhaps not always exactly pure, +has such copiousness and splendour as shows that he was but a very +little distance from excellence. His method of study was to impress +the contents of his books upon his memory by abridging them, and by +interleaving them to amplify one system with supplements from +another. + +With the congregation of his tutor, Mr. Rowe, who were, I believe, +Independents, he communicated in his nineteenth year. At the age of +twenty he left the academy, and spent two years in study and +devotion at the house of his father, who treated him with great +tenderness, and had the happiness, indulged to few parents, of +living to see his son eminent for literature and venerable for +piety. He was then entertained by Sir John Hartopp five years, as +domestic tutor to his son, and in that time particularly devoted +himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures; and, being chosen +assistant to Dr. Chauncey, preached the first time on the birthday +that completed his twenty-fourth year, probably considering that as +the day of a second nativity, by which he entered on a new period of +existence. + +In about three years he succeeded Dr. Chauncey; but soon after his +entrance on his charge he was seized by a dangerous illness, which +sunk him to such weakness that the congregation thought an assistant +necessary, and appointed Mr. Price. His health then returned +gradually, and he performed his duty till (1712) he was seized by a +fever of such violence and continuance, that from the feebleness +which it brought upon him he never perfectly recovered. This +calamitous state made the compassion of his friends necessary, and +drew upon him the attention of Sir Thomas Abney, who received him +into his house, where, with a constancy of friendship and uniformity +of conduct not often to be found, he was treated for thirty-six +years with all the kindness that friendship could prompt, and all +the attention that respect could dictate. Sir Thomas died about +eight years afterwards, but he continued with the lady and her +daughters to the end of his life. The lady died about a year after +him. + +A coalition like this, a state in which the notions of patronage and +dependence were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal +benefits, deserves a particular memorial; and I will not withhold +from the reader Dr. Gibbons's representation, to which regard is to +be paid as to the narrative of one who writes what he knows, and +what is known likewise to multitudes besides:-- + +"Our next observation shall be made upon that remarkably kind +Providence which brought the Doctor into Sir Thomas Abney's family, +and continued him there till his death, a period of no less than +thirty-six years. In the midst of his sacred labours for the glory +of God, and good of his generation, he is seized with a most violent +and threatening fever, which leaves him oppressed with great +weakness, and puts a stop at least to his public services for four +years. In this distressing season, doubly so to his active and +pious spirit, he is invited to Sir Thomas Abney's family, nor ever +removes from it till he had finished his days. Here he enjoyed the +uninterrupted demonstrations of the truest friendship. Here, +without any care of his own, he had everything which could +contribute to the enjoyment of life, and favour the unwearied +pursuit of his studies. Here he dwelt in a family which, for piety, +order, harmony, and every virtue, was a house of God. Here he had +the privilege of a country recess, the fragrant bower, the spreading +lawn, the flowery garden, and other advantages, to soothe his mind +and aid his restoration to health; to yield him, whenever he chose +them, most grateful intervals from his laborious studies, and enable +him to return to them with redoubled vigour and delight. Had it not +been for this most happy event, he might, as to outward view, have +feebly, it may be painfully, dragged on through many more years of +languor, and inability for public service, and even for profitable +study, or perhaps might have sunk into his grave under the +overwhelming load of infirmities in the midst of his days; and thus +the Church and world would have been deprived of those many +excellent sermons and works which he drew up and published during +his long residence in this family. In a few years after his coming +hither, Sir Thomas Abney dies; but his amiable consort survives, who +shows the Doctor the same respect and friendship as before, and most +happily for him and great numbers besides; for, as her riches were +great, her generosity and munificence were in full proportion; her +thread of life was drawn out to a great age, even beyond that of the +Doctor's, and thus this excellent man, through her kindness, and +that of her daughter, the present Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who in a +like degree esteemed and honoured him, enjoyed all the benefits and +felicities he experienced at his first entrance into this family +till his days were numbered and finished, and, like a shock of corn +in its season, he ascended into the regions of perfect and immortal +life and joy." + +If this quotation has appeared long, let it be considered that it +comprises an account of six-and-thirty years, and those the years of +Dr. Watts. + +From the time of his reception into this family his life was no +otherwise diversified than by successive publications. The series +of his works I am not able to deduce; their number and their variety +show the intenseness of his industry and the extent of his capacity. +He was one of the first authors that taught the Dissenters to court +attention by the graces of language. Whatever they had among them +before, whether of learning or acuteness, was commonly obscured and +blunted by coarseness and inelegance of style. He showed them that +zeal and purity might be expressed and enforced by polished diction. +He continued to the end of his life a teacher of a congregation, and +no reader of his works can doubt his fidelity or diligence. In the +pulpit, though his low stature, which very little exceeded five +feet, graced him with no advantages of appearance, yet the gravity +and propriety of his utterance made his discourses very efficacious. +I once mentioned the reputation which Mr. Foster had gained by his +proper delivery, to my friend Dr. Hawkesworth, who told me that in +the art of pronunciation he was far inferior to Dr. Watts. Such was +his flow of thoughts, and such his promptitude of language, that in +the latter part of his life he did not precompose his cursory +sermons, but, having adjusted the heads and sketched out some +particulars, trusted for success to his extemporary powers. He did +not endeavour to assist his eloquence by any gesticulations; for, as +no corporeal actions have any correspondence with theological truth, +he did not see how they could enforce it. At the conclusion of +weighty sentences he gave time, by a short pause, for the proper +impression. + +To stated and public instruction he added familiar visits and +personal application, and was careful to improve the opportunities +which conversation offered of diffusing and increasing the influence +of religion. By his natural temper he was quick of resentment; but +by his established and habitual practice he was gentle, modest, and +inoffensive. His tenderness appeared in his attention to children, +and to the poor. To the poor, while he lived in the family of his +friend, he allowed the third part of his annual revenue; though the +whole was not a hundred a year; and for children he condescended to +lay aside the scholar, the philosopher, and the wit, to write little +poems of devotion, and systems of instruction, adapted to their +wants and capacities, from the dawn of reason through its gradations +of advance in the morning of life. Every man acquainted with the +common principles of human action will look with veneration on the +writer who is at one time combating Locke, and at another making a +catechism for children in their fourth year. A voluntary descent +from the dignity of science is perhaps the hardest lesson that +humility can teach. + +As his mind was capacious, his curiosity excursive, and his industry +continual, his writings are very numerous and his subjects various. +With his theological works I am only enough acquainted to admire his +meekness of opposition, and his mildness of censure. It was not +only in his book, but in his mind, that orthodoxy was united with +charity. + +Of his philosophical pieces, his "Logic" has been received into the +Universities, and therefore wants no private recommendation; if he +owes part of it to Le Clerc, it must be considered that no man who +undertakes merely to methodise or illustrate a system pretends to be +its author. + +In his metaphysical disquisitions it was observed by the late +learned Mr. Dyer, that he confounded the idea of SPACE with that of +EMPTY SPACE, and did not consider that though space might be without +matter, yet matter being extended could not be without space. + +Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his +"Improvement of the Mind," of which the radical principle may indeed +be found in Locke's "Conduct of the Understanding;" but they are so +expanded and ramified by Watts, as to confer upon him the merit of a +work in the highest degree useful and pleasing. Whoever has the +care of instructing others may be charged with deficiency in his +duty if this book is not recommended. + +I have mentioned his treatises of theology as distinct from his +other productions; but the truth is that whatever he took in hand +was, by his incessant solicitude for souls, converted to theology. +As piety predominated in his mind, it is diffused over his works. +Under his direction it may be truly said, Theologiae philosophia +ancillatur (Philosophy is subservient to evangelical instruction). +It is difficult to read a page without learning, or at least +wishing, to be better. The attention is caught by indirect +instruction; and he that sat down only to reason is on a sudden +compelled to pray. It was therefore with great propriety that, in +1728, he received from Edinburgh and Aberdeen an unsolicited +diploma, by which he became a Doctor of Divinity. Academical +honours would have more value if they were always bestowed with +equal judgment. He continued many years to study and to preach, and +to do good by his instruction and example, till at last the +infirmities of age disabled him from the more laborious part of his +ministerial functions, and, being no longer capable of public duty, +he offered to remit the salary appendent to it; but his congregation +would not accept the resignation. By degrees his weakness +increased, and at last confined him to his chamber and his bed, +where he was worn gradually away without pain, till he expired +November 25th 1748, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. + +Few men have left behind such purity of character, or such monuments +of laborious piety. He has provided instruction for all ages--from +those who are lisping their first lessons, to the enlightened +readers of Malebranche and Locke; he has left neither corporeal nor +spiritual nature unexamined; he has taught the art of reasoning, and +the science of the stars. His character, therefore, must be formed +from the multiplicity and diversity of his attainments, rather than +from any single performance, for it would not be safe to claim for +him the highest rank in any single denomination of literary dignity; +yet, perhaps, there was nothing in which he would not have excelled, +if he had not divided his powers to different pursuits. + +As a poet, had he been only a poet, he would probably have stood +high among the authors with whom he is now associated. For his +judgment was exact, and he noted beauties and faults with very nice +discernment; his imagination, as the "Dacian Battle" proves, was +vigorous and active, and the stores of knowledge were large by which +his fancy was to be supplied. His ear was well tuned, and his +diction was elegant and copious. But his devotional poetry is, like +that of others, unsatisfactory. The paucity of its topics enforces +perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the +ornaments of figurative diction. It is sufficient for Watts to have +done better than others what no man has done well. His poems on +other subjects seldom rise higher than might be expected from the +amusements of a man of letters, and have different degrees of value +as they are more or less laboured, or as the occasion was more or +less favourable to invention. He writes too often without regular +measures, and too often in blank verse; the rhymes are not always +sufficiently correspondent. He is particularly unhappy in coining +names expressive of characters. His lines are commonly smooth and +easy, and his thoughts always religiously pure; but who is there +that, to so much piety and innocence, does not wish for a greater +measure of sprightliness and vigour? He is at least one of the few +poets with whom youth and ignorance may be safely pleased; and happy +will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his +prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his +benevolence to man, and his +reverence to God. + + + +A. PHILIPS. + + + +Of the birth or early part of the life of Ambrose Philips I have not +been able to find any account. His academical education he received +at St. John's College in Cambridge, where he first solicited the +notice of the world by some English verses, in the collection +published by the University on the death of Queen Mary. From this +time how he was employed, or in what station he passed his life, is +not yet discovered. He must have published his "Pastorals" before +the year 1708, because they are evidently prior to those of Pope. +He afterwards (1709) addressed to the universal patron, the Duke of +Dorset, a "Poetical Letter from Copenhagen," which was published in +the Tatler, and is by Pope, in one of his first Letters, mentioned +with high praise as the production of a man "who could write very +nobly." + +Philips was a zealous Whig, and therefore easily found access to +Addison and Steele; but his ardour seems not to have procured him +anything more than kind words, since he was reduced to translate the +"Persian Tales" for Tonson, for which he was afterwards reproached, +with this addition of contempt, that he worked for half-a-crown. +The book is divided into many sections, for each of which, if he +received half-a-crown, his reward, as writers then were paid, was +very liberal; but half-a-crown had a mean sound. He was employed in +promoting the principles of his party, by epitomising Hacket's "Life +of Archbishop Williams." The original book is written with such +depravity of genius, such mixture of the fop and pedant, as has not +often appeared. The epitome is free enough from affectation, but +has little spirit or vigour. + +In 1712 he brought upon the stage The Distressed Mother, almost a +translation of Racine's Andromaque. Such a work requires no +uncommon powers, but the friends of Philips exerted every art to +promote his interest. Before the appearance of the play a whole +Spectator, none indeed of the best, was devoted to its praise; while +it yet continued to be acted, another Spectator was written to tell +what impression it made upon Sir Roger, and on the first night a +select audience, says Pope, was called together to applaud it. It +was concluded with the most successful Epilogue that was ever yet +spoken on the English theatre. The three first nights it was +recited twice, and not only continued to be demanded through the +run, as it is termed, of the play, but whenever it is recalled to +the stage, where by peculiar fortune, though a copy from the French, +it yet keeps its place, the Epilogue is still expected, and is still +spoken. + +The propriety of Epilogues in general, and consequently of this, was +questioned by a correspondent of the Spectator, whose letter was +undoubtedly admitted for the sake of the answer, which soon +followed, written with much zeal and acrimony. The attack and the +defence equally contributed to stimulate curiosity and continue +attention. It may be discovered in the defence that Prior's +Epilogue to Phaedra had a little excited jealousy, and something of +Prior's plan may be discovered in the performance of his rival. Of +this distinguished Epilogue the reputed author was the wretched +Budgell, whom Addison used to denominate "the man who calls me +cousin;" and when he was asked how such a silly fellow could write +so well, replied, "The Epilogue was quite another thing when I saw +it first." It was known in Tonson's family, and told to Garrick, +that Addison was himself the author of it, and that, when it had +been at first printed with his name, he came early in the morning, +before the copies were distributed, and ordered it to be given to +Budgell, that it might add weight to the solicitation which he was +then making for a place. + +Philips was now high in the ranks of literature. His play was +applauded; his translations from Sappho had been published in the +Spectator; he was an important and distinguished associate of clubs, +witty and poetical; and nothing was wanting to his happiness but +that he should be sure of its continuance. The work which had +procured him the first notice from the public was his "Six +Pastorals," which, flattering the imagination with Arcadian scenes, +probably found many readers, and might have long passed as a +pleasing amusement had they not been unhappily too much commended. + +The rustic poems of Theocritus were so highly valued by the Greeks +and Romans that they attracted the imitation of Virgil, whose +Eclogues seem to have been considered as precluding all attempts of +the same kind; for no shepherds were taught to sing by any +succeeding poet, till Nemesian and Calphurnius ventured their feeble +efforts in the lower age of Latin literature. + +At the revival of learning in Italy it was soon discovered that a +dialogue of imaginary swains might be composed with little +difficulty, because the conversation of shepherds excludes profound +or refined sentiment; and for images and descriptions, satyrs and +fauns, and naiads and dryads, were always within call; and woods and +meadows, and hills and rivers, supplied variety of matter, which, +having a natural power to soothe the mind, did not quickly cloy it. + +Petrarch entertained the learned men of his age with the novelty of +modern pastorals in Latin. Being not ignorant of Greek, and finding +nothing in the word "eclogue" of rural meaning, he supposed it to be +corrupted by the copiers, and therefore called his own productions +"AEglogues," by which he meant to express the talk of goat-herds, +though it will mean only the talk of goats. This new name was +adopted by subsequent writers, and among others by our Spenser. + +More than a century afterwards (1498) Mantuan published his Bucolics +with such success that they were soon dignified by Badius with a +comment, and, as Scaliger complained, received into schools, and +taught as classical; his complaint was vain, and the practice, +however injudicious, spread far and continued long. Mantuan was +read, at least in some of the inferior schools of this kingdom, to +the beginning of the present century. The speakers of Mantuan +carried their disquisitions beyond the country to censure the +corruptions of the Church, and from him Spenser learned to employ +his swains on topics of controversy. The Italians soon transferred +pastoral poetry into their own language. Sannazaro wrote "Arcadia" +in prose and verse; Tasso and Guarini wrote "Favole Boschareccie," +or Sylvan Dramas; and all nations of Europe filled volumes with +Thyrsis and Damon, and Thestylis and Phyllis. + +Philips thinks it "somewhat strange to conceive how, in an age so +addicted to the Muses, pastoral poetry never comes to be so much as +thought upon." His wonder seems very unseasonable; there had never, +from the time of Spenser, wanted writers to talk occasionally of +Arcadia and Strephon, and half the book, in which he first tried his +powers, consists of dialogues on Queen Mary's death, between Tityrus +and Corydon, or Mopsus and Menalcas. A series or book of pastorals, +however, I know not that anyone had then lately published. + +Not long afterwards Pope made the first display of his powers in +four pastorals, written in a very different form. Philips had taken +Spenser, and Pope took Virgil for his pattern. Philips endeavoured +to be natural, Pope laboured to be elegant. + +Philips was now favoured by Addison and by Addison's companions, who +were very willing to push him into reputation. The Guardian gave an +account of Pastoral, partly critical and partly historical; in +which, when the merit of the modern is compared, Tasso and Guarini +are censured for remote thoughts and unnatural refinements, and, +upon the whole, the Italians and French are all excluded from rural +poetry, and the pipe of the pastoral muse is transmitted by lawful +inheritance from Theocritus to Virgil, from Virgil to Spenser, and +from Spenser to Philips. With this inauguration of Philips his +rival Pope was not much delighted; he therefore drew a comparison of +Philips's performance with his own, in which, with an unexampled and +unequalled artifice of irony, though he has himself always the +advantage, he gives the preference to Philips. The design of +aggrandising himself he disguised with such dexterity that, though +Addison discovered it, Steele was deceived, and was afraid of +displeasing Pope by publishing his paper. Published however it was +(Guardian, No. 40), and from that time Pope and Philips lived in a +perpetual reciprocation of malevolence. In poetical powers, of +either praise or satire, there was no proportion between the +combatants; but Philips, though he could not prevail by wit, hoped +to hurt Pope with another weapon, and charged him, as Pope thought +with Addison's approbation, as disaffected to the Government. Even +with this he was not satisfied, for, indeed, there is no appearance +that any regard was paid to his clamours. He proceeded to grosser +insults, and hung up a rod at Button's, with which he threatened to +chastise Pope, who appears to have been extremely exasperated, for +in the first edition of his Letters he calls Philips "rascal," and +in the last still charges him with detaining in his hands the +subscriptions for "Homer" delivered to him by the Hanover Club. I +suppose it was never suspected that he meant to appropriate the +money; he only delayed, and with sufficient meanness, the +gratification of him by whose prosperity he was pained. + +Men sometimes suffer by injudicious kindness; Philips became +ridiculous, without his own fault, by the absurd admiration of his +friends, who decorated him with honorary garlands, which the first +breath of contradiction blasted. + +When upon the succession of the House of Hanover every Whig expected +to be happy, Philips seems to have obtained too little notice; he +caught few drops of the golden shower, though he did not omit what +flattery could perform. He was only made a commissioner of the +lottery (1717), and, what did not much elevate his character, a +justice of the peace. + +The success of his first play must naturally dispose him to turn his +hopes towards the stage; he did not, however, soon commit himself to +the mercy of an audience, but contented himself with the fame +already acquired, till after nine years he produced (1722) The +Briton, a tragedy which, whatever was its reception, is now +neglected; though one of the scenes, between Vanoc the British +Prince and Valens the Roman General, is confessed to be written with +great dramatic skill, animated by spirit truly poetical. He had not +been idle though he had been silent, for he exhibited another +tragedy the same year on the story of Humphry, Duke of Gloucester. +This tragedy is only remembered by its title. + +His happiest undertaking was (1711) of a paper called The +Freethinker, in conjunction with associates, of whom one was Dr. +Boulter, who, then only minister of a parish in Southwark, was of so +much consequence to the Government that he was made first Bishop of +Bristol, and afterwards Primate of Ireland, where his piety and his +charity will be long honoured. It may easily be imagined that what +was printed under the direction of Boulter would have nothing in it +indecent or licentious; its title is to be understood as implying +only freedom from unreasonable prejudice. It has been reprinted in +volumes, but is little read; nor can impartial criticism recommend +it as worthy of revival. + +Boulter was not well qualified to write diurnal essays, but he knew +how to practise the liberality of greatness and the fidelity of +friendship. When he was advanced to the height of ecclesiastical +dignity, he did not forget the companion of his labours. Knowing +Philips to be slenderly supported, he took him to Ireland as +partaker of his fortune, and, making him his secretary, added such +preferments as enabled him to represent the county of Armagh in the +Irish Parliament. In December, 1726, he was made secretary to the +Lord Chancellor, and in August, 1733, became Judge of the +Prerogative Court. + +After the death of his patron he continued some years in Ireland, +but at last longing, as it seems, for his native country, he +returned (1748) to London, having doubtless survived most of his +friends and enemies, and among them his dreaded antagonist Pope. He +found, however, the Duke of Newcastle still living, and to him he +dedicated his poems collected into a volume. + +Having purchased an annuity of 400 pounds, he now certainly hoped to +pass some years of life in plenty and tranquillity; but his hope +deceived him: he was struck with a palsy, and died June 18, 1749, +in his seventy-eighth year. + +Of his personal character all that I have heard is, that he was +eminent for bravery and skill in the sword, and that in conversation +he was solemn and pompous. He had great sensibility of censure, if +judgment may be made by a single story which I heard long ago from +Mr. Ing, a gentleman of great eminence in Staffordshire. "Philips," +said he, "was once at table, when I asked him, 'How came thy king of +Epirus to drive oxen, and to say, "I'm goaded on by love"?' After +which question he never spoke again." + +Of The Distressed Mother not much is pretended to be his own, and +therefore it is no subject of criticism: his other two tragedies, I +believe, are not below mediocrity, nor above it. Among the poems +comprised in the late Collection, the "Letter from Denmark" may be +justly praised; the Pastorals, which by the writer of the Guardian +were ranked as one of the four genuine productions of the rustic +Muse, cannot surely be despicable. That they exhibit a mode of life +which did not exist, nor ever existed, is not to be objected: the +supposition of such a state is allowed to be pastoral. In his other +poems he cannot be denied the praise of lines sometimes elegant; but +he has seldom much force or much comprehension. The pieces that +please best are those which, from Pope and Pope's adherents, +procured him the name of "Namby-Pamby," the poems of short lines, by +which he paid his court to all ages and characters, from Walpole the +"steerer of the realm," to Miss Pulteney in the nursery. The +numbers are smooth and sprightly, and the diction is seldom faulty. +They are not loaded with much thought, yet, if they had been written +by Addison, they would have had admirers: little things are not +valued but when they are done by those who can do greater. + +In his translations from "Pindar" he found the art of reaching all +the obscurity of the Theban bard, however he may fall below his +sublimity; he will be allowed, if he has less fire, to have more +smoke. He has added nothing to English poetry, yet at least half +his book deserves to be read: perhaps he valued most himself that +part which the critic would reject. + + + +WEST. + + + +Gilbert West is one of the writers of whom I regret my inability to +give a sufficient account; the intelligence which my inquiries have +obtained is general and scanty. He was the son of the Rev. Dr. +West; perhaps him who published "Pindar" at Oxford about the +beginning of this century. His mother was sister to Sir Richard +Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham. His father, purposing to educate +him for the Church, sent him first to Eton, and afterwards to +Oxford; but he was seduced to a more airy mode of life, by a +commission in a troop of horse, procured him by his uncle. He +continued some time in the army, though it is reasonable to suppose +that he never sunk into a mere soldier, nor ever lost the love, or +much neglected the pursuit, of learning; and afterwards, finding +himself more inclined to civil employment, he laid down his +commission, and engaged in business under the Lord Townshend, then +Secretary of State, with whom he attended the King to Hanover. + +His adherence to Lord Townshend ended in nothing but a nomination +(May, 1729) to be Clerk-Extraordinary of the Privy Council, which +produced no immediate profit; for it only placed him in a state of +expectation and right of succession, and it was very long before a +vacancy admitted him to profit. + +Soon afterwards he married, and settled himself in a very pleasant +house at Wickham, in Kent, where he devoted himself to learning and +to piety. Of his learning the late Collection exhibits evidence, +which would have been yet fuller if the dissertations which +accompany his version of "Pindar" had not been improperly omitted. +Of his piety the influence has, I hope, been extended far by his +"Observations on the Resurrection," published in 1747, for which the +University of Oxford created him a Doctor of Laws, by diploma (March +30, 1748), and would doubtless have reached yet further had he lived +to complete what he had for some time meditated--the "Evidences of +the Truth of the New Testament." Perhaps it may not be without +effect to tell that he read the prayers of the public Liturgy every +morning to his family, and that on Sunday evening he called his +servants into the parlour and read to them first a sermon and then +prayers. Crashaw is now not the only maker of verses to whom may be +given the two venerable names of Poet and Saint. He was very often +visited by Lyttelton and Pitt, who, when they were weary of faction +and debates, used at Wickham to find books and quiet, a decent +table, and literary conversation. There is at Wickham a walk made +by Pitt; and, what is of far more importance, at Wickham, Lyttelton +received that conviction which produced his "Dissertation on St. +Paul." These two illustrious friends had for a while listened to +the blandishments of infidelity; and when West's book was published, +it was bought by some who did not know his change of opinion, in +expectation of new objections against Christianity; and as infidels +do not want malignity, they revenged the disappointment by calling +him a Methodist. + +Mr. West's income was not large; and his friends endeavoured, but +without success, to obtain an augmentation. It is reported that the +education of the young Prince was offered to him, but that he +required a more extensive power of superintendence than it was +thought proper to allow him. In time, however, his revenue was +improved; he lived to have one of the lucrative clerkships of the +Privy Council (1752); and Mr. Pitt at last had it in his power to +make him Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital. He was now sufficiently +rich; but wealth came too late to be long enjoyed; nor could it +secure him from the calamities of life; he lost (1755) his only son; +and the year after (March 26) a stroke of the palsy brought to the +grave one of the few poets to whom the grave might be without its +terrors. + +Of his translations I have only compared the first Olympic Ode with +the original, and found my expectation surpassed, both by its +elegance and its exactness. He does not confine himself to his +author's train of stanzas; for he saw that the difference of +languages required a different mode of versification. The first +strophe is eminently happy; in the second he has a little strayed +from Pindar's meaning, who says, "If thou, my soul, wishest to speak +of games, look not in the desert sky for a planet hotter than the +sun; nor shall we tell of nobler games than those of Olympia." He +is sometimes too paraphrastical. Pindar bestows upon Hiero an +epithet which, in one word, signifies DELIGHTING IN HORSES; a word +which, in the translation, generates these lines:-- + + "Hiero's royal brows, whose care + Tends the courser's noble breed, + Pleased to nurse the pregnant mare, + Pleased to train the youthful steed." + +Pindar says of Pelops, that "he came alone in the dark to the White +Sea;" and West-- + + "Near the billow-beaten side + Of the foam-besilvered main, + Darkling, and alone, he stood:" + +which, however, is less exuberant than the former passage. + +A work of this kind must, in a minute examination, discover many +imperfections; but West's version, so far as I have considered it, +appears to be the product of great labour and great abilities. + +His "Institution of the Garter" (1742) is written with sufficient +knowledge of the manners that prevailed in the age to which it is +referred, and with great elegance of diction; but, for want of a +process of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserves the +reader from weariness. + +His "Imitations of Spenser" are very successfully performed, both +with respect to the metre, the language, and the fiction; and being +engaged at once by the excellence of the sentiments, and the +artifice of the copy, the mind has two amusements together. But +such compositions are not to be reckoned among the great +achievements of intellect, because their effect is local and +temporary; they appeal not to reason or passion, but to memory, and +presuppose an accidental or artificial state of mind. An imitation +of Spenser is nothing to a reader, however acute, by whom Spenser +has never been perused. Works of this kind may deserve praise, as +proofs of great industry and great nicety of observation; but the +highest praise, the praise of genius, they cannot claim. The +noblest beauties of art are those of which the effect is co-extended +with rational nature, or at least with the whole circle of polished +life; what is less than this can be only pretty, the plaything of +fashion, and the amusement of a day. + +There is in the Adventurer a paper of verses given to one of the +authors as Mr. West's, and supposed to have been written by him. It +should not be concealed, however, that it is printed with Mr. Jago's +name in Dodsley's Collection, and is mentioned as his in a letter of +Shenstone's. Perhaps West gave it without naming the author, and +Hawkesworth, receiving it from him, thought it his; for his he +thought it, as he told me, and as he tells the public. + + + +COLLINS. + +William Collins was born at Chichester, on the 25th day of December, +about 1720. His father was a hatter of good reputation. He was in +1733, as Dr. Warton has kindly informed me, admitted scholar of +Winchester College, where he was educated by Dr. Burton. His +English exercises were better than his Latin. He first courted the +notice of the public by some verses to a "Lady weeping," published +in The Gentleman's Magazine (January, 1739). + +In 1740 he stood first in the list of the scholars to be received in +succession at New College, but unhappily there was no vacancy. He +became a Commoner of Queen's College, probably with a scanty +maintenance; but was, in about half a year, elected a Demy of +Magdalen College, where he continued till he had taken a Bachelor's +degree, and then suddenly left the University; for what reason I +know not that he told. + +He now (about 1744) came to London a literary adventurer, with many +projects in his head, and very little money in his pocket. He +designed many works; but his great fault was irresolution; or the +frequent calls of immediate necessity broke his scheme, and suffered +him to pursue no settled purpose. A man doubtful of his dinner, or +trembling at a creditor, is not much disposed to abstracted +meditation or remote inquiries. He published proposals for a +"History of the Revival of Learning;" and I have heard him speak +with great kindness of Leo X., and with keen resentment of his +tasteless successor. But probably not a page of his history was +ever written. He planned several tragedies, but he only planned +them. He wrote now and then odes and other poems, and did +something, however little. About this time I fell into his company. +His appearance was decent and manly; his knowledge considerable, his +views extensive, his conversation elegant, and his disposition +cheerful. By degrees I gained his confidence; and one day was +admitted to him when he was immured by a bailiff that was prowling +in the street. On this occasion recourse was had to the +booksellers, who, on the credit of a translation of Aristotle's +"Poetics," which he engaged to write with a large commentary, +advanced as much money as enabled him to escape into the country. +He showed me the guineas safe in his hand. Soon afterwards his +uncle, Mr. Martin, a lieutenant-colonel, left him about 2000 pounds; +a sum which Collins could scarcely think exhaustible, and which he +did not live to exhaust. The guineas were then repaid, and the +translation neglected. But man is not born for happiness. Collins, +who, while he studied to live, felt no evil but poverty, no sooner +lived to study than his life was assailed by more dreadful +calamities--disease and insanity. + +Having formerly written his character, while perhaps it was yet more +distinctly impressed upon my memory, I shall insert it here. + +"Mr. Collins was a man of extensive literature, and of vigorous +faculties. He was acquainted not only with the learned tongues, but +with the Italian, French, and Spanish languages. He had employed +his mind chiefly on works of fiction, and subjects of fancy; and, by +indulging some peculiar habits of thought, was eminently delighted +with those flights of imagination which pass the bounds of nature, +and to which the mind is reconciled only by a passive acquiescence +in popular traditions. He loved fairies, genii, giants, and +monsters; he delighted to rove through the meanders of enchantment, +to gaze on the magnificence of golden palaces, to repose by the +waterfalls of Elysian gardens. This was, however, the character +rather of his inclination than his genius; the grandeur of wildness, +and the novelty of extravagance, were always desired by him, but not +always attained. Yet, as diligence is never wholly lost, if his +efforts sometimes caused harshness and obscurity, they likewise +produced in happier moments sublimity and splendour. This idea +which he had formed of excellence led him to Oriental fictions and +allegorical imagery, and, perhaps, while he was intent upon +description, he did not sufficiently cultivate sentiment. His poems +are the productions of a mind not deficient in fire, nor unfurnished +with knowledge either of books or life, but somewhat obstructed in +its progress by deviation in quest of mistaken beauties. + +"His morals were pure, and his opinions pious; in a long continuance +of poverty, and long habits of dissipation, it cannot be expected +that any character should be exactly uniform. There is a degree of +want by which the freedom of agency is almost destroyed; and long +association with fortuitous companions will at last relax the +strictness of truth, and abate the fervour of sincerity. That this +man, wise and virtuous as he was, passed always unentangled through +the snares of life, it would be prejudice and temerity to affirm; +but it may be said that at least he preserved the source of action +unpolluted, that his principles were never shaken, that his +distinctions of right and wrong were never confounded, and that his +faults had nothing of malignity or design, but proceeded from some +unexpected pressure, or casual temptation. + +"The latter part of his life cannot be remembered but with pity and +sadness. He languished some years under that depression of mind +which enchains the faculties without destroying them, and leaves +reason the knowledge of right without the power of pursuing it. +These clouds which he perceived gathering on his intellect he +endeavoured to disperse by travel, and passed into France; but found +himself constrained to yield to his malady, and returned. He was +for some time confined in a house of lunatics, and afterwards +retired to the care of his sister in Chichester, where death, in +1756, came to his relief. + +"After his return from France, the writer of this character paid him +a visit at Islington, where he was waiting for his sister, whom he +had directed to meet him. There was then nothing of disorder +discernible in his mind by any but himself; but he had withdrawn +from study, and travelled with no other book than an English +Testament, such as children carry to the school. When his friend +took it into his hand, out of curiosity to see what companion a man +of letters had chosen, 'I have but one book,' said Collins, 'but +that is the best.'" + +Such was the fate of Collins, with whom I once delighted to +converse, and whom I yet remember with tenderness. + +He was visited at Chichester, in his last illness, by his learned +friends Dr. Warton and his brother, to whom he spoke with +disapprobation of his "Oriental Eclogues," as not sufficiently +expressive of Asiatic manners, and called them his "Irish Eclogues." +He showed them, at the same time, an ode inscribed to Mr. John Home, +on the superstitions of the Highlands, which they thought superior +to his other works, but which no search has yet found. His disorder +was no alienation of mind, but general laxity and feebleness--a +deficiency rather of his vital than his intellectual powers. What +he spoke wanted neither judgment nor spirit; but a few minutes +exhausted him, so that he was forced to rest upon the couch, till a +short cessation restored his powers, and he was again able to talk +with his former vigour. The approaches of this dreadful malady he +began to feel soon after his uncle's death; and, with the usual +weakness of men so diseased, eagerly snatched that temporary relief +with which the table and the bottle flatter and seduce. But his +health continually declined, and he grew more and more burthensome +to himself. + +To what I have formerly said of his writings may be added, that his +diction was often harsh, unskilfully laboured, and injudiciously +selected. He affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of +revival: and he puts his words out of the common order, seeming to +think, with some later candidates for fame, that not to write prose +is certainly to write poetry. His lines commonly are of slow +motion, clogged and impeded with clusters of consonants. As men are +often esteemed who cannot be loved, so the poetry of Collins may +sometimes extort praise when it gives little pleasure. + +Mr. Collins's first production is added here from the Poetical +Calendar:-- + + TO MISS AURELIA C--R, + + ON HER WEEPING AT HER SISTER'S WEDDING. + + "Cease, fair Aurelia, cease to mourn; + Lament not Hannah's happy state; + You may be happy in your turn, + And seize the treasure you regret. + With Love united Hymen stands, + And softly whispers to your charms, + 'Meet but your lover in my bands, + You'll find your sister in his arms.'" + + + +DYER. + + + +John Dyer, of whom I have no other account to give than his own +letters, published with Hughes's correspondence, and the notes added +by the editor, have afforded me, was born in 1700, the second son of +Robert Dyer of Aberglasney, in Caermarthenshire, a solicitor of +great capacity and note. He passed through Westminster school under +the care of Dr. Freind, and was then called home to be instructed in +his father's profession. But his father died soon, and he took no +delight in the study of the law; but, having always amused himself +with drawing, resolved to turn painter, and became pupil to Mr. +Richardson, an artist then of high reputation, but now better known +by his books than by his pictures. + +Having studied a while under his master, he became, as he tells his +friend, an itinerant painter, and wandered about South Wales and the +parts adjacent; but he mingled poetry with painting, and about 1727 +[1726] printed "Grongar Hill" in Lewis's Miscellany. Being, +probably, unsatisfied with his own proficiency, he, like other +painters, travelled to Italy; and coming back in 1740, published the +"Ruins of Rome." If his poem was written soon after his return, he +did not make use of his acquisitions in painting, whatever they +might be; for decline of health and love of study determined him to +the Church. He therefore entered into orders; and, it seems, +married about the same time a lady of the name of Ensor; "whose +grandmother," says he, "was a Shakspeare, descended from a brother +of everybody's Shakspeare;" by her, in 1756, he had a son and three +daughters living. + +His ecclesiastical provision was for a long time but slender. His +first patron, Mr. Harper, gave him, in 1741, Calthorp in +Leicestershire, of eighty pounds a year, on which he lived ten +years, and then exchanged it for Belchford, in Lincolnshire, of +seventy-five. His condition now began to mend. In 1751 Sir John +Heathcote gave him Coningsby, of one hundred and forty pounds a +year; and in 1755 the Chancellor added Kirkby, of one hundred and +ten. He complains that the repair of the house at Coningsby, and +other expenses, took away the profit. In 1757 he published "The +Fleece," his greatest poetical work; of which I will not suppress a +ludicrous story. Dodsley the bookseller was one day mentioning it +to a critical visitor, with more expectation of success than the +other could easily admit. In the conversation the author's age was +asked; and being represented as advanced in life, "He will," said +the critic, "be buried in woollen." He did not indeed long survive +that publication, nor long enjoy the increase of his preferments, +for in 1758 he died. + +Dyer is not a poet of bulk or dignity sufficient to require an +elaborate criticism. "Grongar Hill" is the happiest of his +productions: it is not indeed very accurately written; but the +scenes which it displays are so pleasing, the images which they +raise are so welcome to the mind, and the reflections of the writer +so consonant to the general sense or experience of mankind, that +when it is once read, it will be read again. The idea of the "Ruins +of Rome" strikes more, but pleases less, and the title raises +greater expectation than the performance gratifies. Some passages, +however, are conceived with the mind of a poet; as when, in the +neighbourhood of dilapidating edifices, he says, + + "The Pilgrim oft + At dead of night, 'mid his orison hears + Aghast the voice of Time, disparting tow'rs + Tumbling all precipitate down dashed, + Rattling around, loud thund'ring to the Moon." + +Of "The Fleece," which never became popular, and is now universally +neglected, I can say little that is likely to recall it to +attention. The woolcomber and the poet appear to me such discordant +natures, that an attempt to bring them together is to COUPLE THE +SERPENT WITH THE FOWL. When Dyer, whose mind was not unpoetical, +has done his utmost, by interesting his reader in our native +commodity by interspersing rural imagery, and incidental +digressions, by clothing small images in great words, and by all the +writer's arts of delusion, the meanness naturally adhering, and the +irreverence habitually annexed to trade and manufacture, sink him +under insuperable oppression; and the disgust which blank verse, +encumbering and encumbered, superadds to an unpleasing subject, soon +repels the reader, however willing to be pleased. + +Let me, however, honestly report whatever may counterbalance this +weight of censure. I have been told that Akenside, who, upon a +poetical question, has a right to be heard, said, "That he would +regulate his opinion of the reigning taste by the fate of Dyer's +'Fleece;' for, if that were ill-received, he should not think it any +longer reasonable to expect fame from excellence." + + + +SHENSTONE. + + + +William Shenstone, the son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Pen, was +born in November, 1714, at the Leasowes in Hales-Owen, one of those +insulated districts which, in the division of the kingdom, was +appended, for some reason not now discoverable, to a distant county; +and which, though surrounded by Warwickshire and Worcestershire, +belongs to Shropshire, though perhaps thirty miles distant from any +other part of it. He learned to read of an old dame, whom his poem +of the "Schoolmistress" has delivered to posterity; and soon +received such delight from books, that he was always calling for +fresh entertainment, and expected that, when any of the family went +to market, a new book should be brought him, which, when it came, +was in fondness carried to bed and laid by him. It is said, that, +when his request had been neglected, his mother wrapped up a piece +of wood of the same form, and pacified him for the night. As he +grew older, he went for a while to the Grammar-school in Hales-Owen, +and was placed afterwards with Mr. Crumpton, an eminent schoolmaster +at Solihul, where he distinguished himself by the quickness of his +progress. + +When he was young (June, 1724) he was deprived of his father, and +soon after (August, 1726) of his grandfather; and was, with his +brother, who died afterwards unmarried, left to the care of his +grandmother, who managed the estate. + +From school he was sent in 1732 to Pembroke College in Oxford, a +society which for half a century has been eminent for English poetry +and elegant literature. Here it appears that he found delight and +advantage; for he continued his name in the book 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. About the time when he went to Oxford, the death of his +grandmother devolved his affairs to the care of the Rev. Mr. Dolman, +of Brome in Staffordshire, whose attention he always mentioned with +gratitude. At Oxford he employed himself upon English poetry; and +in 1737 published a small Miscellany, without his name. He then for +a time wandered about, to acquaint himself with life, and was +sometimes at London, sometimes at Bath, or any other place of public +resort; but he did not forget his poetry. He published in 1741 his +"Judgment of Hercules," addressed to Mr. Lyttelton, whose interest +he supported with great warmth at an election: this was next year +followed by the "Schoolmistress." + +Mr. Dolman, to whose care he was indebted for his ease and leisure, +died in 1745, and the care of his own fortune now fell upon him. He +tried to escape it awhile, and lived at his house with his tenants, +who were distantly related; but, finding that imperfect possession +inconvenient, he took the whole estate into his own hands, more to +the improvement of its beauty than the increase of its produce. Now +was excited his delight in rural pleasures and his ambition of rural +elegance; he began from this time to point his prospects, to +diversify his surface, to entangle his walks, and to wind his +waters, which he did with such judgment and such fancy as made his +little domain the envy of the great and the admiration of the +skilful; a place to be visited by travellers and copied by +designers. Whether to plant a walk in undulating curves, and to +place a bench at every turn where there is an object to catch the +view, to make the water run where it will be heard, and to stagnate +where it will be seen, to leave intervals where the eye will be +pleased, and to thicken the plantation where there is something to +be hidden, demands any great powers of mind, I will not inquire: +perhaps a sullen and surly spectator may think such performances +rather the sport than the business of human reason. But it must be +at least confessed that to embellish the form of Nature is an +innocent amusement, and some praise must be allowed, by the most +supercilious observer, to him who does best what such multitudes are +contending to do well. + +This praise was the praise of Shenstone; but, like all other modes +of felicity, it was not enjoyed without its abatements. Lyttelton +was his neighbour and his rival, whose empire, spacious and opulent, +looked with disdain on the PETTY STATE that APPEARED BEHIND IT. For +a while the inhabitants of Hagley affected to tell their +acquaintance of the little fellow that was trying to make himself +admired; but when by degrees the Leasowes forced themselves into +notice, they took care to defeat the curiosity which they could not +suppress by conducting their visitants perversely to inconvenient +points of view, and introducing them at the wrong end of a walk to +detect a deception; injuries of which Shenstone would heavily +complain. Where there is emulation there will be vanity; and where +there is vanity there will be folly. + +The pleasure of Shenstone was all in his eye; he valued what he +valued merely for its looks. Nothing raised his indignation more +than to ask if there were any fishes in his water. His house was +mean, and he did not improve it; his care was of his grounds. When +he came home from his walks, he might find his floors flooded by a +shower through the broken roof; but could spare no money for its +reparation. In time his expenses brought clamours about him that +overpowered the lamb's bleat and the linnet's song, and his groves +were haunted by beings very different from fauns and fairies. He +spent his estate in adorning it, and his death was probably hastened +by his anxieties. He was a lamp that spent its oil in blazing. It +is said that, if he had lived a little longer, he would have been +assisted by a pension: such bounty could not have been ever more +properly bestowed; but that it was ever asked is not certain; it is +too certain that it never was enjoyed. He died at Leasowes, of a +putrid fever, about five on Friday morning, February 11, 1763, and +was buried by the side of his brother in the churchyard of Hales- +Owen. + +He was never married, though he might have obtained the lady, +whoever she was, to whom his "Pastoral Ballad" was addressed. He is +represented by his friend Dodsley as a man of great tenderness and +generosity, kind to all that were within his influence; but, if once +offended, not easily appeased; inattentive to economy, and careless +of his expenses; in his person he was larger than the middle-size, +with something clumsy in his form; very negligent of his clothes, +and remarkable for wearing his grey hair in a particular manner, for +he held that the fashion was no rule of dress, and that every man +was to suit his appearance to his natural form. His mind was not +very comprehensive, nor his curiosity active; he had no value for +those parts of knowledge which he had not himself cultivated. His +life was unstained by any crime. The "Elegy on Jesse," which has +been supposed to relate an unfortunate and criminal amour of his +own, was known by his friends to have been suggested by the story of +Miss Godfrey in Richardson's "Pamela." + +What Gray thought of his character, from the perusal of his Letters, +was this:-- + +"I have read, too, an octavo volume of Shenstone's Letters. Poor +man! he was always wishing for money, for fame, and other +distinctions; and his whole philosophy consisted in living against +his will in retirement, and in a place which his taste had adorned, +but which he only enjoyed when people of note came to see and +commend it. His correspondence is about nothing else but this place +and his own writings, with two or three neighbouring clergymen, who +wrote verses too." + +His poems consist of elegies, odes, and ballads, humorous sallies, +and moral pieces. His conception of an Elegy he has in his Preface +very judiciously and discriminately explained. It is, according to +his account, the effusion of a contemplative mind, sometimes +plaintive, and always serious, and therefore superior to the glitter +of slight ornaments. His compositions suit not ill to this +description. His topics of praise are the domestic virtues, and his +thoughts are pure and simple, but wanting combination; they want +variety. The peace of solitude, the innocence of inactivity, and +the unenvied security of an humble station, can fill but a few +pages. That of which the essence is uniformity will be soon +described. His elegies have, therefore, too much resemblance of +each other. The lines are sometimes, such as Elegy requires, smooth +and easy; but to this praise his claim is not constant; his diction +is often harsh, improper, and affected, his words ill-coined or ill- +chosen, and his phrase unskilfully inverted. + +The Lyric Poems are almost all of the light and airy kind, such as +trip lightly and nimbly along, without the load of any weighty +meaning. From these, however, "Rural Elegance" has some right to be +excepted. I once heard it praised by a very learned lady; and, +though the lines are irregular, and the thoughts diffused with too +much verbosity, yet it cannot be denied to contain both +philosophical argument and poetical spirit. Of the rest I cannot +think any excellent; the "Skylark" pleases me best, which has, +however, more of the epigram than of the ode. + +But the four parts of his "Pastoral Ballad" demand particular +notice. I cannot but regret that it is pastoral: an intelligent +reader acquainted with the scenes of real life sickens at the +mention of the CROOK, the PIPE, the SHEEP, and the KIDS, which it is +not necessary to bring forward to notice; for the poet's art is +selection, and he ought to show the beauties without the grossness +of the country life. His stanza seems to have been chosen in +imitation of Rowe's "Despairing Shepherd." In the first are two +passages, to which if any mind denies its sympathy, it has no +acquaintance with love or nature:-- + + "I prized every hour that went by, + Beyond all that had pleased me before: + But now they are past, and I sigh, + And I grieve that I prized them no more. + + When forced the fair nymph to forego, + What anguish I felt in my heart! + Yet I thought (but it might not be so) + 'Twas with pain that she saw me depart. + + She gazed, as I slowly withdrew, + My path I could hardly discern; + So sweetly she bade me adieu, + I thought that she bade me return." + +In the second this passage has its prettiness; though it be not +equal to the former:-- + + "I have found out a gift for my fair: + I have found where the wood pigeons breed: + But let me that plunder forbear, + She will say 'twas a barbarous deed: + + For he ne'er could be true, she averred, + Who could rob a poor bird of its young; + And I loved her the more when I heard + Such tenderness fall from her tongue." + +In the third he mentions the common-places of amorous poetry with +some address:-- + + "'Tis his with mock passion to glow! + 'Tis his in smooth tales to unfold, + How her face is as bright as the snow, + And her bosom, be sure, is as cold: + + How the nightingales labour the strain, + With the notes of this charmer to vie: + How they vary their accents in vain, + Repine at her triumphs, and die." + +In the fourth I find nothing better than this natural strain of +Hope:-- + + "Alas! from the day that we met, + What hope of an end to my woes, + When I cannot endure to forget + The glance that undid my repose? + + Yet Time may diminish the pain: + The flower, and the shrub, and the tree, + Which I reared for her pleasure in vain, + In time may have comfort for me." + +His "Levities" are by their title exempted from the severities of +criticism, yet it may be remarked in a few words that his humour is +sometimes gross, and seldom sprightly. + +Of the Moral Poems, the first is the "Choice of Hercules," from +Xenophon. The numbers are smooth, the diction elegant, and the +thoughts just; but something of vigour is still to be wished, which +it might have had by brevity and compression. His "Fate of +Delicacy" has an air of gaiety, but not a very pointed and general +moral. His blank verses, those that can read them, may probably +find to be like the blank verses of his neighbours. "Love and +Honour" is derived from the old ballad, "Did you not hear of a +Spanish Lady?"--I wish it well enough to wish it were in rhyme. + +The "Schoolmistress," of which I know not what claim it has to stand +among the Moral Works, is surely the most pleasing of Shenstone's +performances. The adoption of a particular style, in light and +short compositions, contributes much to the increase of pleasure: +we are entertained at once with two imitations of nature in the +sentiments, of the original author in the style, and between them +the mind is kept in perpetual employment. + +The general recommendation of Shenstone is easiness and simplicity; +his general defect is want of comprehension and variety. Had his +mind been better stored with knowledge, whether he could have been +great, I know not; he could certainly have been agreeable. + + + +YOUNG. + + + +The following life was written, at my request, by a gentleman (Mr. +Herbert Croft) who had better information than I could easily have +obtained; and the public will perhaps wish that I had solicited and +obtained more such favours from him:-- + +"Dear Sir,--In consequence of our different conversations about +authentic materials for the Life of Young, I send you the following +details:"-- + +Of great men something must always be said to gratify curiosity. Of +the illustrious author of the "Night Thoughts" much has been told of +which there never could have been proofs, and little care appears to +have been taken to tell that of which proofs, with little trouble, +might have been procured. + +Edward Young was born at Upham, near Winchester, in June, 1681. He +was the son of Edward Young, at that time Fellow of Winchester +College, and Rector of Upham, who was the son of Jo. Young, of +Woodhay, in Berkshire, styled by Wood, GENTLEMAN. In September, +1682, the poet's father was collated to the prebend of Gillingham +Minor, in the church of Sarum, by Bishop Ward. When Ward's +faculties were impaired through age, his duties were necessarily +performed by others. We learn from Wood that, at a visitation of +Sprat's, July the 12th, 1686, the prebendary preached a Latin +sermon, afterwards published, with which the Bishop was so pleased, +that he told the chapter he was concerned to find the preacher had +one of the worst prebends in their Church. Some time after this, in +consequence of his merit and reputation, or of the interest of Lord +Bradford, to whom, in 1702, he dedicated two volumes of sermons, he +was appointed chaplain to King William and Queen Mary, and preferred +to the Deanery of Sarum. Jacob, who wrote in 1720, says, "he was +Chaplain and Clerk of the Closet to the late Queen, who honoured him +by standing godmother to the poet." His Fellowship of Winchester he +resigned in favour of a gentleman of the name of Harris, who married +his only daughter. The Dean died at Sarum, after a short illness, +in 1705, in the sixty-third year of his age. On the Sunday after +his decease, Bishop Burnet preached at the cathedral, and began his +sermon with saying, "Death has been of late walking round us, and +making breach upon breach upon us, and has now carried away the head +of this body with a stroke, so that he, whom you saw a week ago +distributing the holy mysteries, is now laid in the dust. But he +still lives in the many excellent directions he has left us both how +to live and how to die." + +The dean placed his son upon the foundation at Winchester College, +where he had himself been educated. At this school Edward Young +remained till the election after his eighteenth birthday, the period +at which those upon the foundation are superannuated. Whether he +did not betray his abilities early in life, or his masters had not +skill enough to discover in their pupil any marks of genius for +which he merited reward, or no vacancy at Oxford offered them an +opportunity to bestow upon him the reward provided for merit by +William of Wykeham; certain it is, that to an Oxford fellowship our +poet did not succeed. By chance, or by choice, New College cannot +claim the honour of numbering among its fellows him who wrote the +"Night Thoughts." + +On the 13th of October, 1703, he was entered an independent member +of New College, that he might live at little expense in the warden's +lodgings, who was a particular friend of his father's, till he +should be qualified to stand for a fellowship at All Souls. In a +few months the warden of New College died. He then removed to +Corpus College. The president of this society, from regard also for +his father, invited him thither, in order to lessen his academical +expenses. In 1708 he was nominated to a law-fellowship at All Souls +by Archbishop Tenison, into whose hands it came by devolution. Such +repeated patronage, while it justifies Burnet's praise of the +father, reflects credit on the conduct of the son. The manner in +which it was exerted seems to prove that the father did not leave +behind him much wealth. + +On the 23rd of April, 1714, Young took his degree of bachelor of +civil laws, and his doctor's degree on the 10th of June, 1719. Soon +after he went to Oxford he discovered, it is said, an inclination +for pupils. Whether he ever commenced tutor is not known. None has +hitherto boasted to have received his academical instruction from +the author of "Night Thoughts." It is probable that his College was +proud of him no less as a scholar than as a poet; for in 1716, when +the foundation of the Codrington Library was laid, two years after +he had taken his bachelor's degree, Young was appointed to speak the +Latin oration. This is at least particular for being dedicated in +English "To the Ladies of the Codrington Family." To these ladies +he says "that he was unavoidably flung into a singularity, by being +obliged to write an epistle dedicatory void of commonplace, and such +an one was never published before by any author whatever; that this +practice absolved them from any obligation of reading what was +presented to them; and that the bookseller approved of it, because +it would make people stare, was absurd enough and perfectly right." +Of this oration there is no appearance in his own edition of his +works; and prefixed to an edition by Curll and Tonson, in 1741, is a +letter from Young to Curll, if we may credit Curll, dated December +the 9th, 1739, wherein he says that he has not leisure to review +what he formerly wrote, and adds, "I have not the 'Epistle to Lord +Lansdowne.' If you will take my advice, I would have you omit that, +and the oration on Codrington. I think the collection will sell +better without them." + +There are who relate that, when first Young found himself +independent, and his own master at All Souls, he was not the +ornament to religion and morality which he afterwards became. The +authority of his father, indeed, had ceased, some time before, by +his death; and Young was certainly not ashamed to be patronised by +the infamous Wharton. But Wharton befriended in Young, perhaps, the +poet, and particularly the tragedian. If virtuous authors must be +patronised only by virtuous peers, who shall point them out? Yet +Pope is said by Ruffhead to have told Warburton that "Young had much +of a sublime genius, though without common sense; so that his +genius, having no guide, was perpetually liable to degenerate into +bombast. This made him pass a FOOLISH YOUTH, the sport of peers and +poets: but his having a very good heart enabled him to support the +clerical character when he assumed it, first with decency, and +afterwards with honour." + +They who think ill of Young's morality in the early part of his life +may perhaps be wrong; but Tindal could not err in his opinion of +Young's warmth and ability in the cause of religion. Tindal used to +spend much of his time at All Souls. "The other boys," said the +atheist, "I can always answer, because I always know whence they +have their arguments, which I have read a hundred times; but that +fellow Young is continually pestering me with something of his own." + +After all, Tindal and the censurers of Young may be reconcilable. +Young might, for two or three years, have tried that kind of life, +in which his natural principles would not suffer him to wallow long. +If this were so, he has left behind him not only his evidence in +favour of virtue, but the potent testimony of experience against +vice. We shall soon see that one of his earliest productions was +more serious than what comes from the generality of unfledged poets. + +Young perhaps ascribed the good fortune of Addison to the "Poem to +his Majesty," presented with a copy of verses, to Somers: and hoped +that he also might soar to wealth and honours on wings of the same +kind. His first poetical flight was when Queen Anne called up to +the House of Lords the sons of the Earls of Northampton and +Aylesbury, and added, in one day, ten others to the number of Peers. +In order to reconcile the people to one, at least, of the new lords, +he published, in 1712, "An Epistle to the Right Honourable George +Lord Lansdowne." In this composition the poet pours out his +panegyric with the extravagance of a young man, who thinks his +present stock of wealth will never be exhausted. The poem seems +intended also to reconcile the public to the late peace. This is +endeavoured to be done by showing that men are slain in war, and +that in peace "harvests wave, and commerce swells her sail." If +this be humanity, for which he meant it, is it politics? Another +purpose of this epistle appears to have been to prepare the public +for the reception of some tragedy he might have in hand. His +lordship's patronage, he says, will not let him "repent his passion +for the stage;" and the particular praise bestowed on Othello and +Oroonoko looks as if some such character as Zanga was even then in +contemplation. The affectionate mention of the death of his friend +Harrison of New College, at the close of this poem, is an instance +of Young's art, which displayed itself so wonderfully some time +afterwards in the "Night Thoughts," of making the public a party in +his private sorrow. Should justice call upon you to censure this +poem, it ought at least to be remembered that he did not insert it +in his works; and that in the letter to Curll, as we have seen, he +advises its omission. The booksellers, in the late body of English +poetry, should have distinguished what was deliberately rejected by +the respective authors. This I shall be careful to do with regard +to Young. "I think," says he, "the following pieces in FOUR volumes +to be the most excusable of all that I have written; and I wish LESS +APOLOGY was less needful for these. As there is no recalling what +is got abroad, the pieces here republished I have revised and +corrected, and rendered them as PARDONABLE as it was in my power to +do." + +Shall the gates of repentance be shut only against literary sinners? + +When Addison published "Cato" in 1713, Young had the honour of +prefixing to it a recommendatory copy of verses. This is one of the +pieces which the author of the "Night Thoughts" did not republish. + +On the appearance of his poem on the "Last Day," Addison did not +return Young's compliment; but "The Englishman" of October 29, 1713, +which was probably written by Addison, speaks handsomely of this +poem. The "Last Day" was published soon after the peace. The Vice- +Chancellor's imprimatur (for it was printed at Oxford) is dated the +19th, 1713. From the exordium, Young appears to have spent some +time on the composition of it. While other bards "with Britain's +hero set their souls on fire," he draws, he says, a deeper scene. +Marlborough HAD BEEN considered by Britain as her HERO; but, when +the "Last Day" was published, female cabal had blasted for a time +the laurels of Blenheim. This serious poem was finished by Young as +early as 1710, before he was thirty; for part of it is printed in +the Tatler. It was inscribed to the queen, in a dedication, which, +for some reason, he did not admit into his works. It tells her that +his only title to the great honour he now does himself is the +obligation which he formerly received from her royal indulgence. Of +this obligation nothing is now known, unless he alluded to her being +his godmother. He is said indeed to have been engaged at a settled +stipend as a writer for the Court. In Swift's "Rhapsody on Poetry" +are these lines, speaking of the Court:-- + + "Whence Gay was banished in disgrace, + Where Pope will never show his face, + Where Y---- must torture his invention + To flatter knaves, or lose his pension." + +That Y---- means Young seems clear from four other lines in the same +poem:-- + + "Attend, ye Popes, and Youngs, and Gays, + And tune your harps and strew your bays; + Your panegyrics here provide; + You cannot err on flattery's side." + +Yet who shall say with certainty that Young was a pensioner? In all +modern periods of this country, have not the writers on one side +been regularly called Hirelings, and on the other Patriots? + +Of the dedication the complexion is clearly political. It speaks in +the highest terms of the late peace; it gives her Majesty praise +indeed for her victories, but says that the author is more pleased +to see her rise from this lower world, soaring above the clouds, +passing the first and second heavens, and leaving the fixed stars +behind her; nor will he lose her there, he says, but keep her still +in view through the boundless spaces on the other side of creation, +in her journey towards eternal bliss, till he behold the heaven of +heavens open, and angels receiving and conveying her still onward +from the stretch of his imagination, which tires in her pursuit, and +falls back again to earth. + +The queen was soon called away from this lower world, to a place +where human praise or human flattery, even less general than this, +are of little consequence. If Young thought the dedication +contained only the praise of truth, he should not have omitted it in +his works. Was he conscious of the exaggeration of party? Then he +should not have written it. The poem itself is not without a glance +towards politics, notwithstanding the subject. The cry that the +Church was in danger had not yet subsided. The "Last Day," written +by a layman, was much approved by the ministry and their friends. + +Before the queen's death, "The Force of Religion, or Vanquished +Love," was sent into the world. This poem is founded on the +execution of Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford, 1554, a +story chosen for the subject of a tragedy by Edmund Smith, and +wrought into a tragedy by Rowe. The dedication of it to the +Countess of Salisbury does not appear in his own edition. He hopes +it may be some excuse for his presumption that the story could not +have been read without thoughts of the Countess of Salisbury, though +it had been dedicated to another. "To behold," he proceeds, "a +person ONLY virtuous, stirs in us a prudent regret; to behold a +person ONLY amiable to the sight, warms us with a religious +indignation; but to turn our eyes to a Countess of Salisbury, gives +us pleasure and improvement; it works a sort of miracle, occasions +the bias of our nature to fall off from sin, and makes our very +senses and affections converts to our religion, and promoters of our +duty." His flattery was as ready for the other sex as for ours, and +was at least as well adapted. + +August the 27th, 1714, Pope writes to his friend Jervas, that he is +just arrived from Oxford; that every one is much concerned for the +queen's death, but that no panegyrics are ready yet for the king. +Nothing like friendship has yet taken place between Pope and Young, +for, soon after the event which Pope mentions, Young published a +poem on the queen's death, and his Majesty's accession to the +throne. It is inscribed to Addison, then secretary to the Lords +Justices. Whatever were the obligations which he had formerly +received from Anne, the poet appears to aim at something of the same +sort from George. Of the poem the intention seems to have been, to +show that he had the same extravagant strain of praise for a king as +for a queen. To discover, at the very onset of a foreigner's reign, +that the gods bless his new subjects in such a king is something +more than praise. Neither was this deemed one of his excusable +pieces. We do not find it in his works. + +Young's father had been well acquainted with Lady Anne Wharton, the +first wife of Thomas Wharton, Esq., afterwards Marquis of Wharton; a +lady celebrated for her poetical talents by Burnet and by Waller. + +To the Dean of Sarum's visitation sermon, already mentioned, were +added some verses "by that excellent poetess, Mrs. Anne Wharton," +upon its being translated into English, at the instance of Waller by +Atwood. Wharton, after he became ennobled, did not drop the son of +his old friend. In him, during the short time he lived, Young found +a patron, and in his dissolute descendant a friend and a companion. +The marquis died in April, 1715. In the beginning of the next year, +the young marquis set out upon his travels, from which he returned +in about a twelvemonth. The beginning of 1717 carried him to +Ireland: where, says the Biographia, "on the score of his +extraordinary qualities, he had the honour done him of being +admitted, though under age, to take his seat in the House of Lords." +With this unhappy character it is not unlikely that Young went to +Ireland. From his letter to Richardson on "Original Composition," +it is clear he was, at some period of his life, in that country. "I +remember," says he, in that letter, speaking of Swift, "as I and +others were taking with him an evening walk, about a mile out of +Dublin, he stopped short; we passed on; but perceiving he did not +follow us, I went back, and found him fixed as a statue, and +earnestly gazing upward at a noble elm, which in its uppermost +branches was much withered and decayed. Pointing at it, he said, 'I +shall be like that tree, I shall die at top.'" Is it not probable, +that this visit to Ireland was paid when he had an opportunity of +going thither with his avowed friend and patron? + +From "The Englishman" it appears that a tragedy by Young was in the +theatre so early as 1713. Yet Busiris was not brought upon Drury +Lane stage till 1719. It was inscribed to the Duke of Newcastle, +"because the late instances he had received of his grace's +undeserved and uncommon favour, in an affair of some consequence, +foreign to the theatre, had taken from him the privilege of choosing +a patron." The Dedication he afterwards suppressed. + +Busiris was followed in the year 1721 by The Revenge. He dedicated +this famous tragedy to the Duke of Wharton. "Your Grace," says the +Dedication, "has been pleased to make yourself accessory to the +following scenes, not only by suggesting the most beautiful incident +in them, but by making all possible provision for the success of the +whole." That his grace should have suggested the incident to which +he alludes, whatever that incident might have been, is not unlikely. +The last mental exertion of the superannuated young man, in his +quarters at Lerida, in Spain, was some scenes of a tragedy on the +story of Mary Queen of Scots. + +Dryden dedicated "Marriage a la Mode" to Wharton's infamous relation +Rochester, whom he acknowledges not only as the defender of his +poetry, but as the promoter of his fortune. Young concludes his +address to Wharton thus--"My present fortune is his bounty, and my +future his care; which I will venture to say will be always +remembered to his honour, since he, I know, intended his generosity +as an encouragement to merit, though through his very pardonable +partiality to one who bears him so sincere a duty and respect, I +happen to receive the benefit of it." That he ever had such a +patron as Wharton, Young took all the pains in his power to conceal +from the world, by excluding this dedication from his works. He +should have remembered that he at the same time concealed his +obligation to Wharton for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INCIDENT in what is +surely not his least beautiful composition. The passage just quoted +is, in a poem afterwards addressed to Walpole, literally copied: + + "Be this thy partial smile from censure free! + 'Twas meant for merit, though it fell on me." + +While Young, who, in his "Love of Fame," complains grievously how +often "dedications wash an AEthiop white," was painting an amiable +Duke of Wharton in perishable prose, Pope was, perhaps, beginning to +describe the "scorn and wonder of his days" in lasting verse. To +the patronage of such a character, had Young studied men as much as +Pope, he would have known how little to have trusted. Young, +however, was certainly indebted to it for something material; and +the duke's regard for Young, added to his lust of praise, procured +to All Souls College a donation, which was not forgotten by the poet +when he dedicated The Revenge. + +It will surprise you to see me cite second Atkins, Case 136, Stiles +versus the Attorney-General, March 14, 1740, as authority for the +life of a poet. But biographers do not always find such certain +guides as the oaths of the persons whom they record. Chancellor +Hardwicke was to determine whether two annuities, granted by the +Duke of Wharton to Young, were for legal considerations. One was +dated the 24th March, 1719, and accounted for his grace's bounty in +a style princely and commendable, if not legal--"considering that +the public good is advanced by the encouragement of learning and the +polite arts, and being pleased therein with the attempts of Dr. +Young, in consideration thereof, and of the love I bear him, etc." +The other was dated the 10th of July, 1722. + +Young, on his examination, swore that he quitted the Exeter family, +and refused an annuity of 100 pounds which had been offered him for +life if he would continue tutor to Lord Burleigh, upon the pressing +solicitations of the Duke of Wharton, and his grace's assurances of +providing for him in a much more ample manner. It also appeared +that the duke had given him a bond for 600 pounds dated the 15th of +March, 1721, in consideration of his taking several journeys, and +being at great expenses, in order to be chosen member of the House +of Commons, at the duke's desire, and in consideration of his not +taking two livings of 200 pounds and 400 pounds in the gift of All +Souls College, on his grace's promises of serving and advancing him +in the world. + +Of his adventures in the Exeter family I am unable to give any +account. The attempt to get into Parliament was at Cirencester, +where Young stood a contested election. His grace discovered in him +talents for oratory as well as for poetry. Nor was this judgment +wrong. Young, after he took orders, became a very popular preacher, +and was much followed for the grace and animation of his delivery. +By his oratorical talents he was once in his life, according to the +Biographia, deserted. As he was preaching in his turn at St. +James's, he plainly perceived it was out of his power to command the +attention of his audience. This so affected the feelings of the +preacher, that he sat back in the pulpit, and burst into tears. But +we must pursue his poetical life. + +In 1719 he lamented the death of Addison, in a letter addressed to +their common friend Tickell. For the secret history of the +following lines, if they contain any, it is now vain to seek: + + "IN JOY ONCE JOINED, in sorrow, now, for years-- + Partner in grief, and brother of my tears, + Tickell, accept this verse, thy mournful due." + +From your account of Tickell it appears that he and Young used to +"communicate to each other whatever verses they wrote, even to the +least things." + +In 1719 appeared a "Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job." Parker, +to whom it is dedicated, had not long, by means of the seals, been +qualified for a patron. Of this work the author's opinion may be +known from his letter to Curll: "You seem, in the Collection you +propose, to have omitted what I think may claim the first place in +it; I mean 'a Translation from part of Job,' printed by Mr. Tonson." +The Dedication, which was only suffered to appear in Mr. Tonson's +edition, while it speaks with satisfaction of his present +retirement, seems to make an unusual struggle to escape from +retirement. But every one who sings in the dark does not sing from +joy. It is addressed, in no common strain of flattery, to a +chancellor, of whom he clearly appears to have had no kind of +knowledge. + +Of his Satires it would not have been possible to fix the dates +without the assistance of first editions, which, as you had occasion +to observe in your account of Dryden, are with difficulty found. We +must then have referred to the poems, to discover when they were +written. For these internal notes of time we should not have +referred in vain. The first Satire laments, that "Guilt's chief foe +in Addison is fled." The second, addressing himself, asks:-- + + "Is thy ambition sweating for a rhyme, + Thou unambitious fool, at this late time? + A fool at FORTY is a fool indeed." + +The Satires were originally published separately in folio, under the +title of "The Universal Passion." These passages fix the appearance +of the first to about 1725, the time at which it came out. As Young +seldom suffered his pen to dry after he had once dipped it in +poetry, we may conclude that he began his Satires soon after he had +written the "Paraphrase on Job." The last Satire was certainly +finished in the beginning of the year 1726. In December, 1725, the +King, in his passage from Helvoetsluys, escaped with great +difficulty from a storm by landing at Rye; and the conclusion of the +Satire turns the escape into a miracle, in such an encomiastic +strain of compliment as poetry too often seeks to pay to royalty. +From the sixth of these poems we learn, + + "'Midst empire's charms, how Carolina's heart + Glowed with the love of virtue and of art." + +Since the grateful poet tells us, in the next couplet, + + "Her favour is diffused to that degree, + Excess of goodness! it has dawned on me." + +Her Majesty had stood godmother, and given her name, to the daughter +of the lady whom Young married in 1731; and had perhaps shown some +attention to Lady Elizabeth's future husband. + +The fifth Satire, "On Women," was not published till 1727; and the +sixth not till 1728. + +To these poems, when, in 1728, he gathered them into one +publication, he prefixed a Preface, in which he observes that "no +man can converse much in the world, but at what he meets with he +must either be insensible or grieve, or be angry or smile. Now to +smile at it, and turn it into ridicule," he adds, "I think most +eligible, as it hurts ourselves least, and gives vice and folly the +greatest offence. Laughing at the misconduct of the world will, in +a great measure, ease us of any more disagreeable passion about it. +One passion is more effectually driven out by another than by +reason, whatever some teach." So wrote, and so of course thought, +the lively and witty satirist at the grave age of almost fifty, who, +many years earlier in life, wrote the "Last Day." After all, Swift +pronounced of these Satires, that they should either have been more +angry or more merry. + +Is it not somewhat singular that Young preserved, without any +palliation, this Preface, so bluntly decisive in favour of laughing +at the world, in the same collection of his works which contains the +mournful, angry, gloomy "Night Thoughts!" At the conclusion of the +Preface he applies Plato's beautiful fable of the "Birth of Love" to +modern poetry, with the addition, "that Poetry, like Love, is a +little subject to blindness, which makes her mistake her way to +preferments and honours; and that she retains a dutiful admiration +of her father's family; but divides her favours, and generally lives +with her mother's relations." Poetry, it is true, did not lead +Young to preferments or to honours; but was there not something like +blindness in the flattery which he sometimes forced her, and her +sister Prose, to utter? She was always, indeed, taught by him to +entertain a most dutiful admiration of riches; but surely Young, +though nearly related to Poetry, had no connection with her whom +Plato makes the mother of Love. That he could not well complain of +being related to Poverty appears clearly from the frequent bounties +which his gratitude records, and from the wealth which he left +behind him. By "The Universal Passion" he acquired no vulgar +fortune--more than three thousand pounds. A considerable sum had +already been swallowed up in the South Sea. For this loss he took +the vengeance of an author. His Muse makes poetical use more than +once of a South Sea Dream. + +It is related by Mr. Spence, in his "Manuscript Anecdotes," on the +authority of Mr. Rawlinson, that Young, upon the publication of his +"Universal Passion," received from the Duke of Grafton two thousand +pounds; and that, when one of his friends exclaimed, "Two thousand +pounds for a poem!" he said it was the best bargain he ever made in +his life, for the poem was worth four thousand. This story may be +true; but it seems to have been raised from the two answers of Lord +Burghley and Sir Philip Sidney in Spenser's Life. + +After inscribing his Satires, not perhaps without the hopes of +preferments and honours, to such names as the Duke of Dorset, Mr. +Dodington, Mr. Spencer Compton, Lady Elizabeth Germain, and Sir +Robert Walpole, he returns to plain panegyric. In 1726 he addressed +a poem to Sir Robert Walpole, of which the title sufficiently +explains the intention. If Young must be acknowledged a ready +celebrator, he did not endeavour, or did not choose, to be a lasting +one. "The Instalment" is among the pieces he did not admit into the +number of his EXCUSABLE WRITINGS. Yet it contains a couplet which +pretends to pant after the power of bestowing immortality:-- + + "Oh! how I long, enkindled by the theme, + In deep eternity to launch thy name!" + +The bounty of the former reign seems to have been continued, +possibly increased, in this. Whatever it might have been, the poet +thought he deserved it; for he was not ashamed to acknowledge what, +without his acknowledgment, would now perhaps never have been +known:-- + + "My breast, O Walpole, glows with grateful fire. + The streams of royal bounty, turned by thee, + Refresh the dry remains of poesy." + +If the purity of modern patriotism will term Young a pensioner, it +must at least be confessed he was a grateful one. + +The reign of the new monarch was ushered in by Young with "Ocean, an +Ode." The hint of it was taken from the royal speech, which +recommended the increase and the encouragement of the seamen; that +they might be "invited, rather than compelled by force and violence, +to enter into the service of their country"--a plan which humanity +must lament that policy has not even yet been able, or willing, to +carry into execution. Prefixed to the original publication were an +"Ode to the King, Pater Patriae," and an "Essay on Lyric Poetry." +It is but justice to confess that he preserved neither of them; and +that the Ode itself, which in the first edition, and in the last, +consists of seventy-three stanzas, in the author's own edition is +reduced to forty-nine. Among the omitted passages is a "Wish," that +concluded the poem, which few would have suspected Young of forming; +and of which few, after having formed it, would confess something +like their shame by suppression. It stood originally so high in the +author's opinion, that he entitled the poem, "Ocean, an Ode. +Concluding with a Wish." This wish consists of thirteen stanzas. +The first runs thus:-- + + "O may I STEAL + Along the VALE + Of humble life, secure from foes! + My friend sincere, + My judgment clear, + And gentle business my repose!" + +The three last stanzas are not more remarkable for just rhymes; but, +altogether, they will make rather a curious page in the life of +Young:-- + + "Prophetic schemes, + And golden dreams, + May I, unsanguine, cast away! + Have what I HAVE, + And live, not LEAVE, + Enamoured of the present day! + + "My hours my own! + My faults unknown! + My chief revenue in content! + Then leave one BEAM + Of honest FAME! + And scorn the laboured monument! + + "Unhurt my urn + Till that great TURN + When mighty Nature's self shall die, + Time cease to glide, + With human pride, + Sunk in the ocean of eternity!" + +It is whimsical that he, who was soon to bid adieu to rhyme, should +fix upon a measure in which rhyme abounds even to satiety. Of this +he said, in his "Essay on Lyric Poetry," prefixed to the poem--" For +the more harmony likewise I chose the frequent return of rhyme, +which laid me under great difficulties. But difficulties overcome +give grace and pleasure. Nor can I account for the PLEASURE OF +RHYME IN GENERAL (of which the moderns are too fond) but from this +truth." Yet the moderns surely deserve not much censure for their +fondness of what, by their own confession, affords pleasure, and +abounds in harmony. The next paragraph in his Essay did not occur +to him when he talked of "that great turn" in the stanza just +quoted. "But then the writer must take care that the difficulty is +overcome. That is, he must make rhyme consistent with as perfect +sense and expression as could be expected if he was perfectly free +from that shackle." Another part of this Essay will convict the +following stanza of what every reader will discover in it +"involuntary burlesque:-- + + "The northern blast, + The shattered mast, + The syrt, the whirlpool, and the rock, + The breaking spout, + The STARS GONE OUT, + The boiling strait, the monster's shock." + +But would the English poets fill quite so many volumes if all their +productions were to be tried, like this, by an elaborate essay on +each particular species of poetry of which they exhibit specimens? + +If Young be not a lyric poet, he is at least a critic in that sort +of poetry; and, if his lyric poetry can be proved bad, it was first +proved so by his own criticism. This surely is candid. + +Milbourne was styled by Pope "the fairest of critics," only because +he exhibited his own version of "Virgil" to be compared with +Dryden's, which he condemned, and with which every reader had it not +otherwise in his power to compare it. Young was surely not the most +unfair of poets for prefixing to a lyric composition an "Essay on +Lyric Poetry," so just and impartial as to condemn himself. + +We shall soon come to a work, before which we find indeed no +critical essay, but which disdains to shrink from the touchstone of +the severest critic; and which certainly, as I remember to have +heard you say, if it contains some of the worst, contains also some +of the best things in the language. + +Soon after the appearance of "Ocean," when he was almost fifty, +Young entered into orders. In April, 1728, not long after he had +put on the gown, he was appointed chaplain to George II. + +The tragedy of The Brothers, which was already in rehearsal, he +immediately withdrew from the stage. The managers resigned it with +some reluctance to the delicacy of the new clergyman. The Epilogue +to The Brothers, the only appendages to any of his three plays which +he added himself, is, I believe, the only one of the kind. He calls +it an historical Epilogue. Finding that "Guilt's dreadful close his +narrow scene denied," he, in a manner, continues the tragedy in the +Epilogue, and relates how Rome revenged the shade of Demetrius, and +punished Perseus "for this night's deed." + +Of Young's taking orders something is told by the biographer of +Pope, which places the easiness and simplicity of the poet in a +singular light. When he determined on the Church he did not address +himself to Sherlock, to Atterbury, or to Hare, for the best +instructions in theology, but to Pope, who, in a youthful frolic, +advised the diligent perusal of Thomas Aquinas. With this treasure +Young retired from interruption to an obscure place in the suburbs. +His poetical guide to godliness hearing nothing of him during half a +year, and apprehending he might have carried the jest too far, +sought after him, and found him just in time to prevent what +Ruffhead calls "an irretrievable derangement." + +That attachment to his favourite study, which made him think a poet +the surest guide to his new profession left him little doubt whether +poetry was the surest path to its honours and preferments. Not long +indeed after he took orders he published in prose (1728) "A True +Estimate of Human Life," dedicated, notwithstanding the Latin +quotations with which it abounds, to the Queen; and a sermon +preached before the House of Commons, 1729, on the martyrdom of King +Charles, entitled, "An Apology for Princes; or, the Reverence due to +Government." But the "Second Course," the counterpart of his +"Estimate," without which it cannot be called "A True Estimate," +though in 1728 it was announced as "soon to be published," never +appeared, and his old friends the Muses were not forgotten. In 1730 +he relapsed to poetry, and sent into the world "Imperium Pelagi: a +Naval Lyric, written in imitation of Pindar's Spirit, occasioned by +his Majesty's return from Hanover, September, 1729, and the +succeeding peace." It is inscribed to the Duke of Chandos. In the +Preface we are told that the Ode is the most spirited kind of +poetry, and that the Pindaric is the most spirited kind of Ode. +"This I speak," he adds, "with sufficient candour at my own very +great peril. But truth has an eternal title to our confession, +though we are sure to suffer by it." Behold, again, the fairest of +poets. Young's "Imperium Pelagi" was ridiculed in Fielding's "Tom +Thumb;" but let us not forget that it was one of his pieces which +the author of the "Night Thoughts" deliberately refused to own. Not +long after this Pindaric attempt he published two Epistles to Pope, +"Concerning the Authors of the Age," 1730. Of these poems one +occasion seems to have been an apprehension lest, from the +liveliness of his satires, he should not be deemed sufficiently +serious for promotion in the Church. + +In July, 1730, he was presented by his College to the Rectory of +Welwyn, in Hertfordshire. In May, 1731, he married Lady Elizabeth +Lee, daughter of the Earl of Lichfield, and widow of Colonel Lee. +His connection with this lady arose from his father's acquaintance, +already mentioned, with Lady Anne Wharton, who was co-heiress of Sir +Henry Lee of Ditchley in Oxfordshire. Poetry had lately been taught +by Addison to aspire to the arms of nobility, though not with +extraordinary happiness. We may naturally conclude that Young now +gave himself up in some measure to the comforts of his new +connection, and to the expectations of that preferment which he +thought due to his poetical talents, or, at least, to the manner in +which they had so frequently been exerted. + +The next production of his muse was "The Sea-piece," in two odes. + +Young enjoys the credit of what is called an "Extempore Epigram on +Voltaire," who, when he was in England, ridiculed, in the company of +the jealous English poet, Milton's allegory of "Sin and Death:" + + "You are so witty, profligate and thin, + At once we think thee Milton, Death, and Sin." + +From the following passage in the poetical dedication of his "Sea- +piece" to Voltaire it seems that this extemporaneous reproof, if it +must be extemporaneous (for what few will now affirm Voltaire to +have deserved any reproof), was something longer than a distich, and +something more gentle than the distich just quoted. + + "No stranger, sir, though born in foreign climes. + On DORSET Downs, when Milton's page, + With Sin and Death provoked thy rage, + Thy rage provoked who soothed with GENTLE rhymes?" + +By "Dorset Downs" he probably meant Mr. Dodington's seat. In Pitt's +Poems is "An Epistle to Dr. Edward Young, at Eastbury, in +Dorsetshire, on the Review at Sarum, 1722." + + "While with your Dodington retired you sit, + Charmed with his flowing Burgundy and wit," etc. + +Thomson, in his Autumn, addressing Mr. Dodington calls his seat the +seat of the Muses, + + "Where, in the secret bower and winding walk, + For virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay." + +The praises Thomson bestows but a few lines before on Philips, the +second + + "Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse, + With British freedom sing the British song," + +added to Thomson's example and success, might perhaps induce Young, +as we shall see presently, to write his great work without rhyme. + +In 1734 he published "The Foreign Address, or the best Argument for +Peace, occasioned by the British Fleet and the Posture of Affairs. +Written in the Character of a Sailor." It is not to be found in the +author's four volumes. He now appears to have given up all hopes of +overtaking Pindar, and perhaps at last resolved to turn his ambition +to some original species of poetry. This poem concludes with a +formal farewell to Ode, which few of Young's readers will regret: + + "My shell, which Clio gave, which KINGS APPLAUD, + Which Europe's bleeding genius called abroad, + Adieu!" + +In a species of poetry altogether his own he next tried his skill, +and succeeded. + +Of his wife he was deprived in 1741. Lady Elizabeth had lost, after +her marriage with Young, an amiable daughter, by her former husband, +just after she was married to Mr. Temple, son of Lord Palmerston. +Mr. Temple did not long remain after his wife, though he was married +a second time to a daughter of Sir John Barnard's, whose son is the +present peer. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have generally been considered as +Philander and Narcissa. From the great friendship which constantly +subsisted between Mr. Temple and Young, as well as from other +circumstances, it is probable that the poet had both him and Mrs. +Temple in view for these characters; though, at the same time, some +passages respecting Philander do not appear to suit either Mr. +Temple or any other person with whom Young was known to be connected +or acquainted, while all the circumstances relating to Narcissa have +been constantly found applicable to Young's daughter-in-law. At +what short intervals the poet tells us he was wounded by the deaths +of the three persons particularly lamented, none that has read the +"Night Thoughts" (and who has not read them?) needs to be informed. + + "Insatiate archer! could not one suffice? + Thy shaft flew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain; + And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had filled her horn." + +Yet how is it possible that Mr. and Mrs. Temple and Lady Elizabeth +Young could be these three victims, over whom Young has hitherto +been pitied for having to pour the "Midnight Sorrows" of his +religious poetry? Mrs. Temple died in 1736; Mr. Temple four years +afterwards, in 1740; and the poet's wife seven months after Mr. +Temple, in 1741. How could the insatiate archer thrice slay his +peace, in these three persons, "ere thrice the moon had filled her +horn." But in the short preface to "The Complaint" he seriously +tells us, "that the occasion of this poem was real, not fictitious, +and that the facts mentioned did naturally pour these moral +reflections on the thought of the writer." It is probable, +therefore, that in these three contradictory lines the poet +complains more than the father-in-law, the friend, or the widower. +Whatever names belong to these facts, or if the names be those +generally supposed, whatever heightening a poet's sorrow may have +given the facts; to the sorrow Young felt from them religion and +morality are indebted for the "Night Thoughts." There is a pleasure +sure in sadness which mourners only know! Of these poems the two or +three first have been perused perhaps more eagerly and more +frequently than the rest. When he got as far as the fourth or fifth +his original motive for taking up the pen was answered; his grief +was naturally either diminished or exhausted. We still find the +same pious poet, but we hear less of Philander and Narcissa, and +less of the mourner whom he loved to pity. + +Mrs. Temple died of a consumption at Lyons, on her way to Nice, the +year after her marriage; that is, when poetry relates the fact, "in +her bridal hour." It is more than poetically true that Young +accompanied her to the Continent: + + "I flew, I snatched her from the rigid North, + And bore her nearer to the sun." + +But in vain. Her funeral was attended with the difficulties painted +in such animated colours in "Night the Third." After her death the +remainder of the party passed the ensuing winter at Nice. The poet +seems perhaps in these compositions to dwell with more melancholy on +the death of Philander and Narcissa than of his wife. But it is +only for this reason. He who runs and reads may remember that in +the "Night Thoughts" Philander and Narcissa are often mentioned and +often lamented. To recollect lamentations over the author's wife +the memory must have been charged with distinct passages. This lady +brought him one child, Frederick, now living, to whom the Prince of +Wales was godfather. + +That domestic grief is, in the first instance, to be thanked for +these ornaments to our language it is impossible to deny. Nor would +it be common hardiness to contend that worldly discontent had no +hand in these joint productions of poetry and piety. Yet am I by no +means sure that, at any rate, we should not have had something of +the same colour from Young's pencil, notwithstanding the liveliness +of his satires. In so long a life causes for discontent and +occasions for grief must have occurred. It is not clear to me that +his Muse was not sitting upon the watch for the first which +happened. "Night Thoughts" were not uncommon to her, even when +first she visited the poet, and at a time when he himself was +remarkable neither for gravity nor gloominess. In his "Last Day," +almost his earliest poem, he calls her "The Melancholy Maid," + + "whom dismal scenes delight, + Frequent at tombs and in the realms of Night." + +In the prayer which concludes the second book of the same poem, he +says: + + "Oh! permit the gloom of solemn night + To sacred thought may forcibly invite. + Oh! how divine to tread the milky way, + To the bright palace of Eternal Day!" + +When Young was writing a tragedy, Grafton is said by Spence to have +sent him a human skull, with a candle in it, as a lamp, and the poet +is reported to have used it. What he calls "The TRUE Estimate of +Human Life," which has already been mentioned, exhibits only the +wrong side of the tapestry, and being asked why he did not show the +right, he is said to have replied that he could not. By others it +has been told me that this was finished, but that, before there +existed any copy, it was torn in pieces by a lady's monkey. Still, +is it altogether fair to dress up the poet for the man, and to bring +the gloominess of the "Night Thoughts" to prove the gloominess of +Young, and to show that his genius, like the genius of Swift, was in +some measure the sullen inspiration of discontent? From them who +answer in the affirmative it should not be concealed that, though +"Invisibilia non decipiunt" appeared upon a deception in Young's +grounds, and "Ambulantes in horto audierunt vocem Dei" on a building +in his garden, his parish was indebted to the good humour of the +author of the "Night Thoughts" for an assembly and a bowling green. + +Whether you think with me, I know not; but the famous "De mortuis +nil nisi bonum" always appeared to me to savour more of female +weakness than of manly reason. He that has too much feeling to +speak ill of the dead, who, if they cannot defend themselves, are at +least ignorant of his abuse, will not hesitate by the most wanton +calumny to destroy the quiet, the reputation, the fortune of the +living. Yet censure is not heard beneath the tomb, any more than +praise. "De mortuis nil nisi verum--De vivis nil nisi bonum" would +approach much nearer to good sense. After all, the few handfuls of +remaining dust which once composed the body of the author of the +"Night Thoughts" feel not much concern whether Young pass now for a +man of sorrow or for "a fellow of infinite jest." To this favour +must come the whole family of Yorick. His immortal part, wherever +that now dwells, is still less solicitous on this head. But to a +son of worth and sensibility it is of some little consequence +whether contemporaries believe, and posterity be taught to believe, +that his debauched and reprobate life cast a Stygian gloom over the +evening of his father's days, saved him the trouble of feigning a +character completely detestable, and succeeded at last in bringing +his "grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." The humanity of the +world, little satisfied with inventing perhaps a melancholy +disposition for the father, proceeds next to invent an argument in +support of their invention, and chooses that Lorenzo should be +Young's own son. "The Biographia," and every account of Young, +pretty roundly assert this to be the fact; of the absolute +impossibility of which, the "Biographia" itself, in particular +dates, contains undeniable evidence. Readers I know there are of a +strange turn of mind, who will hereafter peruse the "Night Thoughts" +with less satisfaction; who will wish they had still been deceived; +who will quarrel with me for discovering that no such character as +their Lorenzo ever yet disgraced human nature or broke a father's +heart. Yet would these admirers of the sublime and terrible be +offended should you set them down for cruel and for savage? Of this +report, inhuman to the surviving son, if it be true, in proportion +as the character of Lorenzo is diabolical, where are we to find the +proof? Perhaps it is clear from the poems. + +From the first line to the last of the "Night Thoughts" no one +expression can be discovered which betrays anything like the father. +In the "Second Night" I find an expression which betrays something +else--that Lorenzo was his friend; one, it is possible, of his +former companions; one of the Duke of Wharton's set. The poet +styles him "gay friend;" an appellation not very natural from a +pious incensed father to such a being as he paints Lorenzo, and that +being his son. But let us see how he has sketched this dreadful +portrait, from the sight of some of whose features the artist +himself must have turned away with horror. A subject more shocking, +if his only child really sat to him, than the crucifixion of Michael +Angelo; upon the horrid story told of which Young composed a short +poem of fourteen lines in the early part of his life, which he did +not think deserved to be republished. In the "First Night" the +address to the poet's supposed son is:-- + + "Lorenzo, Fortune makes her court to thee." + +In the "Fifth Night:"-- + + "And burns Lorenzo still for the sublime + Of life? to hang his airy nest on high?" + +Is this a picture of the son of the Rector of Welwyn? "Eighth +Night:"-- + + "In foreign realms (for thou hast travelled far)"-- + +which even now does not apply to his son. In "Night Five:"-- + + "So wept Lorenzo fair Clarissa's fate, + Who gave that angel-boy on whom he dotes, + And died to give him, orphaned in his birth!" + +At the beginning of the "Fifth Night" we find:-- + + "Lorenzo, to recriminate is just, + I grant the man is vain who writes for praise." + +But, to cut short all inquiry; if any one of these passages, if any +passage in the poems, be applicable, my friend shall pass for +Lorenzo. The son of the author of the "Night Thoughts" was not old +enough, when they were written, to recriminate or to be a father. +The "Night Thoughts" were begun immediately after the mournful event +of 1741. The first "Nights" appear, in the books of the Company of +Stationers, as the property of Robert Dodsley, in 1742. The Preface +to "Night Seven" is dated July 7th, 1744. The marriage, in +consequence of which the supposed Lorenzo was born, happened in May, +1731. Young's child was not born till June, 1733. In 1741, this +Lorenzo, this finished infidel, this father to whose education Vice +had for some years put the last hand, was only eight years old. An +anecdote of this cruel sort, so open to contradiction, so impossible +to be true, who could propagate? Thus easily are blasted the +reputation of the living and of the dead. "Who, then, was Lorenzo?" +exclaim the readers I have mentioned. If we cannot be sure that he +was his son, which would have been finely terrible, was he not his +nephew, his cousin? These are questions which I do not pretend to +answer. For the sake of human nature, I could wish Lorenzo to have +been only the creation of the poet's fancy: like the Quintus of +Anti Lucretius, "quo nomine," says Polignac, "quemvis Atheum +intellige." That this was the case many expressions in the "Night +Thoughts" would seem to prove, did not a passage in "Night Eight" +appear to show that he had somebody in his eye for the groundwork at +least of the painting. Lovelace or Lorenzo may be feigned +characters; but a writer does not feign a name of which he only +gives the initial letter:-- + + "Tell not Calista. She will laugh thee dead, + Or send thee to her hermitage with L---." + +The "Biographia," not satisfied with pointing out the son of Young, +in that son's lifetime, as his father's Lorenzo, travels out of its +way into the history of the son, and tells of his having been +forbidden his college at Oxford for misbehaviour. How such +anecdotes, were they true, tend to illustrate the life of Young, it +is not easy to discover. Was the son of the author of the "Night +Thoughts," indeed, forbidden his college for a time, at one of our +Universities? The author of "Paradise Lost" is by some supposed to +have been disgracefully ejected from the other. From juvenile +follies who is free? But, whatever the "Biographia" chooses to +relate, the son of Young experienced no dismission from his college, +either lasting or temporary. Yet, were nature to indulge him with a +second youth, and to leave him at the same time the experience of +that which is past, he would probably spend it differently--who +would not?--he would certainly be the occasion of less uneasiness to +his father. But, from the same experience, he would as certainly, +in the same case, be treated differently by his father. + +Young was a poet: poets, with reverence be it spoken, do not make +the best parents. Fancy and imagination seldom deign to stoop from +their heights; always stoop unwillingly to the low level of common +duties. Aloof from vulgar life, they pursue their rapid flight +beyond the ken of mortals, and descend not to earth but when +compelled by necessity. The prose of ordinary occurrences is +beneath the dignity of poets. He who is connected with the author +of the "Night Thoughts" only by veneration for the Poet and the +Christian may be allowed to observe that Young is one of those +concerning whom, as you remark in your account of Addison, it is +proper rather to say "nothing that is false than all that is true." +But the son of Young would almost sooner, I know, pass for a Lorenzo +than see himself vindicated, at the expense of his father's memory, +from follies which, if it may be thought blameable in a boy to have +committed them, it is surely praiseworthy in a man to lament and +certainly not only unnecessary, but cruel in a biographer to record. + +Of the "Night Thoughts," notwithstanding their author's professed +retirement, all are inscribed to great or to growing names. He had +not yet weaned himself from earls and dukes, from the Speakers of +the House of Commons, Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and +Chancellors of the Exchequer. In "Night Eight" the politician +plainly betrays himself:-- + + "Think no post needful that demands a knave: + When late our civil helm was shifting hands, + So P--- thought: think better if you can." + +Yet it must be confessed that at the conclusion of "Night Nine," +weary perhaps of courting earthly patrons, he tells his soul-- + + "Henceforth + Thy PATRON he, whose diadem has dropped + You gems of Heaven; Eternity thy prize; + And leave the racers of the world their own." + +The "Fourth Night" was addressed by "a much-indebted Muse" to the +Honourable Mr. Yorke, now Lord Hardwicke, who meant to have laid the +Muse under still greater obligation, by the living of Shenfield, in +Essex, if it had become vacant. The "First Night" concludes with +this passage:-- + + "Dark, though not blind, like thee, Meonides; + Or, Milton, thee. Ah! could I reach your strain; + Or his who made Meonides our own! + Man too he sung. Immortal man I sing. + Oh had he pressed his theme, pursued the track + Which opens out of darkness into day! + Oh, had he mounted on his wing of fire, + Soared, where I sink, and sung immortal man-- + How had it blest mankind, and rescued me!" + +To the author of these lines was dedicated, in 1756, the first +volume of an "Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope," which +attempted, whether justly or not, to pluck from Pope his "Wing of +Fire," and to reduce him to a rank at least one degree lower than +the first class of English poets. If Young accepted and approved +the dedication, he countenanced this attack upon the fame of him +whom he invokes as his Muse. + +Part of "paper-sparing" Pope's Third Book of the "Odyssey," +deposited in the Museum, is written upon the back of a letter signed +"E. Young," which is clearly the handwriting of our Young. The +letter, dated only May 2nd, seems obscure; but there can be little +doubt that the friendship he requests was a literary one, and that +he had the highest literary opinion of Pope. The request was a +prologue, I am told. + + "May the 2nd. + +"DEAR SIR;--Having been often from home, I know not if you have done +me the favour of calling on me. But, be that as it will, I much +want that instance of your friendship I mentioned in my last; a +friendship I am very sensible I can receive from no one but +yourself. I should not urge this thing so much but for very +particular reasons; nor can you be at a loss to conceive how a +'trifle of this nature' may be of serious moment to me; and while I +am in hopes of the great advantage of your advice about it, I shall +not be so absurd as to make any further step without it. I know you +are much engaged, and only hope to hear of you at your entire +leisure. + "I am, sir, your most faithful + "and obedient servant, + "E. YOUNG." + +Nay, even after Pope's death, he says in "Night Seven:"-- + + "Pope, who could'st make immortals, art thou dead?" + +Either the "Essay," then, was dedicated to a patron who disapproved +its doctrine, which I have been told by the author was not the case; +or Young appears, in his old age, to have bartered for a dedication +an opinion entertained of his friend through all that part of life +when he must have been best able to form opinions. From this +account of Young, two or three short passages, which stand almost +together in "Night Four," should not be excluded. They afford a +picture, by his own hand, from the study of which my readers may +choose to form their own opinion of the features of his mind and the +complexion of his life. + + "Ah me! the dire effect + Of loitering here, of death defrauded long; + Of old so gracious (and let that suffice), + MY VERY MASTER KNOWS ME NOT. + I've been so long remembered I'm forgot. + * * + When in his courtiers' ears I pour my plaint, + They drink it as the Nectar of the Great; + And squeeze my hand, and beg me come to-morrow. + * * + Twice told the period spent on stubborn Troy, + Court favour, yet untaken, I BESIEGE. + * * + If this song lives, Posterity shall know + One, though in Britain born, with courtiers bred, + Who thought, even gold might come a day too late; + Nor on his subtle deathbed planned his scheme + For future vacancies in Church or State." + +Deduct from the writer's age "twice told the period spent on +stubborn Troy," and you will still leave him more than forty when he +sate down to the miserable siege of court-favour. He has before +told us-- + + "A fool at forty is a fool indeed." + +After all, the siege seems to have been raised only in consequence +of what the general thought his "deathbed." By these extraordinary +poems, written after he was sixty, of which I have been led to say +so much, I hope, by the wish of doing justice to the living and the +dead, it was the desire of Young to be principally known. He +entitled the four volumes which he published himself, "The Works of +the Author of the Night Thoughts." While it is remembered that from +these he excluded many of his writings, let it not be forgotten that +the rejected pieces contained nothing prejudicial to the cause of +virtue or of religion. Were everything that Young ever wrote to be +published, he would only appear perhaps in a less respectable light +as a poet, and more despicable as a dedicator; he would not pass for +a worse Christian or for a worse man. This enviable praise is due +to Young. Can it be claimed by every writer? His dedications, +after all, he had perhaps no right to suppress. They all, I +believe, speak, not a little to the credit of his gratitude, of +favours received; and I know not whether the author, who has once +solemnly printed an acknowledgment of a favour, should not always +print it. Is it to the credit or to the discredit of Young, as a +poet, that of his "Night Thoughts" the French are particularly fond? + +Of the "Epitaph on Lord Aubrey Beauclerk," dated 1740, all I know +is, that I find it in the late body of English poetry, and that I am +sorry to find it there. Notwithstanding the farewell which he +seemed to have taken in the "Night Thoughts" of everything which +bore the least resemblance to ambition, he dipped again in politics. +In 1745 he wrote "Reflections on the Public Situation of the +Kingdom, addressed to the Duke of Newcastle;" indignant, as it +appears, to behold + + "---a pope-bred Princeling crawl ashore, + And whistle cut-throats, with those swords that scraped + Their barren rocks for wretched sustenance, + To cut his passage to the British throne." + +This political poem might be called a "Night Thought;" indeed, it +was originally printed as the conclusion of the "Night Thoughts," +though he did not gather it with his other works. + +Prefixed to the second edition of Howe's "Devout Meditations" is a +letter from Young, dated January 19, 1752, addressed to Archibald +Macauly, Esq., thanking him for the book, "which," he says, "he +shall never lay far out of his reach; for a greater demonstration of +a sound head and a sincere heart he never saw." + +In 1753, when The Brothers had lain by him above thirty years, it +appeared upon the stage. If any part of his fortune had been +acquired by servility of adulation, he now determined to deduct from +it no inconsiderable sum, as a gift to the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel. To this sum he hoped the profits of The +Brothers would amount. In his calculation he was deceived; but by +the bad success of his play the Society was not a loser. The author +made up the sum he originally intended, which was a thousand pounds, +from his own pocket. + +The next performance which he printed was a prose publication, +entitled "The Centaur Not Fabulous, in Six Letters to a Friend on +the Life in Vogue." The conclusion is dated November 29, 1754. In +the third letter is described the death-bed of the "gay, young, +noble, ingenious, accomplished, and most wretched Altamont." His +last words were--"My principles have poisoned my friend, my +extravagance has beggared my boy, my unkindness has murdered my +wife!" Either Altamont and Lorenzo were the twin production of +fancy, or Young was unlucky enough to know two characters who bore +no little resemblance to each other in perfection of wickedness. +Report has been accustomed to call Altamont Lord Euston. + +"The Old Man's Relapse," occasioned by an Epistle to Walpole, if +written by Young, which I much doubt, must have been written very +late in life. It has been seen, I am told, in a Miscellany +published thirty years before his death. In 1758 he exhibited "The +Old Man's Relapse," in more than words, by again becoming a +dedicator, and publishing a sermon addressed to the king. + +The lively letter in prose, on "Original Composition," addressed to +Richardson, the author of "Clarissa," appeared in 1759. Though he +despairs "of breaking through the frozen obstructions of age and +care's incumbent cloud into that flow of thought and brightness of +expression which subjects so polite require," yet it is more like +the production of untamed, unbridled youth, than of jaded fourscore. +Some sevenfold volumes put him in mind of Ovid's sevenfold channels +of the Nile at the conflagration:-- + + "--ostia septem + Pulverulenta vocant, septem sine flumine valles." + +Such leaden labours are like Lycurgus's iron money, which was so +much less in value than in bulk, that it required barns for strong +boxes, and a yoke of oxen to draw five hundred pounds. If there is +a famine of invention in the land, we must travel, he says, like +Joseph's brethren, far for food, we must visit the remote and rich +ancients. But an inventive genius may safely stay at home; that, +like the widow's cruse, is divinely replenished from within, and +affords us a miraculous delight. He asks why it should seem +altogether impossible that Heaven's latest editions of the human +mind may be the most correct and fair? And Jonson, he tells us, was +very learned, as Samson was very strong, to his own hurt. Blind to +the nature of tragedy, he pulled down all antiquity on his head, and +buried himself under it. Is this "care's incumbent cloud," or "the +frozen obstructions of age?" In this letter Pope is severely +censured for his "fall from Homer's numbers, free as air, lofty and +harmonious as the spheres, into childish shackles and tinkling +sounds; for putting Achilles into petticoats a second time:" but we +are told that the dying swan talked over an epic plan with Young a +few weeks before his decease. Young's chief inducement to write +this letter was, as he confesses, that he might erect a monumental +marble to the memory of an old friend. He, who employed his pious +pen for almost the last time in thus doing justice to the exemplary +death-bed of Addison, might probably, at the close of his own life, +afford no unuseful lesson for the deaths of others. In the +postscript he writes to Richardson that he will see in his next how +far Addison is an original. But no other letter appears. + +The few lines which stand in the last edition, as "sent by Lord +Melcombe to Dr. Young not long before his lordship's death," were +indeed so sent, but were only an introduction to what was there +meant by "The Muse's Latest Spark." The poem is necessary, whatever +may be its merit, since the Preface to it is already printed. Lord +Melcombe called his Tusculum "La Trappe":-- + + "Love thy country, wish it well, + Not with too intense a care; + 'Tis enough, that, when it fell, + Thou its ruin didst not share. + + Envy's censure, Flattery's praise, + With unmoved indifference view; + Learn to tread life's dangerous maze, + With unerring Virtue's clue. + + Void of strong desire and fear, + Life's void ocean trust no more; + Strive thy little bark to steer + With the tide, but near the shore. + + Thus prepared, thy shortened sail + Shall, whene'er the winds increase, + Seizing each propitious gale, + Waft thee to the Port of Peace. + + Keep thy conscience from offence, + And tempestuous passions free, + So, when thou art called from hence, + Easy shall thy passage be; + + Easy shall thy passage be, + Cheerful thy allotted stay, + Short the account 'twixt God and thee; + Hope shall meet thee on the way: + + Truth shall lead thee to the gate, + Mercy's self shall let thee in, + Where its never-changing state, + Full perfection, shall begin." + +The poem was accompanied by a letter. + + "La Trappe, the 27th of October, 1761 +"DEAR SIR,--You seemed to like the ode I sent you for your +amusement; I now send it you as a present. If you please to accept +of it, and are willing that our friendship should be known when we +are gone, you will be pleased to leave this among those of your own +papers that may possibly see the light by a posthumous publication. +God send us health while we stay, and an easy journey!--My dear Dr. +Young, + "Yours, most cordially, + "MELCOMBE." + +In 1762, a short time before his death, Young published +"Resignation." Notwithstanding the manner in which it was really +forced from him by the world, criticism has treated it with no +common severity. If it shall be thought not to deserve the highest +praise, on the other side of fourscore, by whom, except by Newton +and by Waller, has praise been merited? + +To Mrs. Montagu, the famous champion of Shakespeare, I am indebted +for the history of "Resignation." Observing that Mrs. Boscawen, in +the midst of her grief for the loss of the admiral, derived +consolation from the perusal of the "Night Thoughts," Mrs. Montagu +proposed a visit to the author. From conversing with Young, Mrs. +Boscawen derived still further consolation; and to that visit she +and the world were indebted for this poem. It compliments Mrs. +Montagu in the following lines:-- + + "Yet write I must. A lady sues: + How shameful her request! + My brain in labour with dull rhyme, + Hers teeming with the best!" + +And again-- + + "A friend you have, and I the same, + Whose prudent, soft address + Will bring to life those healing thoughts + Which died in your distress. + That friend, the spirit of my theme + Extracting for your ease, + Will leave to me the dreg, in thoughts + Too common; such as these." + +By the same lady I was enabled to say, in her own words, that +Young's unbounded genius appeared to greater advantage in the +companion than even in the author; that the Christian was in him a +character still more inspired, more enraptured, more sublime, than +the poet; and that, in his ordinary conversation-- + + "--letting down the golden chain from high, + He drew his audience upward to the sky." + +Notwithstanding Young had said, in his "Conjectures on Original +Composition," that "blank verse is verse unfallen, uncursed--verse +reclaimed, re-enthroned in the true language of the gods;" +notwithstanding he administered consolation to his own grief in this +immortal language, Mrs. Boscawen was comforted in rhyme. + +While the poet and the Christian were applying this comfort, Young +had himself occasion for comfort, in consequence of the sudden death +of Richardson, who was printing the former part of the poem. Of +Richardson's death he says-- + + "When heaven would kindly set us free, + And earth's enchantment end; + It takes the most effectual means, + And robs us of a friend." + +To "Resignation" was prefixed an apology for its appearance, to +which more credit is due than to the generality of such apologies, +from Young's unusual anxiety that no more productions of his old age +should disgrace his former fame. In his will, dated February, 1760, +he desires of his executors, IN A PARTICULAR MANNER, that all his +manuscript books and writings, whatever, might be burned, except his +book of accounts. In September, 1764, he added a kind of codicil, +wherein he made it his dying entreaty to his housekeeper, to whom he +left 1,000 pounds, "that all his manuscripts might be destroyed as +soon as he was dead, which would greatly oblige her deceased +FRIEND." + +It may teach mankind the uncertainty of wordly friendships to know +that Young, either by surviving those he loved, or by outliving +their affections, could only recollect the names of two FRIENDS, his +housekeeper and a hatter, to mention in his will; and it may serve +to repress that testamentary pride, which too often seeks for +sounding names and titles, to be informed that the author of the +"Night Thoughts" did not blush to leave a legacy to his "friend +Henry Stevens, a hatter at the Temple-gate." Of these two remaining +friends, one went before Young. But, at eighty-four, "where," as he +asks in The Centaur, "is that world into which we were born?" The +same humility which marked a hatter and a housekeeper for the +friends of the author of the "Night Thoughts," had before bestowed +the same title on his footman, in an epitaph in his "Churchyard" +upon James Baker, dated 1749; which I am glad to find in the late +collection of his works. Young and his housekeeper were ridiculed, +with more ill-nature than wit, in a kind of novel published by +Kidgell in 1755, called "The Card," under the names of Dr. Elwes and +Mrs. Fusby. In April, 1765, at an age to which few attain, a period +was put to the life of Young. He had performed no duty for three or +four years, but he retained his intellects to the last. + +Much is told in the "Biographia," which I know not to have been +true, of the manner of his burial; of the master and children of a +charity-school, which he founded in his parish, who neglected to +attend their benefactor's corpse; and a bell which was not caused to +toll as often as upon those occasions bells usually toll. Had that +humanity, which is here lavished upon things of little consequence +either to the living or to the dead, been shown in its proper place +to the living, I should have had less to say about Lorenzo. They +who lament that these misfortunes happened to Young, forget the +praise he bestows upon Socrates, in the Preface to "Night Seven," +for resenting his friend's request about his funeral. During some +part of his life Young was abroad, but I have not been able to learn +any particulars. In his seventh Satire he says, + + "When, after battle, I the field have SEEN + Spread o'er with ghastly shapes which once were men." + +It is known, also, that from this or from some other field he once +wandered into the camp with a classic in his hand, which he was +reading intently; and had some difficulty to prove that he was only +an absent poet, and not a spy. + +The curious reader of Young's life will naturally inquire to what it +was owing, that though he lived almost forty years after he took +orders, which included one whole reign uncommonly long, and part of +another, he was never thought worthy of the least preferment. The +author of the "Night Thoughts" ended his days upon a living which +came to him from his college without any favour, and to which he +probably had an eye when he determined on the Church. To satisfy +curiosity of this kind is, at this distance of time, far from easy. +The parties themselves know not often, at the instant, why they are +neglected, or why they are preferred. The neglect of Young is by +some ascribed to his having attached himself to the Prince of Wales, +and to his having preached an offensive sermon at St. James's. It +has been told me that he had two hundred a year in the late reign, +by the patronage of Walpole; and that, whenever any one reminded the +king of Young, the only answer was, "he has a pension." All the +light thrown on this inquiry, by the following letter from Secker, +only serves to show at what a late period of life the author of the +"Night Thoughts" solicited preferment:-- + + "Deanery of St. Paul's, July 8, 1758. + +"GOOD DR. YOUNG,--I have long wondered that more suitable notice of +your great merit hath not been taken by persons in power. But how +to remedy the omission I see not. No encouragement hath ever been +given me to mention things of this nature to his majesty. And +therefore, in all likelihood, the only consequence of doing it would +be weakening the little influence which else I may possibly have on +some other occasions. Your fortune and your reputation set you +above the need of advancement; and your sentiments, above that +concern for it, on your own account, which, on that of the public, +is sincerely felt by + "Your loving Brother, THO. CANT." + +At last, at the age of fourscore, he was appointed, in 1761, Clerk +of the Closet to the Princess Dowager. One obstacle must have stood +not a little in the way of that preferment after which his whole +life seems to have panted. Though he took orders, he never entirely +shook off politics. He was always the lion of his master Milton, +"pawing to get free his hinder parts." By this conduct, if he +gained some friends, he made many enemies. Again: Young was a +poet; and again, with reverence be it spoken, poets by profession do +not always make the best clergymen. If the author of the "Night +Thoughts" composed many sermons, he did not oblige the public with +many. Besides, in the latter part of his life, Young was fond of +holding himself out for a man retired from the world. But he seemed +to have forgotten that the same verse which contains "oblitus +meorum," contains also "obliviscendus et illis." The brittle chain +of worldly friendship and patronage is broken as effectually, when +one goes beyond the length of it, as when the other does. To the +vessel which is sailing from the shore, it only appears that the +shore also recedes; in life it is truly thus. He who retires from +the world will find himself, in reality, deserted as fast, if not +faster, by the world. The public is not to be treated as the +coxcomb treats his mistress; to be threatened with desertion, in +order to increase fondness. + +Young seems to have been taken at his word. Notwithstanding his +frequent complaints of being neglected, no hand was reached out to +pull him from that retirement of which he declared himself +enamoured. Alexander assigned no palace for the residence of +Diogenes, who boasted his surly satisfaction with his tub. Of the +domestic manners and petty habits of the author of the "Night +Thoughts," I hoped to have given you an account from the best +authority; but who shall dare to say, To-morrow I will be wise or +virtuous, or to-morrow I will do a particular thing? Upon inquiring +for his housekeeper, I learned that she was buried two days before I +reached the town of her abode. + +In a letter from Tscharner, a noble foreigner, to Count Haller, +Tscharner says, he has lately spent four days with Young at Welwyn, +where the author tastes all the ease and pleasure mankind can +desire. "Everything about him shows the man, each individual being +placed by rule. All is neat without art. He is very pleasant in +conversation, and extremely polite." This, and more, may possibly +be true; but Tscharner's was a first visit, a visit of curiosity and +admiration, and a visit which the author expected. + +Of Edward Young an anecdote which wanders among readers is not true, +that he was Fielding's Parson Adams. The original of that famous +painting was William Young, who was a clergyman. He supported an +uncomfortable existence by translating for the booksellers from +Greek, and, if he did not seem to be his own friend, was at least no +man's enemy. Yet the facility with which this report has gained +belief in the world argues, were it not sufficiently known that the +author of the "Night Thoughts" bore some resemblance to Adams. The +attention which Young bestowed upon the perusal of books is not +unworthy imitation. When any passage pleased him he appears to have +folded down the leaf. On these passages he bestowed a second +reading. But the labours of man are too frequently vain. Before he +returned to much of what he had once approved he died. Many of his +books, which I have seen, are by those notes of approbation so +swelled beyond their real bulk, that they will hardly shut. + + "What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame! + Earth's highest station ends in HERE HE LIES! + And DUST TO DUST concludes her noblest song!" + +The author of these lines is not without his 'Hic jacet.' By the +good sense of his son it contains none of that praise which no +marble can make the bad or the foolish merit; which, without the +direction of stone or a turf, will find its way, sooner or later, to +the deserving. + + M. S. + Optimi parentis + EDWARDI YOUNG, LL.D. +Hujus Ecclesiae rect. et Elizabethae faem. praenob + Conjugis ejus amantissimae + Pio et gratissimo animo hoc marmor posuit + F. Y. + Filius superstes. + +Is it not strange that the author of the "Night Thoughts" has +inscribed no monument to the memory of his lamented wife? Yet what +marble will endure as long as the poems? + +Such, my good friend, is the account which I have been able to +collect of the great Young. That it may be long before anything +like what I have just transcribed be necessary for you, is the +sincere wish of, + Dear Sir, your greatly obliged Friend, + HERBERT CROFT, Jun. + Lincoln's Inn, Sept., 1780. + +P.S.--This account of Young was seen by you in manuscript, you know, +sir, and, though I could not prevail on you to make any alteration, +you insisted on striking out one passage, because it said that if I +did not wish you to live long for your sake, I did for the sake of +myself and of the world. But this postscript you will not see +before the printing of it, and I will say here, in spite of you, how +I feel myself honoured and bettered by your friendship, and that if +I do credit to the Church, after which I always longed, and for +which I am now going to give in exchange the bar, though not at so +late a period of life as Young took orders, it will be owing, in no +small measure, to my having had the happiness of calling the author +of "The Rambler" my friend. H. C. + Oxford, Oct., 1782. + +Of Young's Poems it is difficult to give any general character, for +he has no uniformity of manner; one of his pieces has no great +resemblance to another. He began to write early and continued long, +and at different times had different modes of poetical excellence in +view. His numbers are sometimes smooth and sometimes rugged; his +style is sometimes concatenated and sometimes abrupt, sometimes +diffusive and sometimes concise. His plan seems to have started in +his mind at the present moment, and his thoughts appear the effect +of chance, sometimes adverse and sometimes lucky, with very little +operation of judgment. He was not one of those writers whom +experience improves, and who, observing their own faults, become +gradually correct. His poem on the "Last Day," his first great +performance, has an equability and propriety, which he afterwards +either never endeavoured or never attained. Many paragraphs are +noble, and few are mean, yet the whole is languid; the plan is too +much extended, and a succession of images divides and weakens the +general conception, but the great reason why the reader is +disappointed is that the thought of the LAST DAY makes every man +more than poetical by spreading over his mind a general obscurity of +sacred horror, that oppresses distinction and disdains expression. +His story of "Jane Grey" was never popular. It is written with +elegance enough, but Jane is too heroic to be pitied. + +"The Universal Passion" is indeed a very great performance. It is +said to be a series of epigrams, but, if it be, it is what the +author intended; his endeavour was at the production of striking +distichs and pointed sentences, and his distichs have the weight of +solid sentiments, and his points the sharpness of resistless truth. +His characters are often selected with discernment and drawn with +nicety; his illustrations are often happy, and his reflections often +just. His species of satire is between those of Horace and Juvenal, +and he has the gaiety of Horace without his laxity of numbers, and +the morality of Juvenal with greater variation of images. He plays, +indeed, only on the surface of life; he never penetrates the +recesses of the mind, and therefore the whole power of his poetry is +exhausted by a single perusal; his conceits please only when they +surprise. To translate he never condescended, unless his +"Paraphrase on Job" may be considered as a version, in which he has +not, I think, been unsuccessful; he indeed favoured himself by +choosing those parts which most easily admit the ornaments of +English poetry. He had least success in his lyric attempts, in +which he seems to have been under some malignant influence; he is +always labouring to be great, and at last is only turgid. + +In his "Night Thoughts" he has exhibited a very wide display of +original poetry, variegated with deep reflections and striking +allusions, a wilderness of thought, in which the fertility of fancy +scatters flowers of every hue and of every odour. This is one of +the few poems in which blank verse could not be changed for rhyme +but with disadvantage. The wild diffusion of the sentiments and the +digressive sallies of imagination would have been compressed and +restrained by confinement to rhyme. The excellence of this work is +not exactness but copiousness; particular lines are not to be +regarded; the power is in the whole, and in the whole there is a +magnificence like that ascribed to Chinese plantation, the +magnificence of vast extent and endless diversity. + +His last poem was the "Resignation," in which he made, as he was +accustomed, an experiment of a new mode of writing, and succeeded +better than in his "Ocean" or his "Merchant." It was very falsely +represented as a proof of decaying faculties. There is Young in +every stanza, such as he often was in the highest vigour. His +tragedies, not making part of the collection, I had forgotten, till +Mr. Stevens recalled them to my thoughts, by remarking, that he +seemed to have one favourite catastrophe, as his three plays all +concluded with lavish suicide, a method by which, as Dryden +remarked, a poet easily rids his scene of persons whom he wants not +to keep alive. In Busiris there are the greatest ebullitions of +imagination, but the pride of Busiris is such as no other man can +have, and the whole is too remote from known life to raise either +grief, terror, or indignation. The Revenge approaches much nearer +to human practices and manners, and therefore keeps possession of +the stage; the first design seems suggested by Othello, but the +reflections, the incidents, and the diction, are original. The +moral observations are so introduced and so expressed as to have all +the novelty that can be required. Of The Brothers I may be allowed +to say nothing, since nothing was ever said of it by the public. It +must be allowed of Young's poetry that it abounds in thought, but +without much accuracy or selection. When he lays hold of an +illustration he pursues it beyond expectation, sometimes happily, as +in his parallel of Quicksilver with Pleasure, which I have heard +repeated with approbation by a lady, of whose praise he would have +been justly proud, and which is very ingenious, very subtle, and +almost exact; but sometimes he is less lucky, as when, in his "Night +Thoughts," having it dropped into his mind that the orbs, floating +in space, might be called the CLUSTER of creation, he thinks of a +cluster of grapes, and says, that they all hang on the great vine, +drinking the "nectareous juice of immortal life." His conceits are +sometimes yet less valuable. In the "Last Day" he hopes to +illustrate the reassembly of the atoms that compose the human body +at the "Trump of Doom" by the collection of bees into a swarm at the +tinkling of a pan. The Prophet says of Tyre that "her merchants are +princes." Young says of Tyre in his "Merchant," + + "Her merchants princes, and each DECK A THRONE." + +Let burlesque try to go beyond him. + +He has the trick of joining the turgid and familiar: to buy the +alliance of Britain, "Climes were paid down." Antithesis is his +favourite, "They for kindness hate:" and "because she's right, she's +ever in the wrong." His versification is his own; neither his blank +nor his rhyming lines have any resemblance to those of former +writers; he picks up no hemistichs, he copies no favourite +expressions; he seems to have laid up no stores of thought or +diction, but to owe all to the fortuitous suggestions of the present +moment. Yet I have reason to believe that, when once he had formed +a new design, he then laboured it with very patient industry; and +that he composed with great labour and frequent revisions. His +verses are formed by no certain model; he is no more like himself in +his different productions than he is like others. He seems never to +have studied prosody, nor to have had any direction but from his own +ear. But with all his defects, he was a man of genius and a poet. + + + +MALLET. + + + +Of David Mallet, having no written memorial, I am able to give no +other account than such as is supplied by the unauthorised loquacity +of common fame, and a very slight personal knowledge. He was by his +original one of the Macgregors, a clan that became, about sixty +years ago, under the conduct of Robin Roy, so formidable and so +infamous for violence and robbery, that the name was annulled by a +legal abolition; and when they were all to denominate themselves +anew, the father, I suppose, of this author, called himself Malloch. + +David Malloch was, by the penury of his parents, compelled to be +Janitor of the High School at Edinburgh, a mean office of which he +did not afterwards delight to hear. But he surmounted the +disadvantages of his birth and fortune; for, when the Duke of +Montrose applied to the College of Edinburgh for a tutor to educate +his sons, Malloch was recommended; and I never heard that he +dishonoured his credentials. When his pupils were sent to see the +world, they were entrusted to his care; and having conducted them +round the common circle of modish travels, he returned with them to +London, where, by the influence of the family in which he resided, +he naturally gained admission to many persons of the highest rank, +and the highest character--to wits, nobles, and statesmen. Of his +works, I know not whether I can trace the series. His first +production was, "William and Margaret;" of which, though it contains +nothing very striking or difficult, he has been envied the +reputation; and plagiarism has been boldly charged, but never +proved. Not long afterwards he published the "Excursion" (1728); a +desultory and capricious view of such scenes of nature as his fancy +led him, or his knowledge enabled him, to describe. It is not +devoid of poetical spirit. Many of his images are striking, and +many of the paragraphs are elegant. The cast of diction seems to be +copied from Thomson, whose "Seasons" were then in their full blossom +of reputation. He has Thomson's beauties and his faults. His poem +on "Verbal Criticism" (1733) was written to pay court to Pope, on a +subject which he either did not understand, or willingly +misrepresented; and is little more than an improvement, or rather +expansion, of a fragment which Pope printed in a miscellany long +before he engrafted it into a regular poem. There is in this piece +more pertness than wit, and more confidence than knowledge. The +versification is tolerable, nor can criticism allow it a higher +praise. + +His first tragedy was Eurydice, acted at Drury Lane in 1731; of +which I know not the reception nor the merit, but have heard it +mentioned as a mean performance. He was not then too high to accept +a prologue and epilogue from Aaron Hill, neither of which can be +much commended. Having cleared his tongue from his native +pronunciation so as to be no longer distinguished as a Scot, he +seems inclined to disencumber himself from all adherences of his +original, and took upon him to change his name from Scotch Malloch +to English Mallet, without any imaginable reason of preference which +the eye or ear can discover. What other proofs he gave of +disrespect to his native country I know not; but it was remarked of +him that he was the only Scot whom Scotchmen did not commend. About +this time Pope, whom he visited familiarly, published his "Essay on +Man," but concealed the author; and, when Mallet entered one day, +Pope asked him slightly what there was new. Mallet told him that +the newest piece was something called an "Essay on Man," which he +had inspected idly, and seeing the utter inability of the author, +who had neither skill in writing nor knowledge of the subject, had +tossed it away. Pope, to punish his self-conceit, told him the +secret. + +A new edition of the works of Bacon being prepared (1740) for the +press, Mallet was employed to prefix a Life, which he has written +with elegance, perhaps with some affectation; but with so much more +knowledge of history than of science, that, when he afterwards +undertook the "Life of Marlborough," Warburton remarked that he +might perhaps forget that Marlborough was a general, as he had +forgotten that Bacon was a philosopher. + +When the Prince of Wales was driven from the palace, and, setting +himself at the head of the opposition, kept a separate court, he +endeavoured to increase his popularity by the patronage of +literature, and made Mallet his under-secretary, with a salary of +two hundred pounds a year; Thomson likewise had a pension; and they +were associated in the composition of The Masque of Alfred, which in +its original state was played at Cliefden in 1740; it was afterwards +almost wholly changed by Mallet, and brought upon the stage at Drury +Lane in 1751, but with no great success. Mallet, in a familiar +conversation with Garrick, discoursing of the diligence which he was +then exerting upon the "Life of Marlborough," let him know that in +the series of great men quickly to be exhibited he should FIND A +NICHE for the hero of the theatre. Garrick professed to wonder by +what artifice he could be introduced: but Mallet let him know that, +by a dexterous anticipation, he should fix him in a conspicuous +place. "Mr. Mallet," says Garrick, in his gratitude of exultation, +"have you left off to write for the stage?" Mallet then confessed +that he had a drama in his hands. Garrick promised to act it; and +"Alfred" was produced. + +The long retardation of the life of the Duke of Marlborough shows, +with strong conviction, how little confidence can be placed on +posthumous renown. When he died, it was soon determined that his +story should be delivered to posterity; and the papers supposed to +contain the necessary information were delivered to Lord Molesworth, +who had been his favourite in Flanders. When Molesworth died, the +same papers were transferred with the same design to Sir Richard +Steele, who, in some of his exigencies, put them in pawn. They +remained with the old duchess, who in her will assigned the task to +Glover and Mallet, with a reward of a thousand pounds, and a +prohibition to insert any verses. Glover rejected, I suppose, with +disdain, the legacy, and devolved the whole work upon Mallet; who +had from the late Duke of Marlborough a pension to promote his +industry, and who talked of the discoveries which he had made; but +left not, when he died, any historical labours behind him. While he +was in the Prince's service he published Mustapha with a prologue by +Thomson, not mean, but far inferior to that which he had received +from Mallet for Agamemnon. The epilogue, said to be written by a +friend, was composed in haste by Mallet, in the place of one +promised, which was never given. This tragedy was dedicated to the +Prince his master. It was acted at Drury Lane in 1739, and was well +received, but was never revived. In 1740 he produced, as has been +already mentioned, The Masque of Alfred, in conjunction with +Thomson. For some time afterwards he lay at rest. After a long +interval his next work was "Amyntor and Theodora" (1747), a long +story in blank verse; in which it cannot be denied that there is +copiousness and elegance of language, vigour of sentiment, and +imagery well adapted to take possession of the fancy. But it is +blank verse. This he sold to Vaillant for one hundred and twenty +pounds. The first sale was not great, and it is now lost in +forgetfulness. + +Mallet, by address or accident, perhaps by his dependence on the +Prince, found his way to Bolingbroke, a man whose pride and +petulance made his kindness difficult to gain or keep, and whom +Mallet was content to court by an act which I hope was unwillingly +performed. When it was found that Pope clandestinely printed an +unauthorised pamphlet called the "Patriot King," Bolingbroke in a +fit of useless fury resolved to blast his memory, and employed +Mallet (1749) as the executioner of his vengeance. Mallet had not +virtue, or had not spirit, to refuse the office; and was rewarded, +not long after, with the legacy of Lord Bolingbroke's works. + +Many of the political pieces had been written during the opposition +to Walpole, and given to Francklin, as he supposed, in perpetuity. +These, among the rest, were claimed by the will. The question was +referred to arbitrators; but, when they decided against Mallet, he +refused to yield to the award; and, by the help of Millar the +bookseller, published all that he could find, but with success very +much below his expectation. + +In 1775[sic], his masque of Britannia was acted at Drury Lane, and +his tragedy of Elvira in 1763; in which year he was appointed keeper +of the book of entries for ships in the port of London. In the +beginning of the last war, when the nation was exasperated by ill +success, he was employed to turn the public vengeance upon Byng, and +wrote a letter of accusation under the character of a "Plain Man." +The paper was with great industry circulated and dispersed; and he, +for his seasonable intervention, had a considerable pension bestowed +upon him, which he retained to his death. Towards the end of his +life he went with his wife to France; but after a while, finding his +health declining, he returned alone to England, and died in April, +1765. He was twice married, and by his first wife had several +children. One daughter, who married an Italian of rank named +Cilesia, wrote a tragedy called Almida, which was acted at Drury +Lane. His second wife was the daughter of a nobleman's steward, who +had a considerable fortune, which she took care to retain in her own +hands. His stature was diminutive, but he was regularly formed; his +appearance, till he grew corpulent, was agreeable, and he suffered +it to want no recommendation that dress could give it. His +conversation was elegant and easy. The rest of his character may, +without injury to his memory, sink into silence. As a writer, he +cannot be placed in any high class. There is no species of +composition in which he was eminent. His dramas had their day, a +short day, and are forgotten: his blank verse seems to my ear the +echo of Thomson. His "Life of Bacon" is known, as it is appended to +Bacon's volumes, but is no longer mentioned. His works are such as +a writer, bustling in the world, showing himself in public, and +emerging occasionally from time to time into notice, might keep +alive by his personal influence; but which, conveying little +information, and giving no great pleasure, must soon give way, as +the succession of things produces new topics of conversation and +other modes of amusement. + + + +AKENSIDE. + + + +Mark Akenside was born on the 9th of November, 1721, at Newcastle- +upon-Tyne. His father Mark was a butcher, of the Presbyterian sect; +his mother's name was Mary Lumsden. He received the first part of +his education at the grammar-school of Newcastle; and was afterwards +instructed by Mr. Wilson, who kept a private academy. At the age of +eighteen he was sent to Edinburgh that he might qualify himself for +the office of a dissenting minister, and received some assistance +from the fund which the dissenters employ in educating young men of +scanty fortune. But a wider view of the world opened other scenes, +and prompted other hopes: he determined to study physic, and repaid +that contribution, which being received for a different purpose, he +justly thought it dishonourable to retain. Whether, when he +resolved not to be a dissenting minister, he ceased to be a +dissenter, I know not. He certainly retained an unnecessary and +outrageous zeal for what he called and thought liberty; a zeal which +sometimes disguises from the world, and not rarely from the mind +which it possesses, an envious desire of plundering wealth or +degrading greatness; and of which the immediate tendency is +innovation and anarchy, an impetuous eagerness to subvert and +confound, with very little care what shall be established. + +Akenside was one of those poets who have felt very early the motions +of genius, and one of those students who have very early stored +their memories with sentiments and images. Many of his performances +were produced in his youth; and his greatest work, "The Pleasures of +Imagination," appeared in 1744. I have heard Dodsley, by whom it +was published, relate that when the copy was offered him, the price +demanded for it, which was a hundred and twenty pounds, being such +as he was not inclined to give precipitately, he carried the work to +Pope, who, having looked into it, advised him not to make a +niggardly offer; for "this was no every-day writer." + +In 1741 he went to Leyden in pursuit of medical knowledge; and three +years afterwards (May 16, 1744) became Doctor of Physic, having, +according to the custom of the Dutch Universities, published a +thesis or dissertation. The subject which he chose was "The +Original and Growth of the Human Foetus;" in which he is said to +have departed, with great judgment, from the opinion then +established, and to have delivered that which has been since +confirmed and received. + +Akenside was a young man, warm with every notion that by nature or +accident had been connected with the sound of liberty, and, by an +eccentricity which such dispositions do not easily avoid, a lover of +contradiction, and no friend to anything established. He adopted +Shaftesbury's foolish assertion of the efficacy of ridicule for the +discovery of truth. For this he was attacked by Warburton, and +defended by Dyson; Warburton afterwards reprinted his remarks at the +end of his dedication to the Freethinkers. The result of all the +arguments which have been produced in a long and eager discussion of +this idle question may easily be collected. If ridicule be applied +to any position as the test of truth it will then become a question +whether such ridicule be just; and this can only be decided by the +application of truth, as the test of ridicule. Two men fearing, one +a real, and the other a fancied danger, will be for a while equally +exposed to the inevitable consequences of cowardice, contemptuous +censure, and ludicrous representation; and the true state of both +cases must be known before it can be decided whose terror is +rational and whose is ridiculous; who is to be pitied, and who to be +despised. Both are for a while equally exposed to laughter, but +both are not therefore equally contemptible. In the revisal of his +poem, though he died before he had finished it, he omitted the lines +which had given occasion to Warburton's objections. He published, +soon after his return from Leyden (1745), his first collection of +odes; and was impelled by his rage of patriotism to write a very +acrimonious epistle to Pulteney, whom he stigmatises, under the name +of Curio, as the betrayer of his country. Being now to live by his +profession, he first commenced physician at Northampton, where Dr. +Stonehouse then practised, with such reputation and success, that a +stranger was not likely to gain ground upon him. Akenside tried the +contest a while; and, having deafened the place with clamours for +liberty, removed to Hampstead, where he resided more than two years, +and then fixed himself in London, the proper place for a man of +accomplishments like his. At London he was known as a poet, but was +still to make his way as a physician; and would perhaps have been +reduced to great exigencies but that Mr. Dyson, with an ardour of +friendship that has not many examples, allowed him three hundred +pounds a year. Thus supported, he advanced gradually in medical +reputation, but never attained any great extent of practice or +eminence of popularity. A physician in a great city seems to be the +mere plaything of fortune; his degree of reputation is, for the most +part, totally casual--they that employ him know not his excellence; +they that reject him know not his deficience. By any acute observer +who had looked on the transactions of the medical world for half a +century a very curious book might be written on the "Fortune of +Physicians." + +Akenside appears not to have been wanting to his own success: he +placed himself in view by all the common methods; he became a Fellow +of the Royal Society; he obtained a degree at Cambridge; and was +admitted into the College of Physicians; he wrote little poetry, but +published from time to time medical essays and observations; he +became physician to St. Thomas's Hospital; he read the Gulstonian +Lectures in Anatomy; but began to give, for the Croonian Lecture, a +history of the revival of learning, from which he soon desisted; and +in conversation he very eagerly forced himself into notice by an +ambitious ostentation of elegance and literature. His "Discourse on +the Dysentery" (1764) was considered as a very conspicuous specimen +of Latinity, which entitled him to the same height of place among +the scholars as he possessed before among the wits; and he might +perhaps have risen to a greater elevation of character but that his +studies were ended with his life by a putrid fever June 23, 1770, in +the forty-ninth year of his age. + +Akenside is to be considered as a didactic and lyric poet. His +great work is the "Pleasures of Imagination," a performance which, +published as it was at the age of twenty-three, raised expectations +that were not amply satisfied. It has undoubtedly a just claim to +very particular notice as an example of great felicity of genius, +and uncommon aptitude of acquisitions, of a young mind stored with +images, and much exercised in combining and comparing them. With +the philosophical or religious tenets of the author I have nothing +to do; my business is with his poetry. The subject is well chosen, +as it includes all images that can strike or please, and thus +comprises every species of poetical delight. The only difficulty is +in the choice of examples and illustrations; and it is not easy in +such exuberance of matter to find the middle point between penury +and satiety. The parts seem artificially disposed, with sufficient +coherence, so as that they cannot change their places without injury +to the general design. His images are displayed with such +luxuriance of expression that they are hidden, like Butler's Moon, +by a "Veil of Light;" they are forms fantastically lost under +superfluity of dress. Pars minima est ipsa puella sui. The words +are multiplied till the sense is hardly perceived; attention deserts +the mind, and settles in the ear. The reader wanders through the +gay diffusion, sometimes amazed, and sometimes delighted; but, after +many turnings in the flowery labyrinth, comes out as he went in. He +remarked little, and laid hold on nothing. To his versification +justice requires that praise should not be denied. In the general +fabrication of his lines he is perhaps superior to any other writer +of blank verse; his flow is smooth, and his pauses are musical; but +the concatenation of his verses is commonly too long continued, and +the full close does not occur with sufficient frequency. The sense +is carried on through a long intertexture of complicated clauses, +and, as nothing is distinguished, nothing is remembered. + +The exemption which blank verse affords from the necessity of +closing the sense with the couplet betrays luxuriant and active +minds into such self-indulgence that they pile image upon image, +ornament upon ornament, and are not easily persuaded to close the +sense at all. Blank verse will therefore, I fear, be too often +found in description exuberant, in argument loquacious, and in +narration tiresome. His diction is certainly poetical, as it is not +prosaic; and elegant, as it is not vulgar. He is to be commended as +having fewer artifices of disgust than most of his brethren of the +blank song. He rarely either recalls old phrases, or twists his +metre into harsh inversions. The sense, however, of his words is +strained when "he views the Ganges from Alpine heights"--that is, +from mountains like the Alps. And the pedant surely intrudes (but +when was blank verse without pedantry?) when he tells how "Planets +ABSOLVE the stated round of Time." + +It is generally known to the readers of poetry that he intended to +revise and augment this work, but died before he had completed his +design. The reformed work as he left it, and the additions which he +had made, are very properly retained in the late collection. He +seems to have somewhat contracted his diffusion; but I know not +whether he has gained in closeness what he has lost in splendour. +In the additional book the "Tale of Solon" is too long. One great +defect of this poem is very properly censured by Mr. Walker, unless +it may be said in his defence that what he has omitted was not +properly in his plan. "His picture of man is grand and beautiful, +but unfinished. The immortality of the soul, which is the natural +consequence of the appetites and powers she is invested with, is +scarcely once hinted throughout the poem. This deficiency is amply +supplied by the masterly pencil of Dr. Young, who, like a good +philosopher, has invincibly proved the immortality of man from the +grandeur of his conceptions and the meanness and misery of his +state; for this reason a few passages are selected from the 'Night +Thoughts,' which, with those from Akenside, seem to form a complete +view of the powers, situation, and end of man."--"Exercises for +Improvement in Elocution," p. 66. + +His other poems are now to be considered; but a short consideration +will despatch them. It is not easy to guess why he addicted himself +so diligently to lyric poetry, having neither the ease and airiness +of the lighter, nor the vehemence and elevation of the grander ode. +When he lays his ill-fated hand upon his harp his former powers seem +to desert him; he has no longer his luxuriance of expression or +variety of images. His thoughts are cold, and his words inelegant. +Yet such was his love of lyrics that, having written with great +vigour and poignancy his "Epistle to Curio," he transformed it +afterwards into an ode disgraceful only to its author. + +Of his odes nothing favourable can be said; the sentiments commonly +want force, nature, or novelty; the diction is sometimes harsh and +uncouth, the stanzas ill-constructed and unpleasant, and the rhymes +dissonant or unskilfully disposed, too distant from each other, or +arranged with too little regard to established use, and therefore +perplexing to the ear, which in a short composition has not time to +grow familiar with an innovation. To examine such compositions +singly cannot be required; they have doubtless brighter and darker +parts; but, when they are once found to be generally dull, all +further labour may be spared, for to what use can the work be +criticised that will not be read? + + + +GRAY. + + + +Thomas Gray, the son of Mr. Philip Gray, a scrivener of London, was +born in Cornhill, November 26, 1716. His grammatical education he +received at Eton, under the care of Mr. Antrobus, his mother's +brother, then assistant to Dr. George, and when he left school, in +1734, entered a pensioner at Peterhouse, in Cambridge. The +transition from the school to the college is, to most young +scholars, the time from which they date their years of manhood, +liberty, and happiness; but Gray seems to have been very little +delighted with academical gratifications; he liked at Cambridge +neither the mode of life nor the fashion of study, and lived +sullenly on to the time when his attendance on lectures was no +longer required. As he intended to profess the common law, he took +no degree. When he had been at Cambridge about five years, Mr. +Horace Walpole, whose friendship he had gained at Eton, invited him +to travel with him as his companion. They wandered through France +into Italy; and Gray's "Letters" contain a very pleasing account of +many parts of their journey. But unequal friendships are easily +dissolved; at Florence they quarrelled and parted; and Mr. Walpole +is now content to have it told that it was by his fault. If we +look, however, without prejudice on the world, we shall find that +men whose consciousness of their own merit sets them above the +compliances of servility are apt enough in their association with +superiors to watch their own dignity with troublesome and +punctilious jealousy, and in the fervour of independence to exact +that attention which they refuse to pay. Part they did, whatever +was the quarrel; and the rest of their travels was doubtless more +unpleasant to them both. Gray continued his journey in a manner +suitable to his own little fortune, with only an occasional servant. +He returned to England in September, 1741, and in about two months +afterwards buried his father, who had, by an injudicious waste of +money upon a new house, so much lessened his fortune that Gray +thought himself too poor to study the law. He therefore retired to +Cambridge, where he soon after became Bachelor of Civil Law, and +where, without liking the place or its inhabitants, or professing to +like them, he passed, except a short residence at London, the rest +of his life. About this time he was deprived of Mr. West, the son +of a chancellor of Ireland, a friend on whom he appears to have set +a high value, and who deserved his esteem by the powers which he +shows in his "Letters" and in the "Ode to May," which Mr. Mason has +preserved, as well as by the sincerity with which, when Gray sent +him part of Agrippina, a tragedy that he had just begun, he gave an +opinion which probably intercepted the progress of the work, and +which the judgment of every reader will confirm. It was certainly +no loss to the English stage that Agrippina was never finished. In +this year (1742) Gray seems to have applied himself seriously to +poetry; for in this year were produced the "Ode to Spring," his +"Prospect of Eton," and his "Ode to Adversity." He began likewise a +Latin poem, "De Principiis Cogitandi." + +It may be collected from the narrative of Mr. Mason that his first +ambition was to have excelled in Latin poetry; perhaps it were +reasonable to wish that he had prosecuted his design; for though +there is at present some embarrassment in his phrase, and some +harshness in his lyric numbers, his copiousness of language is such +as very few possess; and his lines, even when imperfect, discover a +writer whom practice would have made skilful. He now lived on at +Peterhouse, very little solicitous what others did or thought, and +cultivated his mind and enlarged his views without any other purpose +than of improving and amusing himself, when Mr. Mason, being elected +Fellow of Pembroke Hall, brought him a companion who was afterwards +to be his editor, and whose fondness and fidelity has kindled in him +a zeal of admiration which cannot be reasonably expected from the +neutrality of a stranger and the coldness of a critic. In this +retirement he wrote (1747) an ode on the "Death of Mr. Walpole's +Cat;" and the year afterwards attempted a poem of more importance, +on "Government and Education," of which the fragments which remain +have many excellent lines. His next production (1750) was his far- +famed "Elegy in the Churchyard," which, finding its way into a +magazine, first, I believe, made him known to the public. + +An invitation from Lady Cobham about this time gave occasion to an +odd composition called "A Long Story," which adds little to Gray's +character. Several of his pieces were published (1753) with designs +by Mr. Bentley; and, that they might in some form or other make a +book, only one side of each leaf was printed. I believe the poems +and the plates recommended each other so well that the whole +impression was soon bought. This year he lost his mother. Some +time afterwards (1756) some young men of the college, whose chambers +were near his, diverted themselves with disturbing him by frequent +and troublesome noises, and, as is said, by pranks yet more +offensive and contemptuous. This insolence, having endured it +awhile, he represented to the governors of the society, among whom +perhaps he had no friends; and finding his complaint little +regarded, removed himself to Pembroke Hall. + +In 1759 he published "The Progress of Poetry" and "The Bard," two +compositions at which the readers of poetry were at first content to +gaze in mute amazement. Some that tried them confessed their +inability to understand them, though Warburton said that they were +understood as well as the works of Milton and Shakespeare, which it +is the fashion to admire. Garrick wrote a few lines in their +praise. Some hardy champions undertook to rescue them from neglect; +and in a short time many were content to be shown beauties which +they could not see. + +Gray's reputation was now so high that, after the death of Cibber, +he had the honour of refusing the laurel, which was then bestowed on +Mr. Whitehead. His curiosity, not long after, drew him away from +Cambridge to a lodging near the Museum, where he resided near three +years, reading and transcribing, and, so far as can be discovered, +very little affected by two odes on "Oblivion" and "Obscurity," in +which his lyric performances were ridiculed with much contempt and +much ingenuity. When the Professor of Modern History at Cambridge +died, he was, as he says, "cockered and spirited up," till he asked +it of Lord Bute, who sent him a civil refusal; and the place was +given to Mr. Brocket, the tutor of Sir James Lowther. His +constitution was weak, and, believing that his health was promoted +by exercise and change of place, he undertook (1765) a journey into +Scotland, of which his account, so far as it extends, is very +curious and elegant; for, as his comprehension was ample, his +curiosity extended to all the works of art, all the appearances of +nature, and all the monuments of past events. He naturally +contracted a friendship with Dr. Beattie, whom he found a poet, a +philosopher, and a good man. The Mareschal College at Aberdeen +offered him a degree of Doctor of Laws, which, having omitted to +take it at Cambridge, he thought it decent to refuse. What he had +formerly solicited in vain was at last given him without +solicitation. The Professorship of History became again vacant, and +he received (1768) an offer of it from the Duke of Grafton. He +accepted, and retained, it to his death; always designing lectures, +but never reading them; uneasy at his neglect of duty, and appeasing +his uneasiness with designs of reformation, and with a resolution +which he believed himself to have made of resigning the office if he +found himself unable to discharge it. Ill-health made another +journey necessary, and he visited (1769) Westmoreland and +Cumberland. He that reads his epistolary narration wishes that, to +travel, and to tell his travels, had been more of his employment; +but it is by studying at home that we must obtain the ability of +travelling with intelligence and improvement. His travels and his +studies were now near their end. The gout, of which he had +sustained many weak attacks, fell upon his stomach, and, yielding to +no medicines, produced strong convulsions, which (July 30, 1771) +terminated in death. His character I am willing to adopt, as Mr. +Mason has done, from a letter written to my friend Mr. Boswell by +the Rev. Mr. Temple, rector of St. Gluvias in Cornwall; and am as +willing as his warmest well-wisher to believe it true:-- + +"Perhaps he was the most learned man in Europe. He was equally +acquainted with the elegant and profound parts of science, and that +not superficially, but thoroughly. He knew every branch of history, +both natural and civil; had read all the original historians of +England, France, and Italy; and was a great antiquarian. Criticism, +metaphysics, morals, politics, made a principal part of his study; +voyages and travels of all sorts were his favourite amusements; and +he had a fine taste in painting, prints, architecture, and +gardening. With such a fund of knowledge, his conversation must +have been equally instructing and entertaining; but he was also a +good man, a man of virtue and humanity. There is no character +without some speck, some imperfection; and I think the greatest +defect in his was an affectation in delicacy, or rather effeminacy, +and a visible fastidiousness, or contempt and disdain of his +inferiors in science. He also had, in some degree, that weakness +which disgusted Voltaire so much in Mr. Congreve: though he seemed +to value others chiefly according to the progress they had made in +knowledge, yet he could not bear to be considered merely as a man of +letters; and, though without birth or fortune or station, his desire +was to be looked upon as a private independent gentleman, who read +for his amusement. Perhaps it may be said, What signifies so much +knowledge, when it produced so little? Is it worth taking so much +pains to leave no memorial but a few poems? But let it be +considered that Mr. Gray was to others at least innocently employed; +to himself certainly beneficially. His time passed agreeably; he +was every day making some new acquisition in science; his mind was +enlarged, his heart softened, his virtue strengthened; the world and +mankind were shown to him without a mask; and he was taught to +consider everything as trifling and unworthy of the attention of a +wise man except the pursuit of knowledge and practice of virtue in +that state wherein God hath placed us." + +To this character Mr. Mason has added a more particular account of +Gray's skill in zoology. He has remarked that Gray's effeminacy was +affected most "before those whom he did not wish to please;" and +that he is unjustly charged with making knowledge his sole reason of +preference, as he paid his esteem to none whom he did not likewise +believe to be good. + +What has occurred to me from the slight inspection of his letters in +which my undertaking has engaged me is, that his mind had a large +grasp; that his curiosity was unlimited, and his judgment +cultivated; that he was a man likely to love much where he loved at +all; but that he was fastidious and hard to please. His contempt, +however, is often employed, where I hope it will be approved, upon +scepticism and infidelity. His short account of Shaftesbury (author +of the "Characteristics") I will insert:-- + +"You say you cannot conceive how Lord Shaftesbury came to be a +philosopher in vogue; I will tell you: first, he was a lord; +secondly, he was as vain as any of his readers; thirdly, men are +very prone to believe what they do not understand; fourthly, they +will believe anything at all, provided they are under no obligation +to believe it; fifthly, they love to take a new road, even when that +road leads nowhere; sixthly, he was reckoned a fine writer, and +seems always to mean more than he said. Would you have any more +reasons? An interval of about forty years has pretty well destroyed +the charm. A dead lord ranks with commoners; vanity is no longer +interested in the matter, for a new road has become an old one." + +Mr. Mason has added, from his own knowledge, that though Gray was +poor he was not eager of money, and that out of the little that he +had he was very willing to help the necessitous. As a writer, he +had this peculiarity--that he did not write his pieces first rudely, +and then correct them, but laboured every line as it arose in the +train of composition; and he had a notion, not very peculiar, that +he could not write but at certain times, or at happy moments--a +fantastic foppery to which my kindness for a man of learning and +virtue wishes him to have been superior. + +Gray's poetry is now to be considered; and I hope not to be looked +on as an enemy to his name if I confess that I contemplate it with +less pleasure than his Life. His ode "On Spring" has something +poetical, both in the language and the thought; but the language is +too luxuriant, and the thoughts have nothing new. There has of late +arisen a practice of giving to adjectives derived from substantives +the termination of participles; such as the CULTURED plain, the +DAISIED bank; but I was sorry to see, in the lines of a scholar like +Gray, the HONIED Spring. The morality is natural, but too stale; +the conclusion is pretty. + +The poem "On the Cat" was doubtless by its author considered as a +trifle, but it is not a happy trifle. In the first stanza, "the +azure flowers THAT blow" show resolutely a rhyme is sometimes made +when it cannot easily be found. Selima, the cat, is called a nymph, +with some violence both to language and sense; but there is no good +use made of it when it is done; for of the two lines + + "What female heart can gold despise? + What cat's averse to fish?" + +the first relates merely to the nymph, and the second only to the +cat. The sixth stanza contains a melancholy truth, that "a +favourite has no friend;" but the last ends in a pointed sentence of +no relation to the purpose. If WHAT GLISTERED had been GOLD, the +cat would not have gone into the water; and if she had, would not +less have been drowned. + +"The Prospect of Eton College" suggests nothing to Gray which every +beholder does not equally think and feel. His supplication to +Father Thames to tell him who drives the hoop or tosses the ball is +useless and puerile. Father Thames has no better means of knowing +than himself. His epithet "buxom health" is not elegant; he seems +not to understand the word. Gray thought his language more poetical +as it was more remote from common use. Finding in Dryden "honey +redolent of spring," an expression that reaches the utmost limits of +our language, Gray drove it a little more beyond common apprehension +by making "gales" to be "redolent of joy and youth." + +Of the "Ode on Adversity," the hint was at first taken from "O Diva, +gratum quae regis Antium;" but Gray has excelled his original by the +variety of his sentiments, and by their moral application. Of this +piece, at once poetical and rational, I will not by slight +objections violate the dignity. + +My process has now brought me to the WONDERFUL "Wonder of Wonders," +the two Sister Odes, by which, though either vulgar ignorance or +common sense at first universally rejected them, many have been +since persuaded to think themselves delighted. I am one of those +that are willing to be pleased, and therefore would gladly find the +meaning of the first stanza of the "Progress of Poetry." Gray seems +in his rapture to confound the images of spreading sound and running +water. A "stream of music" may be allowed; but where does "music," +however "smooth and strong," after having visited the "verdant +vales, roll down the steep amain," so as that "rocks and nodding +groves rebellow to the roar"? If this be said of music, it is +nonsense; if it be said of water, it is nothing to the purpose. The +second stanza, exhibiting Mars' car and Jove's eagle, is unworthy of +further notice. Criticism disdains to chase a schoolboy to his +common-places. To the third it may likewise be objected that it is +drawn from mythology, though such as may be more easily assimilated +to real life. Idalia's "velvet green" has something of cant. An +epithet or metaphor drawn from Nature ennobles Art; an epithet or +metaphor drawn from Art degrades Nature. Gray is too fond of words +arbitrarily compounded. "Many-twinkling" was formerly censured as +not analogical; we may say "many-spotted," but scarcely "many- +spotting." This stanza, however, has something pleasing. Of the +second ternary of stanzas, the first endeavours to tell something, +and would have told it, had it not been crossed by Hyperion; the +second describes well enough the universal prevalence of poetry; but +I am afraid that the conclusion will not rise from the premises. +The caverns of the North and the plains of Chili are not the +residences of "glory and generous shame." But that poetry and +virtue go always together is an opinion so pleasing that I can +forgive him who resolves to think it true. The third stanza sounds +big with "Delphi," and "AEgean," and "Ilissus," and "Meander," and +"hallowed fountains," and "solemn sound;" but in all Gray's odes +there is a kind of cumbrous splendour which we wish away. His +position is at last false. In the time of Dante and Petrarch, from +whom we derive our first school of poetry, Italy was overrun by +"tyrant power" and "coward vice;" nor was our state much better when +we first borrowed the Italian arts. Of the third ternary, the first +gives a mythological birth of Shakespeare. What is said of that +mighty genius is true, but it is not said happily; the real effects +of this poetical power are put out of sight by the pomp of +machinery. Where truth is sufficient to fill the mind, fiction is +worse than useless; the counterfeit debases the genuine. His +account of Milton's blindness, if we suppose it caused by study in +the formation of his poem (a supposition surely allowable), is +poetically true, and happily imagined. But the CAR of Dryden, with +his TWO COURSERS, has nothing in it peculiar; it is a car in which +any other rider may be placed. + +"The Bard" appears, at the first view, to be, as Algarotti and +others have remarked, an imitation of the prophecy of Nereus. +Algarotti thinks it superior to its original; and, if preference +depends only on the imagery and animation of the two poems, his +judgment is right. There is in "The Bard" more force, more thought, +and more variety. But to copy is less than to invent, and the copy +has been unhappily produced at a wrong time. The fiction of Horace +was to the Romans credible; but its revival disgusts us with +apparent and unconquerable falsehood. INCREDULUS ODI. To select a +singular event, and swell it to a giant's bulk by fabulous +appendages of spectres and predictions, has little difficulty; for +he that forsakes the probable may always find the marvellous. And +it has little use; we are affected only as we believe; we are +improved only as we find something to be imitated or declined. I do +not see that "The Bard" promotes any truth, moral or political. His +stanzas are too long, especially his epodes; the ode is finished +before the ear has learned its measures, and consequently before it +can receive pleasure from their consonance and recurrence. Of the +first stanza the abrupt beginning has been celebrated; but technical +beauties can give praise only to the inventor. It is in the power +of any man to rush abruptly upon his subject that has read the +ballad of "Johnny Armstrong," + + "Is there ever a man in all Scotland--?" + +The initial resemblances or alliterations, "ruin, ruthless," "helm +or hauberk," are below the grandeur of a poem that endeavours at +sublimity. In the second stanza the Bard is well described, but in +the third we have the puerilities of obsolete mythology. When we +are told that "Cadwallo hushed the stormy main," and that "Modred +made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topped head," attention recoils +from the repetition of a tale that, even when it was first heard, +was heard with scorn. The WEAVING of the WINDING-SHEET he borrowed, +as he owns, from the Northern Bards, but their texture, however, was +very properly the work of female powers, as the act of spinning the +thread of life in another mythology. Theft is always dangerous; +Gray has made weavers of slaughtered bards by a fiction outrageous +and incongruous. They are then called upon to "Weave the warp and +weave the woof," perhaps with no great propriety, for it is by +crossing the WOOF with the WARP that men weave the WEB or piece, and +the first line was dearly bought by the admission of its wretched +correspondent, "Give ample room and verge enough." He has, however, +no other line as bad. The third stanza of the second ternary is +commended, I think, beyond its merit. The personification is +indistinct. THIRST and HUNGER are not alike, and their features, to +make the imagery perfect, should have been discriminated. We are +told in the same stanza how "towers are fed." But I will no longer +look for particular faults; yet let it be observed that the ode +might have been concluded with an action of better example, but +suicide is always to be had without expense of thought. + +These odes are marked by glittering accumulations of ungraceful +ornaments, they strike rather than please; the images are magnified +by affectation; the language is laboured into harshness. The mind +of the writer seems to work with unnatural violence. "Double, +double, toil and trouble." He has a kind of strutting dignity, and +is tall by walking on tiptoe. His art and his struggle are too +visible, and there is too little appearance of ease and nature. To +say that he has no beauties would be unjust; a man like him, of +great learning and great industry, could not but produce something +valuable. When he pleases least, it can only be said that a good +design was ill directed. His translations of Northern and Welsh +poetry deserve praise; the imagery is preserved, perhaps often +improved, but the language is unlike the language of other poets. +In the character of his Elegy I rejoice to concur with the common +reader, for by the common sense of readers uncorrupted with literary +prejudices, after all the refinements of subtlety and the dogmatism +of learning, must be finally decided all claim to poetical honours. +The "Churchyard" abounds with images which find a mirror in every +mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo. The +four stanzas, beginning "Yet even these bones," are to me original; +I have never seen the notions in any other place, yet he that reads +them here persuades himself that he has always felt them. Had Gray +written often thus, it had been vain to blame and useless to praise +him. + + + +LYTTELTON. + + + +George Lyttelton, the son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley, in +Worcestershire, was born in 1709. He was educated at Eton, where he +was so much distinguished that his exercises were recommended as +models to his schoolfellows. From Eton he went to Christchurch, +where he retained the same reputation of superiority, and displayed +his abilities to the public in a poem on "Blenheim." He was a very +early writer both in verse and prose. His "Progress of Love" and +his "Persian Letters" were both written when he was very young, and, +indeed, the character of a young man is very visible in both. The +verses cant of shepherds and flocks, and crooks dressed with +flowers; and the letters have something of that indistinct and +headstrong ardour for liberty which a man of genius always catches +when he enters the world, and always suffers to cool as he passes +forward. He stayed not long in Oxford, for in 1728 he began his +travels, and saw France and Italy. When he returned he obtained a +seat in Parliament, and soon distinguished himself among the most +eager opponents of Sir Robert Walpole, though his father, who was +Commissioner of the Admiralty, always voted with the Court. For +many years the name of George Lyttelton was seen in every account of +every debate in the House of Commons. He opposed the standing army; +he opposed the excise; he supported the motion for petitioning the +king to remove Walpole. His zeal was considered by the courtiers +not only as violent but as acrimonious and malignant, and when +Walpole was at last hunted from his places, every effort was made by +his friends, and many friends he had, to exclude Lyttelton from the +secret committee. + +The Prince of Wales, being (1737) driven from St. James's, kept a +separate court, and opened his arms to the opponents of the +Ministry. Mr. Lyttelton became his Secretary, and was supposed to +have great influence in the direction of his conduct. He persuaded +his master, whose business it was now to be popular, that he would +advance his character by patronage. Mallet was made Under +Secretary, with 200 pounds, and Thomson had a pension of 100 pounds +a year. For Thomson, Lyttelton always retained his kindness, and +was able at last to place him at ease. Moore courted his favour by +an apologetical poem called the "Trial of Selim," for which he was +paid with kind words, which, as is common, raised great hopes, that +were at last disappointed. + +Lyttelton now stood in the first rank of Opposition, and Pope, who +was incited, it is not easy to say how, to increase the clamour +against the Ministry, commended him among the other patriots. This +drew upon him the reproaches of Fox, who in the House imputed to him +as a crime his intimacy with a lampooner so unjust and licentious. +Lyttelton supported his friend; and replied that he thought it an +honour to be received into the familiarity of so great a poet. +While he was thus conspicuous he married (1741) Miss Lucy Fortescue, +of Devonshire, by whom he had a son, the late Lord Lyttelton, and +two daughters, and with whom he appears to have lived in the highest +degree of connubial felicity; but human pleasures are short; she +died in childbed about five years afterwards, and he solaced his +grief by writing a long poem to her memory. He did not, however, +condemn himself to perpetual solitude and sorrow, for after a while +he was content to seek happiness again by a second marriage with the +daughter of Sir Robert Rich, but the experiment was unsuccessful. +At length, after a long struggle, Walpole gave way, and honour and +profit were distributed among his conquerors. Lyttelton was made +(1744) one of the Lords of the Treasury, and from that time was +engaged in supporting the schemes of the Ministry. + +Politics did not, however, so much engage him as to withhold his +thoughts from things of more importance. He had, in the pride of +juvenile confidence, with the help of corrupt conversation, +entertained doubts of the truth of Christianity; but he thought the +time now come when it was no longer fit to doubt or believe by +chance, and applied himself seriously to the great question. His +studies, being honest, ended in conviction. He found that religion +was true, and what he had learned he endeavoured to teach (1747) by +"Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul," a treatise to which +infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious answer. This +book his father had the happiness of seeing, and expressed his +pleasure in a letter which deserves to be inserted:-- + +"I have read your religious treatise with infinite pleasure and +satisfaction. The style is fine and clear, the arguments close, +cogent, and irresistible. May the King of Kings, whose glorious +cause you have so well defended, reward your pious labours, and +grant that I may be found worthy, through the merits of Jesus +Christ, to be an eye-witness of that happiness which I don't doubt +he will bountifully bestow upon you. In the meantime I shall never +cease glorifying God for having endowed you with such useful +talents, and giving me so good a son. + "Your affectionate father, + "THOMAS LYTTELTON." + +A few years afterwards (1751), by the death of his father, he +inherited a baronet's title, with a large estate, which, though +perhaps he did not augment, he was careful to adorn by a house of +great elegance and expense, and by much attention to the decoration +of his park. As he continued his activity in Parliament, he was +gradually advancing his claim to profit and preferment; and +accordingly was made in time (1754) Cofferer and Privy Councillor: +this place he exchanged next year for the great office of Chancellor +of the Exchequer--an office, however, that required some +qualifications which he soon perceived himself to want. The year +after, his curiosity led him into Wales; of which he has given an +account, perhaps rather with too much affectation of delight, to +Archibald Bower, a man of whom he has conceived an opinion more +favourable than he seems to have deserved, and whom, having once +espoused his interest and fame he was never persuaded to disown. +Bower, whatever was his moral character, did not want abilities. +Attacked as he was by a universal outcry, and that outcry, as it +seems, the echo of truth, he kept his ground; at last, when his +defences began to fail him, he sallied out upon his adversaries, and +his adversaries retreated. + +About this time Lyttelton published his "Dialogues of the Dead," +which were very eagerly read, though the production rather, as it +seems, of leisure than of study--rather effusions than compositions. +The names of his persons too often enable the reader to anticipate +their conversation; and when they have met, they too often part +without any conclusion. He has copied Fenelon more than Fontenelle. +When they were first published they were kindly commended by the +"Critical Reviewers;" and poor Lyttelton, with humble gratitude, +returned, in a note which I have read, acknowledgments which can +never be proper, since they must be paid either for flattery or for +justice. + +When, in the latter part of the last reign, the inauspicious +commencement of the war made the dissolution of the Ministry +unavoidable, Sir George Lyttelton, losing with the rest his +employment, was recompensed with a peerage; and rested from +political turbulence in the House of Lords. + +His last literary production was his "History of Henry the Second," +elaborated by the searches and deliberations of twenty years, and +published with such anxiety as only vanity can dictate. The story +of this publication is remarkable. The whole work was printed twice +over, a great part of it three times, and many sheets four or five +times. The booksellers paid for the first impression; but the +changes and repeated operations of the press were at the expense of +the author, whose ambitious accuracy is known to have cost him at +least a thousand pounds. He began to print in 1755. Three volumes +appeared in 1764, a second edition of them in 1767, a third edition +in 1768, and the conclusion in 1771. + +Andrew Reid, a man not without considerable abilities and not +unacquainted with letters or with life, undertook to persuade +Lyttelton, as he had persuaded himself, that he was master of the +secret of punctuation; and, as fear begets credulity, he was +employed, I know not at what price, to point the pages of "Henry the +Second." The book was at last pointed and printed, and sent into +the world. Lyttelton took money for his copy, of which, when he had +paid the pointer, he probably gave the rest away; for he was very +liberal to the indigent. When time brought the History to a third +edition, Reid was either dead or discarded; and the superintendence +of typography and punctuation was committed to a man originally a +comb-maker, but then known by the style of Doctor. Something +uncommon was probably expected, and something uncommon was at last +done; for to the Doctor's edition is appended, what the world had +hardly seen before, a list of errors in nineteen pages. + +But to politics and literature there must be an end. Lord Lyttelton +had never the appearance of a strong or of a healthy man; he had a +slender, uncompacted frame, and a meagre face; he lasted, however, +sixty years, and was then seized with his last illness. Of his +death a very affecting and instructive account has been given by his +physician, which will spare me the task of his moral character:-- + +"On Sunday evening the symptoms of his lordship's disorder, which +for a week past had alarmed us, put on a fatal appearance, and his +lordship believed himself to be a dying man. From this time he +suffered from restlessness rather than pain; though his nerves were +apparently much fluttered, his mental faculties never seemed +stronger, when he was thoroughly awake. His lordship's bilious and +hepatic complaints seemed alone not equal to the expected mournful +event; his long want of sleep, whether the consequence of the +irritation in the bowels, or, which is more probable, of causes of a +different kind, accounts for his loss of strength, and for his +death, very sufficiently. Though his lordship wished his +approaching dissolution not to be lingering, he waited for it with +resignation. He said, 'It is a folly, a keeping me in misery, now +to attempt to prolong life;' yet he was easily persuaded, for the +satisfaction of others, to do or take anything thought proper for +him. On Saturday he had been remarkably better, and we were not +without some hopes of his recovery. + +"On Sunday, about eleven in the forenoon, his lordship sent for me, +and said he felt a great hurry, and wished to have a little +conversation with me, in order to divert it. He then proceeded to +open the fountain of that heart, from whence goodness had so long +flowed, as from a copious spring. 'Doctor,' said he, 'you shall be +my confessor: when I first set out in the world I had friends who +endeavoured to shake my belief in the Christian religion. I saw +difficulties which staggered me, but I kept my mind open to +conviction. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity, studied +with attention, made me a most firm and persuaded believer of the +Christian religion. I have made it the rule of my life, and it is +the ground of my future hopes. I have erred and sinned; but have +repented, and never indulged any vicious habit. In politics and +public life I have made public good the rule of my conduct. I never +gave counsels which I did not at the time think the best. I have +seen that I was sometimes in the wrong, but I did not err +designedly. I have endeavoured in private life to do all the good +in my power, and never for a moment could indulge malicious or +unjust designs upon any person whatsoever.' + +"At another time he said, 'I must leave my soul in the same state it +was in before this illness; I find this a very inconvenient time for +solicitude about anything.' + +"On the evening, when the symptoms of death came on, he said, 'I +shall die; but it will not be your fault.' When Lord and Lady +Valentia came to see his lordship, he gave them his solemn +benediction, and said, 'Be good, be virtuous, my lord; you must come +to this.' Thus he continued giving his dying benediction to all +around him. On Monday morning a lucid interval gave some small +hopes, but these vanished in the evening; and he continued dying, +but with very little uneasiness, till Tuesday morning, August 22, +when, between seven and eight o'clock, he expired, almost without a +groan." + +His lordship was buried at Hagley, and the following inscription is +cut on the side of his lady's monument:-- + + "This unadorned stone was placed here by the particular + desire and express directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE LORD LYTTELTON, + who died August 22, 1773, aged 64." + +Lord Lyttelton's Poems are the works of a man of literature and +judgment, devoting part of his time to versification. They have +nothing to be despised, and little to be admired. Of his "Progress +of Love," it is sufficient blame to say that it is pastoral. His +blank verse in "Blenheim" has neither much force nor much elegance. +His little performances, whether songs or epigrams, are sometimes +sprightly, and sometimes insipid. His epistolary pieces have a +smooth equability, which cannot much tire, because they are short, +but which seldom elevates or surprises. But from this censure ought +to be excepted his "Advice to Belinda," which, though for the most +part written when he was very young, contains much truth and much +prudence, very elegantly and vigorously expressed, and shows a mind +attentive to life, and a power of poetry which cultivation might +have raised to excellence. + + + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lives of the Poets: Gay, Thomson, Young etc. +by Samuel Johnson +******This file should be named lvgay10.txt or lvgay10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lvgay11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lvgay10a.txt + +This etext was produced by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset. + +*** + +More information about this book is at the top of this file. + + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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