,transcribed from the #ahhi ,cassell and
 ,company edition by ,les ,bowler4      
,picture3 ,book cover                   
,,cassell',s ,,national ,,library4      
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,lives                                 
,,of ,,the                              
,,english ,,poets                       
,gay  ,thomson  ,young  ,gray  etc4     
,,by                            ,,samuel
 ,,johnson1 ,,ll4,d4                    
,picture3 ,decorative graphic           
,,cassell  ,,company1 ,,limited3        
,,london1 ,,paris1 ,,new ,,york         
,,melbourne4                            
#ahhi4          ,,introduction4         
,,this volume contains a record of      
twenty lives1 of which only one--that of
  ,edward ,young--is treated at length4 
,it completes our edition of ,johnson's 
,lives of the ,poets1 from which a few  
only of the briefest and least          
important have been omitted4    ,the    
eldest of the ,poets here discussed were
 ,samuel ,garth1 ,charles  ,montague    

7,lord ,halifax71 and ,william ,king1   
who were born within the years          
#affj-fc4  ,next in age were ,addison's 
friend ,ambrose ,philips1 and ,nicholas 
,rowe the dramatist1 who was also the   
first editor of ,shakespeare's plays    
after the four folios had appeared4     
,ambrose ,philips and ,rowe were born   
in #afga and #afgc1 and ,isaac ,watts in
 #afgd4  ,thomas ,parnell1 born in      
#afgi1  would follow next1 nearly of    
like age with ,young1 whose birth-year  
was  #afha4  ,pope's friend ,john ,gay  
was of ,pope's age1 born in #afhh1 two  
years  later than ,addison's friend     
,thomas ,tickell1 who was born in #afhf4
  ,next  in the course of years came1 in
 #afib1 ,william ,somerville1 the author
 of  8,the ,chace40  ,john ,dyer1 who   
wrote 8,grongar ,hill10 and ,james      
,thomson1 who  wrote the 8,seasons10    
were both born in the year #agjj4  ,they
 were two of  three poets--,allan       
,ramsay1 the third--who1 almost at the  
same time1 wrote  verse instinct with a 

fresh sense of outward ,nature which was
 hardly to  be found in other writers of
 that day4  ,david ,mallet1 ,thomson's  
college-friend and friend of            
after-years--who shares with ,thomson   
the  curiosity of critics who would     
decide which of them wrote 8,rule       
,britannia0--was of ,thomson's age4     
,the other writers of whose lives       
,johnson here gives his note were men   
born in the beginning of the eighteenth 
century3 ,gilbert ,west1 the  translator
 of ,pindar1 in #agjf2 ,george          
,lyttelton1 in #agji4  ,william         
,shenstone1 whose sense of ,nature1     
although true1 was mixed with the       
conventions of his time1 and who once   
asked a noble friend to open a          
waterfall in the garden upon which the  
poet spent his little patrimony1  was   
born in #agad2 ,thomas ,gray1 in #agaf2 
,william ,collins1 in #agbj2 and  ,mark 
,akenside1 in #agba4  ,in ,collins1     
while he lived with loss of reason1     
,johnson1 who had fears for himself1    

took pathetic interest4  ,akenside      
could not interest him much4  ,akenside 
made his mark when young with 8,the     
,pleasures of ,imagination10 a good     
poem1 according to the fashion of the   
time1 when read with due consideration  
as a young man's first venture for      
fame4  ,he spent much of the rest of his
 life in overloading it with  valueless 
additions4  ,the writer who begins well 
should let well alone1  and1 instead of 
tinkering at bygone work1 follow the    
course of his own  ripening thought4    
,he should seek new ways of doing worthy
 service in the  years of labour left to
 him4                                   
,h4 ,m4          ,,king4      ,,william 
,,king was born in ,london in #affc2 the
 son of ,ezekiel ,king1 a  gentleman4   
,he was allied to the family of         
,clarendon4    ,from ,westminster       
,school1 where he was a scholar on the  
foundation under  the care of ,dr4      
,busby1 he was at eighteen elected to   
,christ ,church in  #afha2 where he is  

said to have prosecuted his studies with
 so much  intenseness and activity1 that
 before he was eight years' standing he 
had  read over1 and made remarks upon1  
twenty-two thousand odd hundred books   
and manuscripts4  ,the books were       
certainly not very long1 the manuscripts
  not very difficult1 nor the remarks   
very large2 for the calculator will     
find that he despatched seven a day for 
every day of his eight years2  with a   
remnant that more than satisfies most   
other students4  ,he took his  degree in
 the most expensive manner1 as a grand  
compounder2 whence it  is inferred that 
he inherited a considerable fortune4    
,in #afhh1 the same year in which he was
 made ,master of ,arts1 he published  a 
confutation of ,varillas's account of   
,wickliffe2 and1 engaging in the  study 
of the civil law1 became ,doctor in     
#afib1 and was admitted advocate  at    
,doctors' ,commons4    ,he had already  
made some translations from the ,french1
 and written some  humorous and         

satirical pieces2 when1 in #afid1       
,molesworth published his  8,account of 
,denmark10 in which he treats the ,danes
 and their monarch with  great contempt2
 and takes the opportunity of           
insinuating those wild  principles by   
which he supposes liberty to be         
established1 and by which  his          
adversaries suspect that all            
subordination and government is         
endangered4    ,this book offended      
,prince ,george2 and the ,danish        
,minister presented a  memorial against 
it4  ,the principles of its author did  
not please ,dr4  ,king2 and therefore he
 undertook to confute part1 and laugh at
 the rest4  ,the controversy is now     
forgotten3 and books of this kind seldom
 live long  when interest and resentment
 have ceased4    ,in #afig he mingled in
 the controversy between ,boyle and     
,bentley2 and was  one of those who     
tried what wit could perform in         
opposition to learning1  on a question  
which learning only could decide4    ,in

 #afii was published by him 8,a ,journey
 to ,london10 after the method of  ,dr4 
,martin ,lister1 who had published 8,a  
,journey to ,paris40  ,and in #agjj  he 
satirised the ,royal ,society--at least1
 ,sir ,hans ,sloane1 their              
president--in two dialogues1 intituled  
8,the ,transactioner40    ,though he was
 a regular advocate in the courts of    
civil and canon law1 he  did not love   
his profession1 nor1 indeed1 any kind of
 business which  interrupted his        
voluptuary dreams or forced him to rouse
 from that  indulgence in which only he 
could find delight4  ,his reputation as 
a  civilian was yet maintained by his   
judgments in the ,courts of ,delegates1 
and raised very high by the address and 
knowledge which he discovered in  #agjj1
 when he defended the ,earl of ,anglesea
 against his lady1 afterwards  ,duchess 
of ,buckinghamshire1 who sued for a     
divorce and obtained it4    ,the expense
 of his pleasures1 and neglect of       
business1 had now lessened  his         

revenues2 and he was willing to accept  
of a settlement in ,ireland1  where1    
about #agjb1 he was made ,judge of the  
,admiralty1 ,commissioner of  the       
,prizes1 ,keeper of the ,records in     
,birmingham's ,tower1 and               
,vicar-,general to ,dr4 ,marsh1 the     
primate4    ,but it is vain to put      
wealth within the reach of him who will 
not stretch  out his hand to take it4   
,king soon found a friend1 as idle and  
thoughtless as himself1 in ,upton1 one  
of the judges1 who had a pleasant  house
 called ,mountown1 near ,dublin1 to     
which ,king frequently retired2         
delighting to neglect his interest1     
forget his cares1 and desert his  duty4 
,here he wrote 8,mully of ,mountown10 a 
poem2 by which1 though fanciful  readers
 in the pride of sagacity have given it 
a poetical interpretation1  was meant   
originally no more than it expressed1 as
 it was dictated only  by the author's  
delight in the quiet of ,mountown4      
,in #agjh1 when ,lord ,wharton was sent 

to govern ,ireland1 ,king returned to   
,london1 with his poverty1 his idleness1
 and his wit2 and published some        
essays1 called 8,useful ,transactions40 
,his 8,voyage to the ,island of         
,cajamai0 is particularly commended4    
,he then wrote the 8,art of ,love10 a   
poem remarkable1 notwithstanding its    
title1 for purity of sentiment2 and  in 
#agji imitated ,horace in an 8,art of   
,cookery10 which he published with  some
 letters to ,dr4 ,lister4    ,in #agaj  
he appeared as a lover of the ,church1  
on the side of ,sacheverell2  and was   
supposed to have concurred at least in  
the projection of the  ,examiner4  ,his 
eyes were open to all the operations of 
,whiggism2 and he  bestowed some        
strictures upon ,dr4 ,kennet's adulatory
 sermon at the  funeral of the ,duke of 
,devonshire4    8,the ,history of the   
,heathen ,gods10 a book composed for    
schools1 was  written by him in #agaa4  
,the work is useful1 but might have been
 produced  without the powers of ,king4 

,the same year he published 8,rufinus10 
an  historical essay2 and a poem        
intended to dispose the nation to think 
as  he thought of the ,duke of          
,marlborough and his adherents4    ,in  
#agaa1 competence1 if not plenty1 was   
again put into his power4  ,he  was1    
without the trouble of attendance or the
 mortification of a request1  made      
,gazetteer4  ,swift1 ,freind1 ,prior1   
and other men of the same party1        
brought him the key of the ,gazetteer's 
office4  ,he was now again placed  in a 
profitable employment1 and again threw  
the benefit away4  ,an ,act of          
,insolvency made his business at that   
time particularly troublesome2 and  he  
would not wait till hurry should be at  
an end1 but impatiently  resigned it1   
and returned to his wonted indigence and
 amusements4    ,one of his amusements  
at ,lambeth1 where he resided1 was to   
mortify ,dr4  ,tenison1 the archbishop1 
by a public festivity on the surrender  
of  ,dunkirk to ,hill2 an event with    

which ,tenison's political bigotry did  
not  suffer him to be delighted4  ,king 
was resolved to counteract his          
sullenness1 and at the expense of a few 
barrels of ale filled the  neighbourhood
 with honest merriment4    ,in the      
autumn of #agab his health declined2 he 
grew weaker by degrees1 and  died on    
,christmas ,day4  ,though his life had  
not been without  irregularity1 his     
principles were pure and orthodox1 and  
his death was  pious4    ,after this    
relation it will be naturally supposed  
that his poems were  rather the         
amusements of idleness than efforts of  
study2 that he  endeavoured rather to   
divert than astonish2 that his thoughts 
seldom  aspired to sublimity2 and that1 
if his verse was easy and his images    
familiar1 he attained what he desired4  
,his purpose is to be merry2 but        
perhaps1 to enjoy his mirth1 it may be  
sometimes necessary to think well  of   
his opinions4          ,,halifax4       
,,the life of the ,earl of ,halifax was 

properly that of an artful and active   
statesman1 employed in balancing        
parties1 contriving expedients1 and     
combating opposition1 and exposed to the
 vicissitudes of advancement and        
degradation2 but in this collection     
poetical merit is the claim to          
attention2 and the account which is here
 to be expected may properly be         
proportioned1 not to his influence in   
the ,state1 but to his rank among  the  
writers of verse4    ,charles ,montague 
was born ,april #af1 #affa1 at ,horton1 
in ,northamptonshire1  the son of ,mr4  
,george ,montague1 a younger son of the 
,earl of ,manchester4  ,he was educated 
first in the country1 and then removed  
to ,westminster1  where1 in #afgg1 he   
was chosen a ,king's ,scholar1 and      
recommended himself  to ,busby by his   
felicity in extemporary epigrams4  ,he  
contracted a very  intimate friendship  
with ,mr4 ,stepney2 and in #afhb1 when  
,stepney was  elected at ,cambridge1 the
 election of ,montague being not to     

proceed till  the year following1 he was
 afraid lest by being placed at ,oxford 
he might  be separated from his         
companion1 and therefore solicited to be
 removed to  ,cambridge1 without waiting
 for the advantages of another year4    
,it seemed indeed time to wish for a    
removal1 for he was already a  schoolboy
 of one-and-twenty4    ,his relation1   
,dr4 ,montague1 was then ,master of the 
college in which he  was placed a       
,fellow-,commoner1 and took him under   
his particular care4  ,here he commenced
 an acquaintance with the great ,newton1
 which continued  through his life1 and 
was at last attested by a legacy4    ,in
 #afhe his verses on the death of ,king 
,charles made such an impression  on the
 ,earl of ,dorset that he was invited to
 town1 and introduced by that  universal
 patron to the other wits4  ,in #afhg he
 joined with ,prior in 8,the  ,city     
,mouse and the ,country ,mouse10 a      
burlesque of ,dryden's 8,hind and       
,panther40  ,he signed the invitation to

 the ,prince of ,orange1 and sat in  the
 ,convention4  ,he about the same time  
married the ,countess ,dowager of       
,manchester1 and intended to have taken 
,orders2 but1 afterwards altering  his  
purpose1 he purchased for #a1ejj the    
place of one of the clerks of  the      
,council4    ,after he had written his  
epistle on the victory of the ,boyne1   
his patron  ,dorset introduced him to   
,king ,william with this expression1    
8,sir1 ,i have  brought a mouse to wait 
on your ,majesty40  ,to which the ,king 
is said to  have replied1 8,you do well 
to put me in the way of making a man of 
him20 and ordered him a pension of #ejj4
  ,this story1 however current1  seems  
to have been made after the event4  ,the
 ,king's answer implies a  greater      
acquaintance with our proverbial and    
familiar diction than ,king  ,william   
could possibly have attained4    ,in    
#afia1 being member of the ,house of    
,commons1 he argued warmly in favour  of
 a law to grant the assistance of       

counsel in trials for high treason2  and
 in the midst of his speech falling into
 some confusion1 was for a  while       
silent2 but1 recovering himself1        
observed1 8how reasonable it was  to    
allow counsel to men called as criminals
 before a court of justice1  when it    
appeared how much the presence of that  
assembly could disconcert  one of their 
own body40    ,after this he rose fast  
into honours and employments1 being made
 one of  the ,commissioners of the      
,treasury1 and called to the ,privy     
,council4  ,in  #afid he became         
,chancellor of the ,exchequer2 and the  
next year engaged in  the great attempt 
of the recoinage1 which was in two years
 happily  completed4  ,in #afif he      
projected the general fund and raised   
the credit  of the ,exchequer2 and after
 inquiry concerning a grant of ,irish   
,crown  lands1 it was determined by a   
vote of the ,commons that ,charles      
,montague1  ,esq41 had deserved his     
,majesty's favour4  ,in #afih1 being    

advanced to  the first ,commission of   
the ,treasury1 he was appointed one of  
the regency  in the ,king's absence3 the
 next year he was made ,auditor of the  
,exchequer1 and the year after created  
,baron ,halifax4  ,he was1 however1     
impeached by the ,commons2 but the      
,articles were dismissed by the ,lords4 
,at the accession of ,queen ,anne he was
 dismissed from the ,council2 and in    
the first ,parliament of her reign was  
again attacked by the ,commons1 and     
again escaped by the protection of the  
,lords4  ,in #agjd he wrote an answer   
to ,bromley's speech against occasional 
conformity4  ,he headed the inquiry     
into the danger of the ,church4  ,in    
#agjf he proposed and negotiated the    
,union with ,scotland2 and when the     
,elector of ,hanover received the       
,garter1  after the ,act had passed for 
securing the ,protestant ,succession1 he
 was  appointed to carry the ensigns of 
the ,order to the ,electoral ,court4    
,he  sat as one of the judges of        

,sacheverell1 but voted for a mild      
sentence4  ,being now no longer in      
favour1 he contrived to obtain a writ   
for  summoning the ,electoral ,prince to
 ,parliament as ,duke of ,cambridge4    
,at the ,queen's death he was appointed 
one of the regents2 and at the          
accession of ,george ,i4 was made ,earl 
of ,halifax1 ,knight of the ,garter1    
and ,first ,commissioner of the         
,treasury1 with a grant to his nephew of
 the  reversion of the ,auditorship of  
the ,exchequer4  ,more was not to be    
had1  and this he kept but a little     
while2 for on the #aith of ,may1 #agae1 
he  died of an inflammation of his      
lungs4    ,of him1 who from a poet      
became a patron of poets1 it will be    
readily  believed that the works would  
not miss of celebration4  ,addison began
 to  praise him early1 and was followed 
or accompanied by other poets2 perhaps  
by almost all1 except ,swift and ,pope1 
who forbore to flatter him in his  life1
 and after his death spoke of           

him--,swift with slight censure1 and    
,pope1 in the character of ,bufo1 with  
acrimonious contempt4    ,he was1 as    
,pope says1 8fed with dedications20 for 
,tickell affirms that no  dedication was
 unrewarded4  ,to charge all unmerited  
praise with the guilt  of flattery1 and 
to suppose that the encomiast always    
knows and feels the  falsehoods of his  
assertions1 is surely to discover great 
ignorance of  human nature and human    
life4  ,in determinations depending not 
on rules1  but on experience and        
comparison1 judgment is always in some  
degree  subject to affection4  ,very    
near to admiration is the wish to       
admire4    ,every man willingly gives   
value to the praise which he receives1  
and  considers the sentence passed in   
his favour as the sentence of           
discernment4  ,we admire in a friend    
that understanding that selected us  for
 confidence2 we admire more1 in a       
patron1 that judgment which1 instead  of
 scattering bounty indiscriminately1    

directed it to us2 and1 if the  patron  
be an author1 those performances which  
gratitude forbids us to  blame1         
affection will easily dispose us to     
exalt4    ,to these prejudices1 hardly  
culpable1 interest adds a power always  
operating1 though not always1 because   
not willingly1 perceived4  ,the  modesty
 of praise wears gradually away2 and    
perhaps the pride of  patronage may be  
in time so increased that modest praise 
will no longer  please4    ,many a      
blandishment was practised upon ,halifax
 which he would never have  known had he
 no other attractions than those of his 
poetry1 of which a  short time has      
withered the beauties4  ,it would now be
 esteemed no  honour1 by a contributor  
to the monthly bundles of verses1 to be 
told  that1 in strains either familiar  
or solemn1 he sings like ,montague4     
,,parnell4      ,,the life of ,dr4      
,parnell is a task which ,i should very 
willingly decline1  since it has been   
lately written by ,goldsmith1 a man of  

such variety of  powers1 and such       
felicity of performance1 that he always 
seemed to do  best that which he was    
doing2 a man who had the art of being   
minute  without tediousness1 and general
 without confusion2 whose language was  
copious without exuberance1 exact       
without constraint1 and easy without    
weakness4    ,what such an author has   
told1 who would tell again8  ,i have    
made an  abstract from his larger       
narrative2 and have this gratification  
from my  attempt1 that it gives me an   
opportunity of paying due tribute to the
  memory of ,goldsmith4    ,thomas      
,parnell was the son of a               
,commonwealthsman of the same name1 who1
  at the ,restoration1 left ,congleton1 
in ,cheshire1 where the family had  been
 established for several centuries1 and1
 settling in ,ireland1  purchased an    
estate1 which1 with his lands in        
,cheshire1 descended to the  poet1 who  
was born at ,dublin in #afgi2 and1 after
 the usual education at a  grammar      

school1 was1 at the age of thirteen1    
admitted into the ,college  where1 in   
#agjj1 he became ,master of ,arts2 and  
was the same year ordained  a deacon1   
though under the canonical age1 by a    
dispensation from the  ,bishop of       
,derry4    ,about three years afterwards
 he was made a priest and in #agje ,dr4 
,ashe1  the ,bishop of ,clogher1        
conferred upon him the archdeaconry of  
,clogher4  ,about the same time he      
married ,mrs4 ,anne ,minchin1 an amiable
 lady1 by  whom he had two sons1 who    
died young1 and a daughter1 who long    
survived  him4    ,at the ejection of   
the ,whigs1 in the end of ,queen ,anne's
 reign1 ,parnell  was persuaded to      
change his party1 not without much      
censure from those  whom he forsook1 and
 was received by the new ,ministry as a 
valuable  reinforcement4  ,when the     
,earl of ,oxford was told that ,dr4     
,parnell waited  among the crowd in the 
outer room1 he went1 by the persuasion  
of ,swift1  with his ,treasurer's staff 

in his hand1 to inquire for him1 and to 
bid  him welcome2 and1 as may be        
inferred from ,pope's dedication1       
admitted him  as a favourite companion  
to his convivial hours1 but1 as it seems
 often  to have happened in those times 
to the favourites of the great1 without 
attention to his fortune1 which1        
however1 was in no great need of        
improvement4    ,parnell1 who did not   
want ambition or vanity1 was desirous to
 make  himself conspicuous1 and to show 
how worthy he was of high preferment4   
,as he thought himself qualified to     
become a popular preacher1 he  displayed
 his elocution with great success in the
 pulpits of ,london2 but  the ,queen's  
death putting an end to his             
expectations1 abated his  diligence2 and
 ,pope represents him as falling from   
that time into  intemperance of wine4   
,that in his latter life he was too much
 a lover of  the bottle1 is not denied2 
but ,i have heard it imputed to a cause 
more  likely to obtain forgiveness from 

mankind1 the untimely death of a        
darling son2 or1 as others tell1 the    
loss of his wife1 who died 7#agab7 in   
the midst of his expectations4    ,he   
was now to derive every future addition 
to his preferments from his  personal   
interest with his private friends1 and  
he was not long  unregarded4  ,he was   
warmly recommended by ,swift to         
,archbishop ,king1 who  gave him a      
prebend in #agac2 and in ,may1 #agaf1   
presented him to the  vicarage of       
,finglass1 in the diocese of ,dublin1   
worth #djj a year4  ,such  notice from  
such a man inclines me to believe that  
the vice of which he  has been accused  
was not gross or not notorious4    ,but 
his prosperity did not last long4  ,his 
end1 whatever was its cause1  was now   
approaching4  ,he enjoyed his preferment
 little more than a year2  for in ,july1
 #agag1 in his thirty-eighth year1 he   
died at ,chester on his  way to         
,ireland4    ,he seems to have been one 
of those poets who take delight in      

writing4  ,he  contributed to the papers
 of that time1 and probably published   
more than  he owned4  ,he left many     
compositions behind him1 of which ,pope 
selected  those which he thought best1  
and dedicated them to the ,earl of      
,oxford4  ,of these ,goldsmith has given
 an opinion1 and his criticism it is    
seldom  safe to contradict4  ,he bestows
 just praise upon 8,the ,rise of        
,woman10  8,the ,fairy ,tale10 and 8,the
 ,pervigilium ,veneris20 but has very   
properly  remarked that in 8,the ,battle
 of ,mice and ,frogs0 the ,greek names  
have not  in ,english their original    
effect4  ,he tells us that 8,the        
,bookworm0 is  borrowed from ,beza2 but 
he should have added with modern        
applications3  and when he discovers    
that 8,gay ,bacchus0 is translated from 
,augurellus1  he ought to have remarked 
that the latter part is purely          
,parnell's4  ,another poem1 8,when      
,spring ,comes ,on10 is1 he says1 taken 
from the ,french4  ,i would add that the

 description of 8,barrenness10 in his   
verses to ,pope1  was borrowed from     
,secundus2 but lately searching for the 
passage which ,i  had formerly read1 ,i 
could not find it4  8,the ,night ,piece 
on ,death0 is  indirectly preferred by  
,goldsmith to ,gray's 8,churchyard20    
but1 in my  opinion1 ,gray has the      
advantage in dignity1 variety1 and      
originality of  sentiment4  ,he observes
 that the story of 8,the ,hermit0 is in 
,more's  8,dialogues0 and ,howell's     
8,letters10 and supposes it to have been
  originally ,arabian4    ,goldsmith has
 not taken any notice of 8,the ,elegy to
 the ,old ,beauty10  which is perhaps   
the meanest2 nor of 8,the ,allegory on  
,man10 the happiest  of ,parnell's      
performances4  ,the hint of 8,the ,hymn 
to ,contentment0 ,i  suspect to have    
been borrowed from ,cleveland4    ,the  
general character of ,parnell is not    
great extent of comprehension or        
fertility of mind4  ,of the little that 
appears1 still less is his own4  ,his   

praise must be derived from the easy    
sweetness of his diction3 in his  verses
 there is more happiness than pains2 he 
is sprightly without  effort1 and always
 delights1 though he never ravishes2    
everything is  proper1 yet everything   
seems casual4  ,if there is some        
appearance of  elaboration in 8,the     
,hermit10 the narrative1 as it is less  
airy1 is less  pleasing4  ,of his other 
compositions it is impossible to say    
whether they  are the productions of    
nature1 so excellent as not to want the 
help of  art1 or of art so refined as to
 resemble nature4    ,this criticism    
relates only to the pieces published by 
,pope4  ,of the  large appendages which 
,i find in the last edition1 ,i can only
 say that ,i  know not whence they came1
 nor have ever inquired whither they are
 going4  ,they stand upon the faith of  
the compilers4          ,,garth4        
,,samuel ,,garth was of a good family in
 ,yorkshire1 and from some school in    
his own county became a student at      

,peter ,house1 in ,cambridge1 where he  
resided till he became ,doctor of       
,physic on ,july the #gth1 #afia4  ,he  
was  examined before the ,college at    
,london on ,march the #abth1 #afia-b1   
and  admitted ,fellow ,june #bfth1      
#afic4  ,he was soon so much            
distinguished by  his conversation and  
accomplishments as to obtain very       
extensive  practice2 and1 if a pamphlet 
of those times may be credited1 had the 
favour and confidence of one party1 as  
,radcliffe had of the other4  ,he is    
always mentioned as a man of            
benevolence2 and it is just to suppose  
that  his desire of helping the helpless
 disposed him to so much zeal for 8,the 
,dispensary20 an undertaking of which   
some account1 however short1 is  proper 
to be given4    ,whether what ,temple   
says be true1 that physicians have had  
more learning  than the other faculties1
 ,i will not stay to inquire2 but ,i    
believe every  man has found in         
physicians great liberality and dignity 

of sentiment1  very prompt effusion of  
beneficence1 and willingness to exert a 
lucrative  art where there is no hope of
 lucre4  ,agreeably to this character1  
the  ,college of ,physicians1 in ,july1 
#afhg1 published an edict1 requiring all
  the ,fellows1 ,candidates1 and        
,licentiates to give gratuitous advice  
to the  neighbouring poor4  ,this edict 
was sent to the ,court of ,aldermen2    
and1 a  question being made to whom the 
appellation of the poor should be       
extended1 the ,college answered that it 
should be sufficient to bring a         
testimonial from the clergyman          
officiating in the parish where the     
patient resided4    ,after a year's     
experience the physicians found their   
charity frustrated  by some malignant   
opposition1 and made to a great degree  
vain by the high  price of physic2 they 
therefore voted1 in ,august1 #afhh1 that
 the  laboratory of the ,college should 
be accommodated to the preparation of   
medicines1 and another room prepared for

 their reception2 and that the          
contributors to the expense should      
manage the charity4    ,it was now      
expected that the apothecaries would    
have undertaken the care  of providing  
medicines2 but they took another course4
  ,thinking the whole  design pernicious
 to their interest1 they endeavoured to 
raise a faction  against it in the      
,college1 and found some physicians mean
 enough to  solicit their patronage by  
betraying to them the counsels of the   
,college4  ,the greater part1 however1  
enforced by a new edict1 in #afid1 the  
former  order of #afhg1 and sent it to  
the ,mayor and ,aldermen1 who appointed 
a  committee to treat with the ,college 
and settle the mode of administering    
the charity4    ,it was desired by the  
aldermen that the testimonials of       
churchwardens and  overseers should be  
admitted2 and that all hired servants1  
and all  apprentices to handicraftsmen1 
should be considered as poor4  ,this    
likewise was granted by the ,college4   

,it was then considered who should      
distribute the medicines1 and who       
should settle their prices4  ,the       
physicians procured some apothecaries to
  undertake the dispensation1 and       
offered that the warden and company of  
the apothecaries should adjust the      
price4  ,this offer was rejected2 and   
the apothecaries who had engaged to     
assist the charity were considered as   
traitors to the company1 threatened with
 the imposition of troublesome  offices1
 and deterred from the performance of   
their engagements4  ,the  apothecaries  
ventured upon public opposition1 and    
presented a kind of  remonstrance       
against the design to the committee of  
the ,city1 which the  physicians        
condescended to confute3 and at last the
 traders seem to have  prevailed among  
the sons of trade2 for the proposal of  
the ,college having  been considered1 a 
paper of approbation was drawn up1 but  
postponed and  forgotten4    ,the       
physicians still persisted2 and in #afif

 a subscription was raised by           
themselves according to an agreement    
prefixed to 8,the ,dispensary40  ,the   
poor were1 for a time1 supplied with    
medicines2 for how long a time ,i  know 
not4  ,the medicinal charity1 like      
others1 began with ardour1 but  soon    
remitted1 and at last died gradually    
away4    ,about the time of the         
subscription begins the action of 8,the 
,dispensary40  ,the poem1 as its subject
 was present and popular1 co-operated   
with  passions and prejudices then      
prevalent1 and1 with such auxiliaries to
 its  intrinsic merit1 was universally  
and liberally applauded4  ,it was on the
  side of charity against the intrigues 
of interest2 and of regular  learning   
against licentious usurpation of medical
 authority1 and was  therefore naturally
 favoured by those who read and can     
judge of poetry4    ,in #afig ,garth    
spoke that which is now called 8,the    
,harveian ,oration20  which the authors 
of 8,the ,biographia0 mention with more 

praise than the  passage quoted in their
 notes will fully justify4  ,garth1     
speaking of the  mischiefs done by      
quacks1 has these expressions3 8,non    
tamen telis  vulnerat ista agyrtarum    
colluvies1 sed theriaca qudam magis     
pernicios1  non pyrio1 sed pulvere      
nescio quo exotico certat1 non globulis 
plumbeis1  sed pilulis que lethalibus   
interficit40  ,this was certainly       
thought fine  by the author1 and is     
still admired by his biographer4  ,in   
,october1 #agjb1  he became one of the  
censors of the ,college4    ,garth1     
being an active and zealous ,whig1 was a
 member of the ,kit-,cat  ,club1 and1 by
 consequence1 familiarly known to all   
the great men of that  denomination4    
,in #agaj1 when the government fell into
 other hands1 he  writ to ,lord         
,godolphin1 on his dismission1 a short  
poem1 which was  criticised in the      
,examiner1 and so successfully either   
defended or  excused by ,mr4 ,addison   
that1 for the sake of the vindication1  

it ought to  be preserved4    ,at the   
accession of the present family his     
merits were acknowledged and  rewarded4 
,he was knighted with the sword of his  
hero1 ,marlborough2 and  was made       
,physician-in-,ordinary to the ,king1   
and ,physician-,general to the  army4   
,he then undertook an edition of ,ovid's
 8,metamorphoses10 translated  by       
several hands2 which he recommended by a
 preface1 written with more  ostentation
 than ability2 his notions are          
half-formed1 and his materials          
immethodically confused4  ,this was his 
last work4  ,he died ,january #ahth1    
#agag-ah1 and was buried at             
,harrow-on-the-,hill4    ,his personal  
character seems to have been social and 
liberal4  ,he  communicated himself     
through a very wide extent of           
acquaintance2 and  though firm in a     
party1 at a time when firmness included 
virulence1 yet  he imparted his kindness
 to those who were not supposed to      
favour his  principles4  ,he was an     

early encourager of ,pope1 and was at   
once the  friend of ,addison and of     
,granville4  ,he is accused of          
voluptuousness and  irreligion2 and     
,pope1 who says that 8if ever there was 
a good ,christian1  without knowing     
himself to be so1 it was ,dr4 ,garth10  
seems not able to  deny what he is angry
 to hear and loth to confess4    ,pope  
afterwards declared himself convinced   
that ,garth died in the  communion of   
the ,church of ,rome1 having been       
privately reconciled4  ,it is  observed 
by ,lowth that there is less distance   
than is thought between  scepticism and 
,popery2 and that a mind wearied with   
perpetual doubt1  willingly seeks repose
 in the bosom of an infallible ,church4 
,his poetry has been praised at least   
equally to its merit4  ,in 8,the        
,dispensary0 there is a strain of smooth
 and free versification2 but few  lines 
are eminently elegant4  ,no passages    
fall below mediocrity1 and few  rise    
much above it4  ,the plan seems formed  

without just proportion to the  subject2
 the means and end have no necessary    
connection4  ,resnel1 in his  preface to
 ,pope's ,essay1 remarks that ,garth    
exhibits no discrimination of           
characters2 and that what any one says  
might1 with equal propriety1 have  been 
said by another4  ,the general design   
is1 perhaps1 open to criticism2  but the
 composition can seldom be charged with 
inaccuracy or negligence4  ,the author  
never slumbers in self-indulgence2 his  
full vigour is always  exerted2 scarcely
 a line is left unfinished2 nor is it   
easy to find an  expression used by     
constraint1 or a thought imperfectly    
expressed4  ,it  was remarked by ,pope1 
that 8,the ,dispensary0 had been        
corrected in every  edition1 and that   
every change was an improvement4  ,it   
appears1 however1  to want something of 
poetical ardour1 and something of       
general  delectation2 and therefore1    
since it has been no longer supported by
  accidental and intrinsic popularity1  

it has been scarcely able to support    
itself4          ,,rowe4      ,,nicholas
 ,,rowe was born at ,little ,beckford1  
in ,bedfordshire1 in #afgc4  ,his       
family had long possessed a considerable
 estate1 with a good house1 at          
,lambertoun in ,devonshire4  ,the       
ancestor from whom he descended in a    
direct line received the arms borne by  
his descendants for his bravery in  the 
,holy ,war4  ,his father1 ,john ,rowe1  
who was the first that quitted his      
paternal acres to practise any part of  
profit1 professed the law1 and          
published ,benlow's and ,dallison's     
,reports in the reign of ,james the     
,second1 when1 in opposition to the     
notions then diligently propagated of   
dispensing power1 he ventured to remark 
how low his authors rated the           
prerogative4  ,he was made a serjeant1  
and died ,april #cj1 #afib4  ,he was    
buried in the ,temple church4           
,nicholas was first sent to a private   
school at ,highgate2 and1 being         

afterwards removed to ,westminster1 was 
at twelve years chosen one of the       
,king's ,scholars4  ,his master was     
,busby1 who suffered none of his        
scholars  to let their powers lie       
useless2 and his exercises in several   
languages  are said to have been written
 with uncommon degrees of excellence1   
and  yet to have cost him very little   
labour4  ,at sixteen he had1 in his     
father's opinion1 made advances in      
learning sufficient to qualify him for  
the study of law1 and was entered a     
student of the ,middle ,temple1 where   
for some time he read statutes and      
reports with proficiency proportionate  
to the force of his mind1 which was     
already such that he endeavoured to     
comprehend law1 not as a series of      
precedents1 or collection of positive   
precepts1 but as a system of rational   
government and impartial justice4  ,when
 he was nineteen1 he was1 by the death  
of his father1 left more to  his own    
direction1 and probably from that time  

suffered law gradually to  give way to  
poetry4  ,at twenty-five he produced the
 ,ambitious  ,step-,mother1 which was   
received with so much favour that he    
devoted  himself from that time wholly  
to elegant literature4    ,his next     
tragedy 7#agjb7 was ,tamerlane1 in      
which1 under the name of  ,tamerlane1 he
 intended to characterise ,king         
,william1 and ,louis the  ,fourteenth   
under ,bajazet4  ,the virtues of        
,tamerlane seem to have been            
arbitrarily assigned him by his poet1   
for ,i know not that history gives  any 
other qualities than those which make a 
conqueror4  ,the fashion1  however1 of  
the time was to accumulate upon ,louis  
all that can raise  horror and          
detestation2 and whatever good was      
withheld from him1 that it  might not be
 thrown away was bestowed upon ,king    
,william4  ,this was the  tragedy which 
,rowe valued most1 and that which       
probably1 by the help of  political     
auxiliaries1 excited most applause2 but 

occasional poetry must  often content   
itself with occasional praise4          
,tamerlane has for a long  time been    
acted only once a year1 on the night    
when ,king ,william landed4  ,our       
quarrel with ,louis has been long over2 
and it now gratifies neither  zeal nor  
malice to see him painted with          
aggravated features1 like a  ,saracen   
upon a sign4    ,the ,fair ,penitent1   
his next production 7#agjc71 is one of  
the most  pleasing tragedies on the     
stage1 where it still keeps its turns of
  appearing1 and probably will long keep
 them1 for there is scarcely any  work  
of any poet at once so interesting by   
the fable1 and so delightful  by the    
language4  ,the story is domestic1 and  
therefore easily received by  the       
imagination1 and assimilated to common  
life2 the diction is  exquisitely       
harmonious1 and soft or sprightly as    
occasion requires4    ,the character of 
,lothario seems to have been expanded by
 ,richardson into  ,lovelace2 but he has

 excelled his original in the moral     
effect of the  fiction4  ,lothario1 with
 gaiety which cannot be hated1 and      
bravery which  cannot be despised1      
retains too much of the spectator's     
kindness4  ,it was  in the power of     
,richardson alone to teach us at once   
esteem and  detestation1 to make        
virtuous resentment overpower all the   
benevolence  which wit1 elegance1 and   
courage1 naturally excite2 and to lose  
at last  the hero in the villain4  ,the 
fifth act is not equal to the former2   
the  events of the drama are exhausted1 
and little remains but to talk of what  
is past4  ,it has been observed that the
 title of the play does not             
sufficiently correspond with the        
behaviour of ,calista1 who at last shows
  no evident signs of repentance1 but   
may be reasonably suspected of  feeling 
pain from detection rather than from    
guilt1 and expresses more  shame than   
sorrow1 and more rage than shame4       
,his next 7#agjf7 was ,ulysses2 which1  

with the common fate of  mythological   
stories1 is now generally neglected4    
,we have been too early  acquainted with
 the poetical heroes to expect any      
pleasure from their  revival2 to show   
them as they have already been shown1 is
 to disgust by  repetition2 to give them
 new qualities1 or new adventures1 is to
 offend  by violating received notions4 
8,the ,royal ,convert0 7#agjh7 seems to 
have a better claim to longevity4  ,the 
fable is drawn from an obscure and      
barbarous age1 to which fictions  are   
more easily and properly adapted2 for   
when objects are imperfectly  seen1 they
 easily take forms from imagination4    
,the scene lies among our  ancestors in 
our own country1 and therefore very     
easily catches  attention4  ,rodogune is
 a personage truly tragical1 of high    
spirit1 and  violent passions1 great    
with tempestuous dignity1 and wicked    
with a soul  that would have been heroic
 if it had been virtuous4  ,the motto   
seems to  tell that this play was not   

successful4    ,rowe does not always    
remember what his characters require4   
,in  ,tamerlane there is some ridiculous
 mention of the ,god of ,love2 and      
,rodogune1 a savage ,saxon1 talks of    
,venus and the eagle that bears the     
thunder of ,jupiter4    ,this play      
discovers its own date1 by a prediction 
of the ,union1 in  imitation of         
,cranmer's prophetic promises to ,henry 
,,viii4  ,the anticipated  blessings of 
union are not very naturally introduced1
 nor very happily  expressed4  ,he once 
7#agjf7 tried to change his hand4  ,he  
ventured on a  comedy1 and produced the 
,biter1 with which1 though it was       
unfavourably  treated by the audience1  
he was himself delighted2 for he is said
 to have  sat in the house laughing with
 great vehemence1 whenever he had1 in   
his  own opinion1 produced a jest4  ,but
 finding that he and the public had no  
sympathy of mirth1 he tried at lighter  
scenes no more4    ,after the ,royal    
,convert 7#agad7 appeared ,jane ,shore1 

written1 as its  author professes1 in   
imitation of ,shakespeare's style4  ,in 
what he  thought himself an imitator of 
,shakespeare it is not easy to conceive4
  ,the numbers1 the diction1 the        
sentiments1 and the conduct1 everything 
in  which imitation can consist1 are    
remote in the utmost degree from the    
manner of ,shakespeare1 whose dramas it 
resembles only as it is an ,english     
story1 and as some of the persons have  
their names in history4  ,this  play1   
consisting chiefly of domestic scenes   
and private distress1 lays  hold upon   
the heart4  ,the wife is forgiven       
because she repents1 and the  husband is
 honoured because he forgives4  ,this1  
therefore1 is one of  those pieces which
 we still welcome on the stage4    ,his 
last tragedy 7#agae7 was ,lady ,jane    
,grey4  ,this subject had been  chosen  
by ,mr4 ,smith1 whose papers were put   
into ,rowe's hands such as he  describes
 them in his preface4  ,this play has   
likewise sunk into  oblivion4  ,from    

this time he gave nothing more to the   
stage4    ,being by a competent fortune 
exempted from any necessity of combating
 his  inclination1 he never wrote in    
distress1 and therefore does not appear 
to  have ever written in haste4  ,his   
works were finished to his own          
approbation1 and bear few marks of      
negligence or hurry4  ,it is remarkable 
that his prologues and epilogues are all
 his own1 though he sometimes  supplied 
others2 he afforded help1 but did not   
solicit it4    ,as his studies          
necessarily made him acquainted with    
,shakespeare1 and  acquaintance produced
 veneration1 he undertook 7#agji7 an    
edition of his  works1 from which he    
neither received much praise1 nor seems 
to have  expected it2 yet ,i believe    
those who compare it with former copies 
will  find that he has done more than he
 promised2 and that1 without the pomp   
of notes or boasts of criticism1 many   
passages are happily restored4  ,he     
prefixed a life of the author1 such as  

tradition1 then almost expiring1  could 
supply1 and a preface1 which cannot be  
said to discover much  profundity or    
penetration4  ,he at least contributed  
to the popularity of  his author4  ,he  
was willing enough to improve his       
fortune by other arts  than poetry4  ,he
 was under-secretary for three years    
when the ,duke of  ,queensberry was     
,secretary of ,state1 and afterwards    
applied to the ,earl of  ,oxford for    
some public employment4  ,oxford        
enjoined him to study ,spanish2  and    
when1 some time afterwards1 he came     
again1 and said that he had  mastered   
it1 dismissed him with this             
congratulation1 8,then1 sir1 ,i envy    
you the pleasure of reading #8,don      
,quixote' in the original40    ,this    
story is sufficiently attested2 but why 
,oxford1 who desired to be  thought a   
favourer of literature1 should thus     
insult a man of  acknowledged merit1 or 
how ,rowe1 who was so keen a ,whig that 
he did not  willingly converse with men 

of the opposite party1 could ask        
preferment  from ,oxford1 it is not now 
possible to discover4  ,pope1 who told  
the  story1 did not say on what occasion
 the advice was given2 and1 though he   
owned ,rowe's disappointment1 doubted   
whether any injury was intended him1    
but thought it rather ,lord ,oxford's   
odd way4    ,it is likely that he lived 
on discontented through the rest of     
,queen  ,anne's reign2 but the time came
 at last when he found kinder friends4  
,at  the accession of ,king ,george he  
was made ,poet-,laureate--,i am afraid1 
by  the ejection of poor ,nahum ,tate1  
who 7#agaf7 died in the ,mint1 where he 
was forced to seek shelter by extreme   
poverty4  ,he was made likewise one  of 
the land-surveyors of the customs of the
 ,port of ,london4  ,the ,prince  of    
,wales chose him ,clerk of his ,council2
 and the ,lord ,chancellor ,parker1  as 
soon as he received the seals1 appointed
 him1 unasked1 ,secretary of  the       
,presentations4  ,such an accumulation  

of employments undoubtedly  produced a  
very considerable revenue4    ,having   
already translated some parts of        
,lucan's 8,pharsalia10 which had  been  
published in the ,miscellanies1 and     
doubtless received many  praises1 he    
undertook a version of the whole work1  
which he lived to  finish1 but not to   
publish4  ,it seems to have been printed
 under the care  of ,dr4 ,welwood1 who  
prefixed the author's life1 in which is 
contained the  following character3--   
8,as to his person1 it was graceful and 
well made2 his face regular1      and of
 a manly beauty4  ,as his soul was well 
lodged1 so its rational      and animal 
faculties excelled in a high degree4    
,he had a quick and      fruitful       
invention1 a deep penetration1 and a    
large compass of      thought1 with     
singular dexterity and easiness in      
making his thoughts      to be          
understood4  ,he was master of most     
parts of polite learning1               
especially the classical authors1 both  

,greek and ,latin2 understood      the  
,french1 ,italian1 and ,spanish         
languages1 and spoke the first          
fluently1 and the other two tolerably   
well4  ,he had likewise read      most  
of the ,greek and ,roman histories in   
their original languages1      and most 
that are wrote in ,english1 ,french1    
,italian1 and ,spanish4  ,he      had a 
good taste in philosophy2 and1 having a 
firm impression of      religion upon   
his mind1 he took great delight in      
divinity and      ecclesiastical        
history1 in both of which he made great 
advances in      the times he retired   
into the country1 which was frequent4   
,he      expressed on all occasions his 
full persuasion of the truth of         
revealed religion2 and1 being a sincere 
member of the ,established      ,church 
himself1 he pitied1 but condemned not1  
those that dissented      from it4  ,he 
abhorred the principles of persecuting  
men upon the      account of their      
opinions in religion2 and1 being strict 

in his own1      he took it not upon him
 to censure those of another persuasion4
  ,his      conversation was pleasant1  
witty1 and learned1 without the least   
tincture of affectation or pedantry2 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 it4  ,envy and   
detraction seemed to      be entirely   
foreign to his constitution2 and        
whatever provocations he      met with  
at any time1 he passed them over without
 the least thought      of resentment or
 revenge4  ,as ,homer had a ,zoilus1 so 
,mr4 ,rowe had      sometimes his2 for  
there were not wanting malevolent       
people1 and      pretenders to poetry   
too1 that would now and then bark at his
 best      performances2 but he was so  
conscious of his own genius1 and had so 
much good-nature1 as to forgive them1   
nor could he ever be tempted to         
return them an answer4        8,the love
 of learning and poetry made him not the

 less fit for      business1 and nobody 
applied himself closer to it when it    
required      his attendance4  ,the late
 ,duke of ,queensberry1 when he was     
,secretary      of ,state1 made him his 
secretary for public affairs2 and when  
that      truly great man came to know  
him well1 he was never so pleased as    
when ,mr4 ,rowe was in his company4     
,after the duke's death1 all            
avenues were stopped to his preferment2 
and during the rest of that      reign  
he passed his time with the ,muses and  
his books1 and sometimes      the       
conversation of his friends4  ,when he  
had just got to be easy in      his     
fortune1 and was in a fair way to make  
it better1 death swept him      away1   
and in him deprived the world of one of 
the best men1 as well      as one of the
 best geniuses1 of the age4  ,he died   
like a ,christian      and a            
philosopher1 in charity with all        
mankind1 and with an absolute           
resignation to the will of ,god4  ,he   

kept up his good-humour to the          
last2 and took leave of his wife and    
friends1 immediately before his         
last agony1 with the same tranquillity  
of mind1 and the same      indifference 
for life1 as though he had been upon    
taking but a short      journey4  ,he   
was twice married--first to a daughter  
of ,mr4 ,parsons1      one of the       
auditors of the revenue2 and afterwards 
to a daughter of      ,mr4 ,devenish1 of
 a good family in ,dorsetshire4  ,by the
 first he had a      son2 and by the    
second a daughter1 married afterwards to
 ,mr4 ,fane4      ,he died #fth         
,december1 #agah1 in the forty-fifth    
year of his age1 and      was buried on 
the #aith of the same month in          
,westminster ,abbey1 in the      aisle  
where many of our ,english poets are    
interred1 over against      ,chaucer1   
his body being attended by a select     
number of his friends1      and the dean
 and choir officiating at the funeral40 
,to this character1 which is apparently 

given with the fondness of a  friend1   
may be added the testimony of ,pope1 who
 says1 in a letter to  ,blount1 8,mr4   
,rowe accompanied me1 and passed a week 
in the ,forest4  ,i  need not tell you  
how much a man of his turn entertained  
me2 but ,i must  acquaint you1 there is 
a vivacity and gaiety of disposition1   
almost  peculiar to him1 which make it  
impossible to part from him without that
  uneasiness which generally succeeds   
all our pleasure40    ,pope has left    
behind him another mention of his       
companion less  advantageous1 which is  
thus reported by ,dr4 ,warburton3--     
8,rowe1 in ,mr4 ,pope's opinion1        
maintained a decent character1 but had  
no heart4  ,mr4 ,addison was justly     
offended with some behaviour which      
arose from that want1 and estranged     
himself from him1 which ,rowe felt      
very severely4  ,mr4 ,pope1 their common
 friend1 knowing this1 took an          
opportunity1 at some juncture of ,mr4   
,addison's advancement1 to tell      him

 how poor ,rowe was grieved at his      
displeasure1 and what      satisfaction 
he expressed at ,mr4 ,addison's good    
fortune1 which he      expressed so     
naturally that he 7,mr4 ,pope7 could not
 but think him      sincere4  ,mr4      
,addison replied1 #8,i do not suspect   
that he feigned2 but      the levity of 
his heart is such1 that he is struck    
with any new      adventure1 and it     
would affect him just in the same manner
 if he      heard ,i was going to be    
hanged4'  ,mr4 ,pope said he could not  
deny but      ,mr4 ,addison understood  
,rowe well40    ,this censure time has  
not left us the power of confirming or  
refuting2  but observation daily shows  
that much stress is not to be laid on   
hyperbolical accusations and pointed    
sentences1 which even he that utters    
them desires to be applauded rather than
 credited4  ,addison can hardly be      
supposed to have meant all that he said4
  ,few characters can bear the          
microscopic scrutiny of wit quickened by

 anger2 and1 perhaps1 the best  advice  
to authors would be1 that they should   
keep out of the way of one  another4    
,rowe is chiefly to be considered as a  
tragic writer and a translator4  ,in    
his attempt at comedy he failed so      
ignominiously that his ,biter is not    
inserted in his works3 and his          
occasional poems and short compositions 
are rarely worthy either praise or      
censure1 for they seem the casual       
sports of a mind seeking rather to amuse
 its leisure than to exercise its       
powers4  ,in the construction of his    
dramas there is not much art2 he is  not
 a nice observer of the unities4  ,he   
extends time and varies places as  his  
convenience requires4  ,to vary the     
place is not1 in my opinion1 any        
violation of nature1 if the change be   
made between the acts1 for it is no     
less easy for the spectator to suppose  
himself at ,athens in the second  act1  
than at ,thebes in the first2 but to    
change the scene1 as is done by  ,rowe1 

in the middle of an act1 is to add more 
acts to the play1 since an  act is so   
much of the business as is transacted   
without interruption4  ,rowe1 by this   
licence1 easily extricates himself from 
difficulties2 as in  ,jane ,grey1 when  
we have been terrified with all the     
dreadful pomp of  public execution2 and 
are wondering how the heroine or the    
poet will  proceed1 no sooner has ,jane 
pronounced some prophetic rhymes        
than--pass  and be gone--the scene      
closes1 and ,pembroke and ,gardiner are 
turned out  upon the stage4    ,i know  
not that there can be found in his plays
 any deep search into  nature1 any      
accurate discriminations of kindred     
qualities1 or nice  display of passion  
in its progress2 all is general and     
undefined4  ,nor  does he much interest 
or affect the auditor1 except in ,jane  
,shore1 who is  always seen and heard   
with pity4  ,alicia is a character of   
empty noise1  with no resemblance to    
real sorrow or to natural madness4      

,whence1 then1 has ,rowe his reputation8
  ,from the reasonableness and          
propriety of some of his scenes1 from   
the elegance of his diction1 and  the   
suavity of his verse4  ,he seldom moves 
either pity or terror1 but he  often    
elevates the sentiments2 he seldom      
pierces the breast1 but he  always      
delights the ear1 and often improves the
 understanding4  ,his  translation of   
the 8,golden ,verses10 and of the first 
book of ,quillet's  poem1 have nothing  
in them remarkable4  ,the 8,golden      
,verses0 are tedious4    ,the version of
 ,lucan is one of the greatest          
productions of ,english  poetry1 for    
there is perhaps none that so completely
 exhibits the genius  and spirit of the 
original4  ,lucan is distinguished by a 
kind of  dictatorial or philosophic     
dignity1 rather1 as ,quintilian         
observes1  declamatory than poetical2   
full of ambitious morality and pointed  
sentences1 comprised in vigorous and    
animated lines4  ,this character ,rowe  

has very diligently and successfully    
preserved4  ,his versification1 which   
is such as his contemporaries practised1
 without any attempt at  innovation or  
improvement1 seldom wants either melody 
or force4  ,his  author's sense is      
sometimes a little diluted by additional
 infusions1 and  sometimes weakened by  
too much expansion4  ,but such faults   
are to be  expected in all translations1
 from the constraint of measures and    
dissimilitude of languages4  ,the       
8,pharsalia0 of ,rowe deserves more     
notice  than it obtains1 and as it is   
more read will be more esteemed4        
,,gay4      ,,john ,,gay1 descended from
 an old family that had been long in    
possession  of the manor of ,goldworthy1
 in ,devonshire1 was born in #afhh1 at  
or near  ,barnstaple1 where he was      
educated by ,mr4 ,luck1 who taught the  
school of  that town with good          
reputation1 and1 a little before he     
retired from it1  published a volume of 
,latin and ,english verses4  ,under such

 a master he  was likely to form a taste
 for poetry4  ,being born without       
prospect of  hereditary riches1 he was  
sent to ,london in his youth1 and placed
  apprentice with a silk mercer4  ,how  
long he continued behind the counter1   
or with what degree of softness and     
dexterity he received and  accommodated 
the ladies1 as he probably took no      
delight in telling it1 is  not known4   
,the report is that he was soon weary of
 either the restraint  or servility of  
his occupation1 and easily persuaded his
 master to  discharge him4    ,the      
,duchess of ,monmouth1 remarkable for   
inflexible perseverance in her  demand  
to be treated as a princess1 in #agab   
took ,gay into her service as           
secretary3 by quitting a shop for such  
service he might gain leisure1 but  he  
certainly advanced little in the boast  
of independence4  ,of his  leisure he   
made so good use that he published next 
year a poem on 8,rural  ,sports10 and   
inscribed it to ,mr4 ,pope1 who was then

 rising fast into  reputation4  ,pope   
was pleased with the honour1 and when he
 became  acquainted with ,gay1 found    
such attractions in his manners and     
conversation that he seems to have      
received him into his inmost            
confidence2 and a friendship was formed 
between them which lasted to  their     
separation by death1 without any known  
abatement on either part4  ,gay was the 
general favourite of the whole          
association of wits2 but they  regarded 
him as a playfellow rather than a       
partner1 and treated him with  more     
fondness than respect4    ,next year he 
published 8,the ,shepherd's ,week10 six 
,english pastorals1 in  which the images
 are drawn from real life1 such as it   
appears among the  rustics in parts of  
,england remote from ,london4  ,steele1 
in some papers  of the ,guardian1 had   
praised ,ambrose ,philips as the        
pastoral writer  that yielded only to   
,theocritus1 ,virgil1 and ,spenser4     
,pope1 who had also  published          

pastorals1 not pleased to be overlooked1
 drew up a comparison  of his own       
compositions with those of ,philips1 in 
which he covertly gave  himself the     
preference1 while he seemed to disown   
it4  ,not content with  this1 he is     
supposed to have incited ,gay to write  
8,the ,shepherd's ,week10  to show that1
 if it be necessary to copy nature with 
minuteness1 rural  life must be         
exhibited such as grossness and         
ignorance have made it4  ,so  far the   
plan was reasonable2 but the pastorals  
are introduced by a  ,proeme1 written   
with such imitation as they could attain
 of obsolete  language1 and1 by         
consequence1 in a style that was never  
spoken nor  written in any language or  
in any place4  ,but the effect of       
reality and  truth became conspicuous1  
even when the intention was to show them
  grovelling and degraded4  ,these      
pastorals became popular1 and were read 
with delight as just representations of 
rural manners and occupations by  those 

who had no interest in the rivalry of   
the poets1 nor knowledge of  the        
critical dispute4    ,in #agac he       
brought a comedy called ,the ,wife of   
,bath upon the stage1 but  it received  
no applause2 he printed it1 however1 and
 seventeen years  after1 having altered 
it and1 as he thought1 adapted it more  
to the  public taste1 he offered it     
again to the town2 but1 though he was   
flushed  with the success of the        
,beggar's ,opera1 had the mortification 
to see it  again rejected4    ,in the   
last year of ,queen ,anne's life ,gay   
was made secretary to the ,earl  of     
,clarendon1 ,ambassador to the ,court of
 ,hanover4  ,this was a station  that   
naturally gave him hopes of kindness    
from every party2 but the  ,queen's     
death put an end to her favours1 and he 
had dedicated his  8,shepherd's ,week0  
to ,bolingbroke1 which ,swift considered
 as the crime  that obstructed all      
kindness from the ,house of ,hanover4   
,he did not1  however1 omit to improve  

the right which his office had given him
 to the  notice of the ,royal ,family4  
,on the arrival of the ,princess of     
,wales he  wrote a poem1 and obtained so
 much favour that both the ,prince and  
the  ,princess went to see his ,what    
,d'ye ,call ,it1 a kind of mock tragedy1
 in  which the images were comic and the
 action grave2 so that1 as ,pope        
relates1 ,mr4 ,cromwell1 who could not  
hear what was said1 was at a loss  how  
to reconcile the laughter of the        
audience with the solemnity of the      
scene4    ,of this performance the value
 certainly is but little2 but it was one
 of  the lucky trifles that give        
pleasure by novelty1 and was so much    
favoured  by the audience that envy     
appeared against it in the form of      
criticism2  and ,griffin1 a player1 in  
conjunction with ,mr4 ,theobald1 a man  
afterwards  more remarkable1 produced a 
pamphlet called 8,the ,key to the ,what 
,d'ye  ,call ,it10 8which10 says ,gay1  
8calls me a blockhead1 and ,mr4 ,pope a 

knave40    ,but fortune has always been 
inconstant4  ,not long afterwards       
7#agag7 he  endeavoured to entertain the
 town with ,three ,hours after          
,marriage1 a  comedy written1 as there  
is sufficient reason for believing1 by  
the joint  assistance of ,pope and      
,arbuthnot4  ,one purpose of it was to  
bring into  contempt ,dr4 ,woodward1 the
 fossilist1 a man not really or justly  
contemptible4  ,it had the fate which   
such outrages deserve4  ,the scene in   
which ,woodward was directly and        
apparently ridiculed1 by the            
introduction  of a mummy and a          
crocodile1 disgusted the audience1 and  
the performance  was driven off the     
stage with general condemnation4    ,gay
 is represented as a man easily incited 
to hope1 and deeply depressed  when his 
hopes were disappointed4  ,this is not  
the character of a hero1  but it may    
naturally imply something more generally
 welcome1 a soft and  civil companion4  
,whoever is apt to hope good from others

 is diligent to  please them2 but he    
that believes his powers strong enough  
to force their  own way1 commonly tries 
only to please himself4  ,he had been   
simple  enough to imagine that those who
 laughed at the ,what ,d'ye ,call ,it   
would  raise the fortune of its author1 
and1 finding nothing done1 sunk into    
dejection4  ,his friends endeavoured to 
divert him4  ,the ,earl of  ,burlington 
sent him 7#agaf7 into ,devonshire1 the  
year after ,mr4 ,pulteney  took him to  
,aix1 and in the following year ,lord   
,harcourt invited him to  his seat1     
where1 during his visit1 two rural      
lovers were killed with  lightning1 as  
is particularly told in ,pope's         
8,letters40    ,being now generally     
known1 he published 7#agbj7 his poems by
 subscription1  with such success that  
he raised a thousand pounds1 and called 
his  friends to a consultation what use 
might be best made of it4  ,lewis1 the  
steward of ,lord ,oxford1 advised him to
 intrust it to the ,funds1 and live     

upon the interest2 ,arbuthnot bade him  
to intrust it to ,providence1 and  live 
upon the principal2 ,pope directed him1 
and was seconded by ,swift1 to  purchase
 an annuity4    ,gay in that disastrous 
year had a present from young ,craggs of
 some ,south  ,sea ,stock1 and once     
supposed himself to be master of twenty 
thousand  pounds4  ,his friends         
persuaded him to sell his share2 but he 
dreamed of  dignity and splendour1 and  
could not bear to obstruct his own      
fortune4  ,he was then importuned to    
sell as much as would purchase a hundred
 a year  for life1 8which10 says        
,penton1 8will make you sure of a clean 
shirt and  a shoulder of mutton every   
day40  ,this counsel was rejected2 the  
profit  and principal were lost1 and    
,gay sunk under the calamity so low that
 his  life became in danger4  ,by the   
care of his friends1 among whom ,pope   
appears to have shown particular        
tenderness1 his health was restored2    
and1 returning to his studies1 he wrote 

a tragedy called ,the ,captives1  which 
he was invited to read before the       
,princess of ,wales4  ,when the hour    
came1 he saw the ,princess and her      
ladies all in expectation1 and1         
advancing with reverence too great for  
any other attention1 stumbled at a      
stool1 and1 falling forwards1 threw down
 a weighty ,japan screen4  ,the         
,princess started1 the ladies screamed1 
and poor ,gay1 after all the            
disturbance1 was still to read his play4
    ,the fate of ,the ,captives1 which  
was acted at ,drury ,lane in #agbc-d1 ,i
  know not2 but he now thought himself  
in favour1 and undertook 7#agbf7 to     
write a volume of 8,fables0 for the     
improvement of the young ,duke of       
,cumberland4  ,for this he is said to   
have been promised a reward1 which he   
had doubtless magnified with all the    
wild expectations of indigence and      
vanity4    ,next year the ,prince and   
,princess became ,king and ,queen1 and  
,gay was to  be great and happy2 but on 

the settlement of the household1 he     
found  himself appointed gentleman usher
 to the ,princess ,louisa4  ,by this    
offer  he thought himself insulted1 and 
sent a message to the ,queen that he was
  too old for the place4  ,there seem to
 have been many machinations  employed  
afterwards in his favour1 and diligent  
court was paid to ,mrs4  ,howard1       
afterwards ,countess of ,suffolk1 who   
was much beloved by the ,king  and      
,queen1 to engage her interest for his  
promotion2 but solicitation1  verses1   
and flatteries were thrown away2 the    
lady heard them1 and did  nothing4  ,all
 the pain which he suffered from        
neglect1 or1 as he perhaps  termed it1  
the ingratitude of the ,court1 may be   
supposed to have been  driven away by   
the unexampled success of the ,beggar's 
,opera4  ,this  play1 written in        
ridicule of the musical ,italian drama1 
was first offered  to ,cibber and his   
brethren at ,drury ,lane and rejected3  
it being then  carried to ,rich1 had the

 effect1 as was ludicrously said1 of    
making ,gay  rich and ,rich gay4  ,of   
this lucky piece1 as the reader cannot  
but  wish to know the original and      
progress1 ,i have inserted the relation 
which ,spence has given in ,pope's      
words3--        8,dr4 ,swift had been   
observing once to ,mr4 ,gay what an odd 
pretty sort      of a thing a ,newgate  
,pastoral might make4  ,gay was inclined
 to try at      such a thing for some   
time2 but afterwards thought it would be
 better      to write a comedy on the   
same plan4  ,this was what gave rise to 
the      ,beggar's ,opera4  ,he began on
 it1 and when first he mentioned it to  
,swift1 the doctor did not much like the
 project4  ,as he carried it      on1 he
 showed what he wrote to both of us1 and
 we now and then gave a      correction1
 or a word or two of advice2 but it was 
wholly of his own      writing4  ,when  
it was done1 neither of us thought it   
would succeed4      ,we showed it to    
,congreve1 who1 after reading it over1  

said it would      either take greatly  
or be damned confoundedly4  ,we were    
all1 at the      first night of it1 in  
great uncertainty of the event1 till we 
were      very much encouraged by       
overhearing the ,duke of ,argyll1 who   
sat in      the next box to us1 say1    
#8,it will do--it must do6  ,i see it in
 the      eyes of them4'  ,this was a   
good while before the first act was     
over1      and so gave us ease soon2 for
 that ,duke 7besides his own good taste7
      has a particular knack1 as any one
 now living1 in discovering the         
taste of the public4  ,he was quite     
right in this1 as usual2 the            
good-nature of the audience appeared    
stronger and stronger every act1        
and ended in a clamour of applause40    
,its reception is thus recorded in the  
notes to the 8,dunciad03--        8,this
 piece was received with greater        
applause than was ever known4           
,besides being acted in ,london         
sixty-three days without interruption1  

and renewed the next season with equal  
applause1 it spread into all      the   
great towns of ,england2 was played in  
many places to the      thirtieth and   
fortieth time2 at ,bath and ,bristol    
fifty1 etc4  ,it made      its progress 
into ,wales1 ,scotland1 and ,ireland1   
where it was      performed twenty-four 
days successively4  ,the ladies carried 
about      with them the favourite songs
 of it in fans1 and houses were         
furnished with it in screens4  ,the fame
 of it was not confined to the          
author only4  ,the person who acted     
,polly1 till then obscure1 became       
all at once the favourite of the town2  
her pictures were engraved and      sold
 in great numbers2 her life written1    
books of letters and verses      to her 
published1 and pamphlets made even of   
her sayings and jests4                  
,furthermore1 it drove out of ,england  
7for that season7 the ,italian          
,opera1 which had carried all before it 
for ten years40    ,of this performance1

 when it was printed1 the reception was 
different1  according to the different  
opinions of its readers4  ,swift        
commended it  for the excellence of its 
morality1 as a piece that 8placed all   
kinds of  vice in the strongest and most
 odious light20 but others1 and among   
them  ,dr4 ,herring1 afterwards         
,archbishop of ,canterbury1 censured it 
as giving  encouragement1 not only to   
vice1 but to crimes1 by making a        
highwayman  the hero and dismissing him 
at last unpunished4  ,it has been even  
said  that after the exhibition of the  
,beggar's ,opera the gangs of robbers   
were evidently multiplied4    ,both     
these decisions are surely exaggerated4 
,the play1 like many others1  was       
plainly written only to divert1 without 
any moral purpose1 and is  therefore not
 likely to do good2 nor can it be       
conceived1 without more  speculation    
than life requires or admits1 to be     
productive of much evil4  ,highwaymen   
and housebreakers seldom frequent the   

playhouse1 or mingle in  any elegant    
diversion2 nor is it possible for any   
one to imagine that he  may rob with    
safety1 because he sees ,macheath       
reprieved upon the stage4  ,this        
objection1 however1 or some other rather
 political than moral1  obtained such   
prevalence that when ,gay produced a    
second part under the  name of ,polly1  
it was prohibited by the ,lord          
,chamberlain2 and he was  forced to     
recompense his repulse by a             
subscription1 which is said to have     
been so liberally bestowed that what he 
called oppression ended in  profit4     
,the publication was so much favoured   
that though the first part  gained him  
four hundred pounds1 near thrice as much
 was the profit of the  second4  ,he    
received yet another recompense for this
 supposed hardship1  in the affectionate
 attention of the ,duke and ,duchess of 
,queensberry1  into whose house he was  
taken1 and with whom he passed the      
remaining part  of his life4  ,the      

,duke1 considering his want of economy1 
undertook the  management of his money1 
and gave it to him as he wanted it4     
,but it is  supposed that the           
discountenance of the ,court sunk deep  
into his heart1  and gave him more      
discontent than the applauses or        
tenderness of his  friends could        
overpower4  ,he soon fell into his old  
distemper1 an  habitual colic1 and      
languished1 though with many intervals  
of ease and  cheerfulness1 till a       
violent fit at last seized him and      
carried him to  the grave1 as ,arbuthnot
 reported1 with more precipitance than  
he had ever  known4  ,he died on the    
#dth of ,december1 #agcb1 and was buried
 in  ,westminster ,abbey4  ,the letter  
which brought an account of his death to
  ,swift1 was laid by for some days     
unopened1 because when he received it1  
he was impressed with the preconception 
of some misfortune4    ,after his death 
was published a second volume of        
8,fables10 more political  than the     

former4  ,his opera of ,achilles was    
acted1 and the profits were  given to   
two widow sisters1 who inherited what he
 left1 as his lawful  heirs2 for he died
 without a will1 though he had gathered 
three thousand  pounds4  ,there have    
appeared likewise under his name a      
comedy called the  ,distressed ,wife1   
and the ,rehearsal at ,gotham1 a piece  
of humour4    ,the character given him  
by ,pope is this1 that 8he was a natural
 man1  without design1 who spoke what he
 thought1 and just as he thought it10   
and that 8he was of a timid temper1 and 
fearful of giving offence to the        
great20 which caution1 however1 says    
,pope1 was of no avail4    ,as a poet he
 cannot be rated very high4  ,he was1 ,i
 once heard a female  critic remark1 8of
 a lower order40  ,he had not in any    
great degree the  mens divinior1 the    
dignity of genius4  ,much1 however1 must
 be allowed  to the author of a new     
species of composition1 though it be not
 of the  highest kind4  ,we owe to ,gay 

the ballad opera1 a mode of comedy which
 at  first was supposed to delight only 
by its novelty1 but has now1 by the     
experience of half a century1 been found
 so well accommodated to the            
disposition of a popular audience that  
it is likely to keep long  possession of
 the stage4  ,whether this new drama was
 the product of  judgment or of luck1   
the praise of it must be given to the   
inventor2 and  there are many writers   
read with more reverence to whom such   
merit or  originality cannot be         
attributed4    ,his first performance1  
the ,rural ,sports1 is such as was      
easily planned  and executed2 it is     
never contemptible1 nor ever excellent4 
,the ,fan is  one of those mythological 
fictions which antiquity delivers ready 
to the  hand1 but which1 like other     
things that lie open to every one's use1
 are  of little value4  ,the attention  
naturally retires from a new tale of    
,venus1 ,diana1 and ,minerva4    ,his   
8,fables0 seem to have been a favourite 

work2 for1 having published  one volume1
 he left another behind him4  ,of this  
kind of ,fables the  author does not    
appear to have formed any distinct or   
settled notion4  ,phdrus evidently      
confounds them with ,tales1 and ,gay    
both with ,tales and  ,allegorical      
,prosopopoeias4  ,a ,fable or ,apologue1
 such as is now under  consideration1   
seems to be1 in its genuine state1 a    
narrative in which  beings irrational1  
and sometimes inanimate1 arbores        
loquuntur1 non  tantum fer1 are1 for the
 purpose of moral instruction1 feigned  
to act  and speak with human interests  
and passions4  ,to this description the 
compositions of ,gay do not always      
conform4  ,for a fable he gives now and 
then a tale1 or an abstracted allegory2 
and from some1 by whatever name  they   
may be called1 it will be difficult to  
extract any moral principle4  ,they are1
 however1 told with liveliness1 the     
versification is smooth1 and  the       
diction1 though now and then a little   

constrained by the measure or  the      
rhyme1 is generally happy4    ,to       
8,trivia0 may be allowed all that it    
claims2 it is sprightly1 various1  and  
pleasant4  ,the subject is of that kind 
which ,gay was by nature  qualified to  
adorn1 yet some of his decorations may  
be justly wished  away4  ,an honest     
blacksmith might have done for ,patty   
what is performed  by ,vulcan4  ,the    
appearance of ,cloacina is nauseous and 
superfluous2 a  shoe-boy could have been
 produced by the casual cohabitation of 
mere  mortals4  ,horace's rule is broken
 in both cases2 there is no dignus      
vindice nodus1 no difficulty that       
required any supernatural               
interposition4  ,a patten may be made by
 the hammer of a mortal1 and a  bastard 
may be dropped by a human strumpet4  ,on
 great occasions1 and on  small1 the    
mind is repelled by useless and apparent
 falsehood4    ,of his little poems the 
public judgment seems to be right2 they 
are  neither much esteemed nor totally  

despised4  ,the story of 8,the          
,apparition0 is borrowed from one of the
 tales of ,poggio4  ,those that  please 
least are the pieces to which ,gulliver 
gave occasion1 for who can  much delight
 in the echo of an unnatural fiction8   
8,dione0 is a counterpart to 8,amynta0  
and 8,pastor ,fido0 and other trifles   
of the same kind1 easily imitated1 and  
unworthy of imitation4  ,what the       
,italians call comedies from a happy    
conclusion1 ,gay calls a tragedy from  a
 mournful event1 but the style of the   
,italians and of ,gay is equally        
tragical4  ,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 work4  ,a 
pastoral of an hundred lines may  be    
endured1 but who will hear of sheep and 
goats1 and myrtle bowers and  purling   
rivulets1 through five acts8  ,such     
scenes please barbarians in  the dawn of
 literature1 and children in the dawn of

 life1 but will be for  the most part   
thrown away as men grow wise and nations
 grow learned4          ,,tickell4      
,,thomas ,,tickell1 the son of the ,rev4
 ,richard ,tickell1 was born in #afhf1  
at  ,bridekirk1 in ,cumberland1 and in  
#agja became a member of ,queen's       
,college  in ,oxford2 in #agjh he was   
made ,master of ,arts1 and two years    
afterwards  was chosen ,fellow1 for     
which1 as he did not comply with the    
statutes by  taking orders1 he obtained 
a dispensation from the ,crown4  ,he    
held his  fellowship till #agbf1 and    
then vacated it by marrying1 in that    
year1 at  ,dublin4    ,tickell was not  
one of those scholars who wear away     
their lives in  closets2 he entered     
early into the world and was long busy  
in public  affairs1 in which he was     
initiated under the patronage of        
,addison1 whose  notice he is said to   
have gained by his verses in praise of  
,rosamond4  ,to  those verses it would  
not have been just to deny regard1 for  

they contain  some of the most elegant  
encomiastic strains2 and among the      
innumerable  poems of the same kind it  
will be hard to find one with which they
 need  to fear a comparison4  ,it may   
deserve observation that when ,pope     
wrote  long afterwards in praise of     
,addison1 he has copied--at least1 has  
resembled--,tickell4           8,let joy
 salute fair ,rosamonda's shade1        
,and wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely 
maid4      ,while now perhaps with      
,dido's ghost she roves1      ,and hears
 and tells the story of their loves1    
,alike they mourn1 alike they bless     
their fate1      ,since ,love1 which    
made them wretched1 made them great4    
,nor longer that relentless doom bemoan1
      ,which gained a ,virgil and an    
,addison40--,,tickell4           8,then 
future ages with delight shall see      
,how ,plato's1 ,bacon's1 ,newton's1     
looks agree2      ,or in fair series    
laurelled bards be shown1      ,a       
,virgil there1 and here an              

,addison40--,,pope4    ,he produced     
another piece of the same kind at the   
appearance of ,cato1  with equal skill1 
but not equal happiness4    ,when the   
,ministers of ,queen ,anne were         
negotiating with ,france1 ,tickell      
published 8,the ,prospect of ,peace10 a 
poem of which the tendency was to       
reclaim the nation from the pride of    
conquest to the pleasures of            
tranquillity4  ,how far ,tickell1 whom  
,swift afterwards mentioned as          
,whiggissimus1 had then connected       
himself with any party1 ,i know not2    
this  poem certainly did not flatter the
 practices1 or promote the opinions1 of 
the men by whom he was afterwards       
befriended4    ,mr4 ,addison1 however he
 hated the men then in power1 suffered  
his  friendship to prevail over his     
public spirit1 and gave in the          
,spectator  such praises of ,tickell's  
poem that when1 after having long wished
 to  peruse it1 ,i laid hold of it at   
last1 ,i thought it unequal to the      

honours  which it had received1 and     
found it a piece to be approved rather  
than  admired4  ,but the hope excited by
 a work of genius1 being general and    
indefinite1 is rarely gratified4  ,it   
was read at that with so much favour    
that six editions were sold4    ,at the 
arrival of ,king ,george1 he sang 8,the 
,royal ,progress10 which1 being         
inserted in the ,spectator1 is well     
known1 and of which it is just to  say  
that it is neither high nor low4    ,the
 poetical incident of most importance in
 ,tickell's life was his  publication of
 the first book of the 8,iliad10 as     
translated by himself1  an apparent     
opposition to ,pope's 8,homer10 of which
 the first part made  its entrance into 
the world at the same time4  ,addison   
declared that the  rival versions were  
both good1 but that ,tickell's was the  
best that ever  was made2 and with      
,addison1 the wits1 his adherents and   
followers1 were  certain to concur4     
,pope does not appear to have been much 

dismayed1  8for10 says he1 8,i have the 
town--that is1 the mob--on my side40    
,but he  remarks 8that it is common for 
the smaller party to make up in         
diligence  what they want in numbers4   
,he appeals to the people as his proper 
judges1 and if they are not inclined to 
condemn him1 he is in little care  about
 the highflyers at ,button's40    ,pope 
did not long think ,addison an impartial
 judge1 for he considered him  as the   
writer of ,tickell's version4  ,the     
reasons for his suspicion ,i will       
literally transcribe from ,mr4 ,spence's
 ,collection3--        8,there had been 
a coldness10 said ,mr4 ,pope1 8between  
,mr4 ,addison and      me for some time1
 and we had not been in company         
together1 for a good      while1        
anywhere but at ,button's ,coffee       
,house1 where ,i used to see him        
almost every day4  ,on his meeting me   
there1 one day in particular1 he        
took me aside and said he should be glad
 to dine with me at such a      tavern1 

if ,i stayed till those people were gone
 7,budgell and      ,philips74  ,he went
 accordingly1 and after dinner ,mr4     
,addison said      #8that he had wanted 
for some time to talk with me3 that his 
friend      ,tickell had formerly1      
whilst at ,oxford1 translated the first 
book of      the ,iliad2 that he        
designed to print it1 and had desired   
him to look      it over2 that he must  
therefore beg that ,i would not desire  
him to      look over my first book1    
because1 if he did1 it would have the   
air of      double-dealing4'  ,i assured
 him that ,i did not at all take it ill 
of      ,mr4 ,tickell that he was going 
to publish his translation2 that he     
certainly had as much right to translate
 any author as myself2 and      that    
publishing both was entering on a fair  
stage4  ,i then added that      ,i would
 not desire him to look over my first   
book of the ,iliad1      because he had 
looked over ,mr4 ,tickell's1 but could  
wish to have the      benefit of his    

observations on my second1 which ,i had 
then finished1      and which ,mr4      
,tickell had not touched upon4          
,accordingly ,i sent him      the second
 book the next morning1 and ,mr4        
,addison a few days after      returned 
it1 with very high commendations4  ,soon
 after it was      generally known that 
,mr4 ,tickell was publishing the first  
book of the      ,iliad1 ,i met ,dr4    
,young in the street1 and upon our      
falling into that      subject1 the     
doctor expressed a great deal of        
surprise at ,tickell's      having had  
such a translation so long by him4  ,he 
said that it was      inconceivable to  
him1 and that there must be some mistake
 in the      matter2 that each used to  
communicate to the other whatever verses
      they wrote1 even to the least     
things2 that ,tickell could not have    
been busied in so long a work there     
without his knowing something of        
the matter2 and that he had never heard 
a single word of it till on      this   

occasion4  ,this surprise of ,dr4       
,young1 together with what ,steele      
has said against ,tickell in relation to
 this affair1 make it highly            
probable that there was some underhand  
dealing in that business2 and           
indeed ,tickell himself1 who is a very  
fair worthy man1 has since1 in      a   
manner1 as good as owned it to me4      
,when it was introduced into a          
conversation between ,mr4 ,tickell and  
,mr4 ,pope by a third person1           
,tickell did not deny it1 which1        
considering his honour and zeal for     
his departed friend1 was the same as    
owning it40    ,upon these suspicions1  
with which ,dr4 ,warburton hints that   
other  circumstances concurred1 ,pope   
always in his 8,art of ,sinking0 quotes 
this  book as the work of ,addison4     
,to compare the two translations would  
be tedious2 the palm is now given       
universally to ,pope1 but ,i think the  
first lines of ,tickell's were rather   
to be preferred2 and ,pope seems to have

 since borrowed something from  them in 
the correction of his own4    ,when the 
,hanover succession was disputed1       
,tickell gave what assistance  his pen  
would supply4  ,his 8,letter to         
,avignon0 stands high among party       
poems2 it expresses contempt without    
coarseness1 and superiority without     
insolence4  ,it had the success which it
 deserved1 being five times  printed4   
,he was now intimately united to ,mr4   
,addison1 who1 when he went into        
,ireland as secretary to the ,lord      
,sunderland1 took him thither1 and      
employed him in public business2 and    
when 7#agag7 afterwards he rose to be   
,secretary of ,state1 made him          
,under-,secretary4  ,their friendship   
seems to  have continued without        
abatement2 for1 when ,addison died1 he  
left him the  charge of publishing his  
works1 with a solemn recommendation to  
the  patronage of ,craggs4  ,to these   
works he prefixed an elegy on the       
author1  which could owe none of its    

beauties to the assistance which might  
be  suspected to have strengthened or   
embellished his earlier compositions2   
but neither he nor ,addison ever        
produced nobler lines than are contained
  in the third and fourth paragraphs2   
nor is a more elegant funeral poem to   
be found in the whole compass of        
,english literature4  ,he was afterwards
  7about #agbe7 made secretary to the   
,lords ,justices of ,ireland1 a place of
  great honour2 in which he continued   
till #agdj1 when he died on the #bcrd   
of ,april at ,bath4    ,of the poems yet
 unmentioned1 the longest is            
8,kensington ,gardens10 of  which the   
versification is smooth and elegant1 but
 the fiction  unskilfully compounded of 
,grecian deities and ,gothic fairies4   
,neither  species of those exploded     
beings could have done much2 and when   
they are  brought together1 they only   
make each other contemptible4  ,to      
,tickell1  however1 cannot be refused a 
high place among the minor poets2 nor   

should  it be forgotten that he was one 
of the contributors to the ,spectator4  
,with respect to his personal character1
 he is said to have been a man of  gay  
conversation1 at least a temperate lover
 of wine and company1 and in  his       
domestic relations without censure4     
,,somervile4      ,,of ,mr4 ,somervile's
 life ,i am not able to say anything    
that can satisfy  curiosity4  ,he was a 
gentleman whose estate lay in           
,warwickshire2 his  house1 where he was 
born in #afic1 is called ,edston1 a seat
 inherited from  a long line of         
ancestors2 for he was said to be of the 
first family in  his county4  ,he tells 
of himself that he was born near the    
,avon's banks4  ,he was bred at         
,winchester school1 and was elected     
fellow of ,new ,college4  ,it does not  
appear that in the places of his        
education he exhibited any  uncommon    
proofs of genius or literature4  ,his   
powers were first displayed  in the     
country1 where he was distinguished as a

 poet1 a gentleman1 and a  skilful and  
useful justice of the peace4    ,of the 
close of his life1 those whom his poems 
have delighted will read  with pain the 
following account1 copied from the      
8,letters0 of his friend  ,shenstone1 by
 whom he was too much resembled3--      
8--,our old friend ,somervile is dead6  
,i did not imagine ,i could have been   
so sorry as ,i find myself on this      
occasion4  ,sublatum qurimus4  ,i can   
now excuse all his foibles2 impute them 
to age1 and to distress of              
circumstances3 the last of these        
considerations wrings my very soul to   
think on4  ,for a man of high spirit    
conscious of having 7at least in one    
production7 generally pleased the world1
 to be plagued and threatened by        
wretches that are low in every sense2 to
 be forced to drink himself into  pains 
of the body1 in order to get rid of the 
pains of the mind is a  misery40--,he   
died ,july #ai1 #agdb1 and was buried at
 ,wotton1 near ,henley on  ,arden4      

,his distresses need not be much pitied3
 his estate is said to be fifteen       
hundred a year1 which by his death has  
devolved to ,lord ,somervile of         
,scotland4  ,his mother1 indeed1 who    
lived till ninety1 had a jointure of    
six hundred4    ,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 class1 by   
devoting part of his time to elegant    
knowledge2 and who has shown1 by the    
subjects which his poetry has  adorned1 
that it is practicable to be at once a  
skilful sportsman and a  man of letters4
    ,somervile has tried many modes of  
poetry2 and though perhaps he has not   
in any reached such excellence as to    
raise much envy1 it may commonly be     
said at least1 that 8he writes very well
 for a gentleman40  ,his serious  pieces
 are sometimes elevated2 and his trifles
 are sometimes elegant4  ,in  his verses
 to ,addison1 the couplet which mentions

 ,clio is written with  the most        
exquisite delicacy of praise2 it        
exhibits one of those happy  strokes    
that are seldom attained4  ,in his ,odes
 to ,marlborough there are  beautiful   
lines2 but in the second ,ode he shows  
that he knew little of  his hero1 when  
he talks of his private virtues4  ,his  
subjects are  commonly such as require  
no great depth of thought or energy of  
expression4  ,his ,fables are generally 
stale1 and therefore excite no          
curiosity4  ,of his favourite1 8,the    
,two ,springs10 the fiction is          
unnatural1 and the moral                
inconsequential4  ,in his ,tales there  
is too much  coarseness1 with too little
 care of language1 and not sufficient   
rapidity  of narration4  ,his great work
 is his ,chase1 which he undertook in   
his  maturer age1 when his ear was      
improved to the approbation of blank    
verse1  of which1 however1 his two first
 lines give a bad specimen4  ,to this   
poem  praise cannot be totally denied4  

,he is allowed by sportsmen to write    
with great intelligence of his subject1 
which is the first requisite to         
excellence2 and though it is impossible 
to interest the common readers of  verse
 in the dangers or pleasures of the     
chase1 he has done all that  transition 
and variety could easily effect2 and has
 with great propriety  enlarged his plan
 by the modes of hunting used in other  
countries4    ,with still less judgment 
did he choose blank verse as the vehicle
 of  8,rural ,sports40  ,if blank verse 
be not tumid and gorgeous1 it is        
crippled  prose2 and familiar images in 
laboured language have nothing to       
recommend  them but absurd novelty1     
which1 wanting the attractions of       
nature1 cannot  please long4  ,one      
excellence of the 8,splendid ,shilling0 
is1 that it is  short4  ,disguise can   
gratify no longer than it deceives4     
,,thomson4      ,,james ,,thomson1 the  
son of a minister well esteemed for his 
piety and  diligence1 was born          

,september #g1 #agjj1 at ,ednam1 in the 
shire of  ,roxburgh1 of which his father
 was pastor4  ,his mother1 whose name   
was  ,hume1 inherited as co-heiress a   
portion of a small estate4  ,the revenue
  of a parish in ,scotland is seldom    
large2 and it was probably in           
commiseration of the difficulty with    
which ,mr4 ,thomson supported his       
family1 having nine children1 that ,mr4 
,riccarton1 a neighbouring  minister1   
discovering in ,james uncommon promises 
of future excellence1  undertook to     
superintend his education1 and provide  
him books4  ,he was  taught the common  
rudiments of learning at the school of  
,jedburgh1 a  place which he delights to
 recollect in his poem of 8,autumn20 but
 was not  considered by his master as   
superior to common boys1 though in those
  early days he amused his patron and   
his friends with poetical  compositions2
 with which1 however1 he so little      
pleased himself that on  every ,new     
,year's ,day he threw into the fire all 

the productions of the  foregoing year4 
,from the school he was removed to      
,edinburgh1 where he had not resided two
  years when his father died1 and left  
all his children to the care of  their  
mother1 who raised upon her little      
estate what money a mortgage  could     
afford2 and1 removing with her family to
 ,edinburgh1 lived to see  her son      
rising into eminence4    ,the design of 
,thomson's friends was to breed him a   
minister4  ,he lived at  ,edinburgh1 at 
a school1 without distinction or        
expectation1 till at the  usual time he 
performed a probationary exercise by    
explaining a psalm4  ,his diction was so
 poetically splendid1 that ,mr4         
,hamilton1 the professor  of divinity1  
reproved him for speaking language      
unintelligible to a  popular audience2  
and he censured one of his expressions  
as indecent1 if  not profane4  ,this    
rebuke is reported to have repressed his
 thoughts of  an ecclesiastical         
character1 and he probably cultivated   

with new  diligence his blossoms of     
poetry1 which1 however1 were in some    
danger of  a blast2 for1 submitting his 
productions to some who thought         
themselves  qualified to criticise1 he  
heard of nothing but faults2 but1       
finding  other judges more favourable1  
he did not suffer himself to sink into  
despondence4  ,he easily discovered that
 the only stage on which a poet  could  
appear with any hope of advantage was   
,london2 a place too wide for  the      
operation of petty competition and      
private malignity1 where merit  might   
soon become conspicuous1 and would find 
friends as soon as it  became reputable 
to befriend it4  ,a lady who was        
acquainted with his  mother advised him 
to the journey1 and promised some       
countenance or  assistance1 which at    
last he never received2 however1 he     
justified his  adventure by her         
encouragement1 and came to seek in      
,london patronage and  fame4  ,at his   
arrival he found his way to ,mr4        

,mallet1 then tutor to the  sons of the 
,duke of ,montrose4  ,he had            
recommendations to several persons  of  
consequence1 which he had tied up       
carefully in his handkerchief2 but  as  
he passed along the street1 with the    
gaping curiosity of a newcomer1  his    
attention was upon everything rather    
than his pocket1 and his  magazine of   
credentials was stolen from him4    ,his
 first want was a pair of shoes4  ,for  
the supply of all his  necessities1 his 
whole fund was his 8,winter10 which for 
a time could find  no purchaser2 till at
 last ,mr4 ,millan was persuaded to buy 
it at a low  price2 and this low price  
he had for some time reason to regret2  
but1 by  accident1 ,mr4 ,whately1 a man 
not wholly unknown among authors1       
happening  to turn his eye upon it1 was 
so delighted that he ran from place to  
place  celebrating its excellence4      
,thomson obtained likewise the notice of
  ,aaron ,hill1 whom1 being friendless  
and indigent1 and glad of kindness1 he  

courted with every expression of servile
 adulation4    8,winter0 was dedicated  
to ,sir ,spencer ,compton1 but attracted
 no regard  from him to the author2 till
 ,aaron ,hill awakened his attention by 
some  verses addressed to ,thomson1 and 
published in one of the newspapers1     
which censured the great for their      
neglect of ingenious men4  ,thomson     
then received a present of twenty       
guineas1 of which he gives this account 
to ,mr4 ,hill3--        8,i hinted to   
you in my last that on ,saturday morning
 ,i was with ,sir      ,spencer         
,compton4  ,a certain gentleman1 without
 my desire1 spoke to      him concerning
 me3 his answer was that ,i had never   
come near him4      ,then the gentleman 
put the question1 if he desired that ,i 
should wait      on him8  ,he returned1 
he did4  ,on this the gentleman gave me 
an      introductory letter to him4  ,he
 received me in what they commonly      
call a civil manner2 asked me some      
common-place questions1 and made      me

 a present of twenty guineas4  ,i am    
very ready to own that the      present 
was larger than my performance deserved2
 and shall ascribe it      to his       
generosity1 or any other cause1 rather  
than the merit of the      address40    
,the poem1 which1 being of a new kind1  
few would venture at first to like1  by 
degrees gained upon the public2 and one 
edition was very speedily  succeeded by 
another4    ,thomson's credit was now   
high1 and every day brought him new     
friends2  among others ,dr4 ,rundle1 a  
man afterwards unfortunately famous1    
sought  his acquaintance1 and found his 
qualities such that he recommended him  
to  the ,lord ,chancellor ,talbot4      
8,winter0 was accompanied1 in many      
editions1 not only with a preface and   
dedication1 but with poetical praises by
 ,mr4 ,hill1 ,mr4 ,mallet 7then         
,malloch71 and ,mira1 the fictitious    
name of a lady once too well known4     
,why the dedications are1 to 8,winter0  
and the other ,seasons1 contrarily to   

custom1 left out in the collected works1
 the reader may inquire4    ,the next   
year 7#agbg7 he distinguished himself by
 three publications3 of  8,summer10 in  
pursuance of his plan2 of 8,a ,poem on  
the ,death of ,sir ,isaac  ,newton10    
which he was enabled to perform as an   
exact philosopher by the  instruction of
 ,mr4 ,gray2 and of 8,britannia10 a kind
 of poetical invective  against the     
,ministry1 whom the nation then thought 
not forward enough in  resenting the    
depredations of the ,spaniards4  ,by    
this piece he declared  himself an      
adherent to the ,opposition1 and had    
therefore no favour to  expect from the 
,court4    ,thomson1 having been some   
time entertained in the family of ,lord 
,binning1  was desirous of testifying   
his gratitude by making him the patron  
of his  8,summer20 but the same kindness
 which had first disposed ,lord ,binning
 to  encourage him1 determined him to   
refuse the dedication1 which was by his 
advice addressed to ,mr4 ,dodington1 a  

man who had more power to advance  the  
reputation and fortune of a poet4       
8,spring0 was published next year1 with 
a dedication to the ,countess of        
,hertford1 whose practice it was to     
invite every summer some poet into the  
country1 to hear her verses and assist  
her studies4  ,this honour was one      
summer conferred on ,thomson1 who took  
more delight in carousing with ,lord    
,hertford and his friends than assisting
 her ladyship's poetical  operations1   
and therefore never received another    
summons4    8,autumn10 the season to    
which the 8,spring0 and 8,summer0 are   
preparatory1  still remained unsung1 and
 was delayed till he published 7#agcj7  
his works  collected4    ,he produced in
 #agbg the tragedy of ,sophonisba1 which
 raised such  expectation that every    
rehearsal was dignified with a splendid 
audience1  collected to anticipate the  
delight that was preparing for the      
public4  ,it was observed1 however1 that
 nobody was much affected1 and that the 

company rose as from a moral lecture4   
,it had upon the stage no unusual       
degree of success4  ,slight accidents   
will operate upon the taste of          
pleasure4  ,there is a feeble line in   
the play3--                             
8,o ,sophonisba1 ,sophonisba1 ,o60      
,this gave occasion to a waggish        
parody--                        8,o1    
,jemmy ,thomson1 ,jemmy ,thomson1 ,o60  
which for a while was echoed through the
 town4    ,i have been told by ,savage1 
that of the prologue to ,sophonisba1 the
  first part was written by ,pope1 who  
could not be persuaded to finish it2    
and that the concluding lines were added
 by ,mallet4    ,thomson was not long   
afterwards1 by the influence of ,dr4    
,rundle1 sent to  travel with ,mr4      
,charles ,talbot1 the eldest son of the 
,chancellor4  ,he was  yet young enough 
to receive new impressions1 to have his 
opinions  rectified and his views       
enlarged2 nor can he be supposed to have
 wanted  that curiosity which is        

inseparable from an active and          
comprehensive  mind4  ,he may therefore 
now be supposed to have revelled in all 
the joys  of intellectual luxury2 he was
 every day feasted with instructive     
novelties2 he lived splendidly without  
expense3 and might expect when he       
returned home a certain establishment4  
,at this time a long course of          
opposition to ,sir ,robert ,walpole had 
filled  the nation with clamours for    
liberty1 of which no man felt the want1 
and  with care for liberty which was not
 in danger4  ,thomson1 in his travels   
on the ,continent1 found or fancied so  
many evils arising from the tyranny  of 
other governments1 that he resolved to  
write a very long poem1 in five  parts1 
upon ,liberty4  ,while he was busy on   
the first book1 ,mr4 ,talbot  died2 and 
,thomson1 who had been rewarded for his 
attendance by the place  of secretary of
 the briefs1 pays in the initial lines a
 decent tribute to  his memory4  ,upon  
this great poem two years were spent1   

and the author  congratulated himself   
upon it as his noblest work2 but an     
author and his  reader are not always of
 a mind4  ,liberty called in vain upon  
her  votaries to read her praises1 and  
reward her encomiast3 her praises were  
condemned to harbour spiders1 and to    
gather dust3 none of ,thomson's         
performances were so little regarded4   
,the judgment of the public was not     
erroneous2 the recurrence of the same   
images must tire in time2 an            
enumeration of examples to prove a      
position which nobody denied1 as it  was
 from the beginning superfluous1 must   
quickly grow disgusting4    ,the poem of
 8,liberty0 does not now appear in its  
original state2 but1  when the author's 
works were collected after his death1   
was shortened by  ,sir ,george          
,lyttelton1 with a liberty which1 as it 
has a manifest tendency  to lessen the  
confidence of society1 and to confound  
the characters of  authors1 by making   
one man write by the judgment of        

another1 cannot be  justified by any    
supposed propriety of the alteration1 or
 kindness of the  friend4  ,i wish to   
see it exhibited as its author left it4 
,thomson now lived in ease and plenty1  
and seems for a while to have  suspended
 his poetry3 but he was soon called back
 to labour by the death  of the         
,chancellor1 for his place then became  
vacant2 and though the ,lord  ,hardwicke
 delayed for some time to give it away1 
,thomson's bashfulness or  pride1 or    
some other motive perhaps not more      
laudable1 withheld him from  soliciting2
 and the new ,chancellor would not give 
him what he would not  ask4  ,he now    
relapsed to his former indigence2 but   
the ,prince of ,wales  was at that time 
struggling for popularity1 and by the   
influence of ,mr4  ,lyttelton professed 
himself the patron of wit2 to him       
,thomson was  introduced1 and being     
gaily interrogated about the state of   
his affairs  said 8that they were in a  
more poetical posture than formerly10   

and had a  pension allowed him of one   
hundred pounds a year4    ,being now    
obliged to write1 he produced 7#agch7   
the tragedy of  ,agamemnon1 which was   
much shortened in the representation4   
,it had the  fate which most commonly   
attends mythological stories1 and was   
only  endured1 but not favoured4  ,it   
struggled with such difficulty through  
the  first night that ,thomson1 coming  
late to his friends with whom he was to 
sup1 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    
barber4  ,he so interested himself in   
his own drama that1 if ,i remember      
right1 as he sat in the upper gallery1  
he accompanied the players by  audible  
recitation1 till a friendly hint        
frighted him to silence4  ,pope         
countenanced ,agamemnon by coming to it1
 the first night1 and was welcomed  to  
the theatre by a general clap2 he had   
much regard for ,thomson1 and  once     

expressed it in a poetical epistle sent 
to ,italy1 of which1 however1  he abated
 the value by transplanting some of the 
lines into his ,epistle  to ,arbuthnot4 
,about this time 7#agcg7 the ,act was   
passed for licensing plays1 of which    
the first operation was the prohibition 
of ,gustavus ,vasa1 a tragedy of  ,mr4  
,brooke1 whom the public recompensed by 
a very liberal subscription2  the next  
was the refusal of ,edward and          
,eleonora1 offered by ,thomson4  ,it is 
hard to discover why either play should 
have been obstructed4  ,thomson likewise
 endeavoured to repair his loss by a    
subscription1 of  which ,i cannot now   
tell the success4  ,when the public     
murmured at the  unkind treatment of    
,thomson1 one of the ,ministerial       
writers remarked that  8he had taken a  
,liberty which was not agreeable to     
,britannia in any  ,season40  ,he was   
soon after employed1 in conjunction with
 ,mr4 ,mallet1  to write the masque of  
,alfred1 which was acted before the     

,prince at  ,cliefden ,house4    ,his   
next work 7#agde7 was1 ,tancred and     
,sigismunda1 the most successful  of all
 his tragedies1 for it still keeps its  
turn upon the stage4  ,it may  be       
doubted whether he was1 either by the   
bent of nature or habits of  study1 much
 qualified for tragedy4  ,it does not   
appear that he had much  sense of the   
pathetic2 and his diffusive and         
descriptive style produced  declamation 
rather than dialogue4  ,his friend ,mr4 
,lyttelton was now in  power1 and       
conferred upon him the office of        
,surveyor-,general of the  ,leeward     
,islands2 from which1 when his deputy   
was paid1 he received about  three      
hundred pounds a year4    ,the last     
piece that he lived to publish was the  
8,castle of ,indolence10  which was many
 years under his hand1 but was at last  
finished with great  accuracy4  ,the    
first canto opens a scene of lazy luxury
 that fills the  imagination4  ,he was  
now at ease1 but was not long to enjoy  

it1 for1 by  taking cold on the water   
between ,london and ,kew1 he caught a   
disorder1  which1 with some careless    
exasperation1 ended in a fever that put 
an end  to his life1 ,august #bg1 #agdh4
  ,he was buried in the church of       
,richmond1  without an inscription2 but 
a monument has been erected to his      
memory in  ,westminster ,abbey4         
,thomson was of stature above the middle
 size1 and 8more fat than bard          
beseems10 of a dull countenance and a   
gross1 unanimated1 uninviting           
appearance2 silent in mingled company1  
but cheerful among select friends1  and 
by his friends very tenderly and warmly 
beloved4  ,he left behind him  the      
tragedy of ,coriolanus1 which was1 by   
the zeal of his patron1 ,sir  ,george   
,lyttelton1 brought upon the stage for  
the benefit of his family1  and         
recommended by a prologue1 which ,quin1 
who had long lived with  ,thomson in    
fond intimacy1 spoke in such a manner as
 showed him 8to be10  on that occasion1 

8no actor40  ,the commencement of this  
benevolence is  very honourable to      
,quin1 who is reported to have delivered
 ,thomson1 then  known to him only for  
his genius1 from an arrest by a very    
considerable  present2 and its          
continuance is honourable to both1 for  
friendship is not  always the sequel of 
obligation4  ,by this tragedy a         
considerable sum was  raised1 of which  
part discharged his debts1 and the rest 
was remitted to  his sisters1 whom1     
however removed from them by place or   
condition1 he  regarded with great      
tenderness1 as will appear by the       
following letter1  which ,i communicate 
with much pleasure1 as it gives me at   
once an  opportunity of recording the   
fraternal kindness of ,thomson1 and     
reflecting on the friendly assistance of
 ,mr4 ,boswell1 from whom ,i  received  
it3--                                   
8,hagley in ,worcestershire1 ,october   
the #dth1 #agdg4        8,,my ,,dear    
,,sister1--,i thought you had known me  

better than to interpret      my silence
 into a decay of affection1 especially  
as your behaviour      has always been  
such as rather to increase than diminish
 it4  ,don't      imagine1 because ,i am
 a bad correspondent1 that ,i can ever  
prove an      unkind friend and brother4
  ,i must do myself the justice to tell 
you      that my affections are         
naturally very fixed and constant2 and  
if ,i      had ever reason of complaint 
against you 7of which1 by-the-bye1 ,i   
have not the least shadow71 ,i am       
conscious of so many defects in         
myself as dispose me to be not a little 
charitable and forgiving4        8,it   
gives me the truest heart-felt          
satisfaction to hear you have a         
good kind husband1 and are in easy      
contented circumstances2 but were       
they otherwise1 that would only awaken  
and heighten my tenderness      towards 
you4  ,as our good and tender-hearted   
parents did not live to      receive any
 material testimonies of that highest   

human gratitude ,i      owed them 7than 
which nothing could have given me equal 
pleasure71      the only return ,i can  
make them now is by kindness to those   
they left      behind them4  ,would to  
,god poor ,lizy had lived longer1 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 love6  ,but she is  
happy1 while we must toil a little      
longer here below3 let us1 however1 do  
it cheerfully and gratefully1           
supported by the pleasing hope of       
meeting you again on a safer shore1     
where to recollect the storms and       
difficulties of life will not           
perhaps be inconsistent with that       
blissful state4  ,you did right to      
call your daughter by her name3 for you 
must needs have had a      particular   
tender friendship for one another1      
endeared as you were by      nature1 by 
having passed the affectionate years of 

your youth      together3 and by that   
great softener and engager of hearts1   
mutual      hardship4  ,that it was in  
my power to ease it a little1 ,i account
 one      of the most exquisite         
pleasures of my life4  ,but enough of   
this      melancholy1 though not        
unpleasing1 strain4        8,i esteem   
you for your sensible and disinterested 
advice to ,mr4 ,bell1      as you will  
see by my letter to him4  ,as ,i approve
 entirely of his      marrying again1   
you may readily ask me why ,i don't     
marry at all4  ,my      circumstances   
have hitherto been so variable and      
uncertain in this      fluctuating      
world1 as induce to keep me from        
engaging in such a      state3 and now1 
though they are more settled1 and of    
late 7which you      will be glad to    
hear7 considerably improved1 ,i begin to
 think myself      too far advanced in  
life for such youthful undertakings1 not
 to      mention some other petty       
reasons that are apt to startle the     

delicacy      of difficult old          
bachelors4  ,i am1 however1 not a little
 suspicious      that1 was ,i to pay a  
visit to ,scotland 7which ,i have some  
thought of      doing soon71 ,i might   
possibly be tempted to think of a thing 
not      easily repaired if done amiss4 
,i have always been of opinion that     
none make better wives than the ladies  
of ,scotland2 and yet who more          
forsaken than they1 while the gentlemen 
are continually running      abroad all 
the world over8  ,some of them1 it is   
true1 are wise enough      to return for
 a wife4  ,you see1 ,i am beginning to  
make interest      already with the     
,scots ladies4  ,but no more of this    
infectious      subject4  ,pray let me  
hear from you now and then2 and though  
,i am not      a regular correspondent1 
yet perhaps ,i may mend in that respect4
      ,remember me kindly to your       
husband1 and believe me to be           
8,your most affectionate ,brother1      
8,,james ,,thomson40        7,addressed7

 8,to ,mrs4 ,thomson in ,lanark40       
,the benevolence of ,thomson was fervid1
 but not active2 he would give on  all  
occasions what assistance his purse     
would supply1 but the offices of        
intervention or solicitation he could   
not conquer his sluggishness            
sufficiently to perform4  ,the affairs  
of others1 however1 were not more       
neglected than his own4  ,he had often  
felt the inconveniences of  idleness1   
but he never cured it2 and was so       
conscious of his own  character that he 
talked of writing an ,eastern tale 8,of 
the ,man who ,loved  to be in           
,distress40  ,among his peculiarities   
was a very unskilful and  inarticulate  
manner of pronouncing any lofty or      
solemn composition4  ,he  was once      
reading to ,dodington1 who1 being       
himself a reader eminently  elegant1 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  verses4    ,the     

biographer of ,thomson has remarked that
 an author's life is best read  in his  
works2 his observation was not well     
timed4  ,savage1 who lived much  with   
,thomson1 once told me how he heard a   
lady remarking that she could  gather   
from his works three-parts of his       
character3 that he was 8a great  lover1 
a great swimmer1 and rigorously         
abstinent20 8but10 said ,savage1  8he   
knows not any love but that of the sex2 
he was1 perhaps1 never in  cold water in
 his life2 and he indulges himself in   
all the luxury that  comes within his   
reach40  ,yet ,savage always spoke with 
the most eager  praise of his social    
qualities1 his warmth and constancy of  
friendship1  and his adherence to his   
first acquaintance when the advancement 
of his  reputation had left them behind 
him4    ,as a writer1 he is entitled to 
one praise of the highest kind3 his mode
  of thinking and of expressing his     
thoughts is original4  ,his blank verse 
is no more the blank verse of ,milton1  

or of any other poet1 than the  rhymes  
of ,prior are the rhymes of ,cowley4    
,his numbers1 his pauses1 his  diction1 
are of his own growth1 without          
transcription1 without imitation4  ,he  
thinks in a peculiar train1 and he      
thinks always as a man of genius2  he   
looks round on ,nature and on ,life with
 the eye which ,nature bestows  only on 
a poet2 the eye that distinguishes in   
everything presented to its  view       
whatever there is on which imagination  
can delight to be detained1  and with a 
mind that at once comprehends the vast  
and attends to the  minute4  ,the reader
 of the 8,seasons0 wonders that he never
 saw before  what ,thomson shows him1   
and that he never yet has felt what     
,thomson  impresses4  ,his is one of the
 works in which blank verse seems       
properly  used4  ,thomson's wide        
expansion of general views1 and his     
enumeration of  circumstantial          
varieties1 would have been obstructed   
and embarrassed by  the frequent        

intersections of the sense1 which are   
the necessary effects  of rhyme4  ,his  
descriptions of extended scenes and     
general effects bring  before us the    
whole magnificence of ,nature1 whether  
pleasing or dreadful4  ,the gaiety of   
,spring1 the splendour of ,summer1 the  
tranquillity of  ,autumn1 and the horror
 of ,winter1 take in their turns        
possession of the  mind4  ,the poet     
leads us through the appearances of     
things as they are  successively varied 
by the vicissitudes of the year1 and    
imparts to us so  much of his own       
enthusiasm that our thoughts expand with
 his imagery and  kindle with his       
sentiments4  ,nor is the naturalist     
without his part in  the entertainment1 
for he is assisted to recollect and to  
combine1 to  arrange his discoveries1   
and to amplify the sphere of his        
contemplation4  ,the great defect of the
 8,seasons0 is want of method2 but for  
this ,i know  not that there was any    
remedy4  ,of many appearances subsisting

 all at  once1 no rule can be given why 
one should be mentioned before another2 
yet the memory wants the help of order1 
and the curiosity is not excited  by    
suspense or expectation4  ,his diction  
is in the highest degree florid  and    
luxuriant1 such as may be said to be to 
his images and thoughts 8both  their    
lustre and their shade20 such as invests
 them with splendour1  through which1   
perhaps1 they are not always easily     
discerned4  ,it is too  exuberant1 and  
sometimes may be charged with filling   
the ear more than  the mind4    ,these  
poems1 with which ,i was acquainted at  
their first appearance1 ,i  have since  
found altered and enlarged by subsequent
 revisals1 as the  author supposed his  
judgment to grow more exact1 and as     
books or  conversation extended his     
knowledge and opened his prospects4     
,they are1  ,i think1 improved in       
general2 yet ,i know not whether they   
have not lost  part of what ,temple     
calls their 8race10 a word which1       

applied to wines in  its primitive      
sense1 means the flavour of the soil4   
8,liberty10 when it first appeared1 ,i  
tried to read1 and soon desisted4  ,i   
have never tried again1 and therefore   
will not hazard either praise or        
censure4  ,the highest praise which he  
has received ought not to be            
suppressed3 it is said by ,lord         
,lyttelton1 in the ,prologue to his     
posthumous play1 that his works         
contained                  8,no line    
which1 dying1 he could wish to blot40   
,,watts4      ,,the poems of ,dr4 ,watts
 were1 by my recommendation1 inserted in
 the late  ,collection1 the readers of  
which are to impute to me whatever      
pleasure or  weariness they may find in 
the perusal of ,blackmore1 ,watts1      
,pomfret1 and  ,yalden4    ,isaac ,watts
 was born ,july #ag1 #afgd1 at          
,southampton1 where his father1 of  the 
same name1 kept a boarding-school for   
young gentlemen1 though common  report  
makes him a shoemaker4  ,he appears1    

from the narrative of ,dr4  ,gibbons1 to
 have been neither indigent nor         
illiterate4    ,isaac1 the eldest of    
nine children1 was given to books from  
his infancy1  and began1 we are told1 to
 learn ,latin when he was four years    
old--,i  suppose1 at home4  ,he was     
afterwards taught ,latin1 ,greek1 and   
,hebrew1 by  ,mr4 ,pinhorne1 a          
clergyman1 master of the ,free ,school  
at ,southampton1 to  whom the gratitude 
of his scholar afterwards inscribed a   
,latin ode4  ,his  proficiency at school
 was so conspicuous that a subscription 
was proposed  for his support at the    
,university1 but he declared his        
resolution of  taking his lot with the  
,dissenters4  ,such he was as every     
,christian  ,church would rejoice to    
have adopted4  ,he therefore repaired1  
in #afij1 to  an academy taught by ,mr4 
,rowe1 where he had for his companions  
and fellow  students ,mr4 ,hughes the   
poet1 and ,dr4 ,horte1 afterwards       
,archbishop of  ,tuam4  ,some ,latin    

,essays1 supposed to have been written  
as exercises at  this academy1 show a   
degree of knowledge1 both philosophical 
and  theological1 such as very few      
attain by a much longer course of study4
  ,he was1 as he hints in his           
8,miscellanies10 a maker of verses from 
fifteen  to fifty1 and in his youth he  
appears to have paid attention to ,latin
  poetry4  ,his verses to his brother1  
in the glyconic measure1 written when   
he was seventeen1 are remarkably easy   
and elegant4  ,some of his other  odes  
are deformed by the ,pindaric folly then
 prevailing1 and are written  with such 
neglect of all metrical rules as is     
without example among the  ancients2 but
 his diction1 though perhaps not always 
exactly pure1 has  such copiousness and 
splendour as shows that he was but a    
very little  distance from excellence4  
,his method of study was to impress the 
contents of his books upon his memory by
 abridging them1 and by  interleaving   
them to amplify one system with         

supplements from another4    ,with the  
congregation of his tutor1 ,mr4 ,rowe1  
who were1 ,i believe1  ,independents1 he
 communicated in his nineteenth year4   
,at the age of  twenty he left the      
academy1 and spent two years in study   
and devotion at  the house of his       
father1 who treated him with great      
tenderness1 and had  the happiness1     
indulged to few parents1 of living to   
see his son eminent  for literature and 
venerable for piety4  ,he was then      
entertained by ,sir  ,john ,hartopp five
 years1 as domestic tutor to his son1   
and in that time  particularly devoted  
himself to the study of the ,holy       
,scriptures2 and1  being chosen         
assistant to ,dr4 ,chauncey1 preached   
the first time on the  birthday that    
completed his twenty-fourth year1       
probably considering that  as the day of
 a second nativity1 by which he entered 
on a new period of  existence4    ,in   
about three years he succeeded ,dr4     
,chauncey2 but soon after his  entrance 

on his charge he was seized by a        
dangerous illness1 which sunk  him to   
such weakness that the congregation     
thought an assistant  necessary1 and    
appointed ,mr4 ,price4  ,his health then
 returned gradually1  and he performed  
his duty till 7#agab7 he was seized by a
 fever of such  violence and            
continuance1 that from the feebleness   
which it brought upon  him he never     
perfectly recovered4  ,this calamitous  
state made the  compassion of his       
friends necessary1 and drew upon him the
 attention of  ,sir ,thomas ,abney1 who 
received him into his house1 where1 with
 a  constancy of friendship and         
uniformity of conduct not often to be   
found1  he was treated for thirty-six   
years with all the kindness that        
friendship  could prompt1 and all the   
attention that respect could dictate4   
,sir  ,thomas died about eight years    
afterwards1 but he continued with the   
lady  and her daughters to the end of   
his life4  ,the lady died about a year  

after him4    ,a coalition like this1 a 
state in which the notions of patronage 
and  dependence were overpowered by the 
perception of reciprocal benefits1      
deserves a particular memorial2 and ,i  
will not withhold from the reader  ,dr4 
,gibbons's representation1 to which     
regard is to be paid as to the          
narrative of one who writes what he     
knows1 and what is known likewise to    
multitudes besides3--        8,our next 
observation shall be made upon that     
remarkably kind      ,providence which  
brought the ,doctor into ,sir ,thomas   
,abney's family1      and continued him 
there till his death1 a period of no    
less than      thirty-six years4  ,in   
the midst of his sacred labours for the 
glory      of ,god1 and good of his     
generation1 he is seized with a most    
violent      and threatening fever1     
which leaves him oppressed with great   
weakness1 and puts a stop at least to   
his public services for four      years4
  ,in this distressing season1 doubly so

 to his active and pious      spirit1 he
 is invited to ,sir ,thomas ,abney's    
family1 nor ever removes      from it   
till he had finished his days4  ,here he
 enjoyed the      uninterrupted         
demonstrations of the truest friendship4
  ,here1 without      any care of his   
own1 he had everything which could      
contribute to the      enjoyment of     
life1 and favour the unwearied pursuit  
of his studies4      ,here he dwelt in a
 family which1 for piety1 order1        
harmony1 and every      virtue1 was a   
house of ,god4  ,here he had the        
privilege of a country      recess1 the 
fragrant bower1 the spreading lawn1 the 
flowery garden1      and other          
advantages1 to soothe his mind and aid  
his restoration to      health2 to yield
 him1 whenever he chose them1 most      
grateful intervals      from his        
laborious studies1 and enable him to    
return to them with      redoubled      
vigour and delight4  ,had it not been   
for this most happy      event1 he      

might1 as to outward view1 have feebly1 
it may be      painfully1 dragged on    
through many more years of languor1 and 
inability for public service1 and even  
for profitable study1 or      perhaps   
might have sunk into his grave under the
 overwhelming load of      infirmities  
in the midst of his days2 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      family4  ,in a few years after
 his coming hither1 ,sir ,thomas ,abney 
dies2 but his amiable consort survives1 
who shows the ,doctor the same          
respect and friendship as before1 and   
most happily for him and great          
numbers besides2 for1 as her riches were
 great1 her generosity and              
munificence were in full proportion2 her
 thread of life was drawn out      to a 
great age1 even beyond that of the      
,doctor's1 and thus this      excellent 
man1 through her kindness1 and that of  

her daughter1 the      present ,mrs4    
,elizabeth ,abney1 who in a like degree 
esteemed and      honoured him1 enjoyed 
all the benefits and felicities he      
experienced      at his first entrance  
into this family till his days were     
numbered      and finished1 and1 like a 
shock of corn in its season1 he ascended
      into the regions of perfect and   
immortal life and joy40    ,if this     
quotation has appeared long1 let it be  
considered that it  comprises an account
 of six-and-thirty years1 and those the 
years of ,dr4  ,watts4    ,from the time
 of his reception into this family his  
life was no otherwise  diversified than 
by successive publications4  ,the series
 of his works ,i  am not able to deduce2
 their number and their variety show the
  intenseness of his industry and the   
extent of his capacity4  ,he was one  of
 the first authors that taught the      
,dissenters to court attention by the   
graces of language4  ,whatever they had 
among them before1 whether of  learning 

or acuteness1 was commonly obscured and 
blunted by coarseness  and inelegance of
 style4  ,he showed them that zeal and  
purity might be  expressed and enforced 
by polished diction4  ,he continued to  
the end of  his life a teacher of a     
congregation1 and no reader of his works
 can  doubt his fidelity or diligence4  
,in the pulpit1 though his low stature1 
which very little exceeded five feet1   
graced him with no advantages of        
appearance1 yet the gravity and         
propriety of his utterance made his     
discourses very efficacious4  ,i once   
mentioned the reputation which ,mr4     
,foster had gained by his proper        
delivery1 to my friend ,dr4             
,hawkesworth1  who told me that in the  
art of pronunciation he was far inferior
 to ,dr4  ,watts4  ,such was his flow of
 thoughts1 and such his promptitude of  
language1 that in the latter part of his
 life he did not precompose his  cursory
 sermons1 but1 having adjusted the heads
 and sketched out some  particulars1    

trusted for success to his extemporary  
powers4  ,he did not  endeavour to      
assist his eloquence by any             
gesticulations2 for1 as no  corporeal   
actions have any correspondence with    
theological truth1 he did  not see how  
they could enforce it4  ,at the         
conclusion of weighty  sentences he gave
 time1 by a short pause1 for the proper 
impression4    ,to stated and public    
instruction he added familiar visits and
 personal  application1 and was careful 
to improve the opportunities which      
conversation offered of diffusing and   
increasing the influence of  religion4  
,by his natural temper he was quick of  
resentment2 but by his  established and 
habitual practice he was gentle1 modest1
 and inoffensive4  ,his tenderness      
appeared in his attention to children1  
and to the poor4  ,to the poor1 while he
 lived in the family of his friend1 he  
allowed the  third part of his annual   
revenue2 though the whole was not a     
hundred a  year2 and for children he    

condescended to lay aside the scholar1  
the  philosopher1 and the wit1 to write 
little poems of devotion1 and systems   
of instruction1 adapted to their wants  
and capacities1 from the dawn of  reason
 through its gradations of advance in   
the morning of life4  ,every  man       
acquainted with the common principles of
 human action will look with  veneration
 on the writer who is at one time       
combating ,locke1 and at  another making
 a catechism for children in their      
fourth year4  ,a  voluntary descent from
 the dignity of science is perhaps the  
hardest  lesson that humility can teach4
    ,as his mind was capacious1 his     
curiosity excursive1 and his industry   
continual1 his writings are very        
numerous and his subjects various4      
,with  his theological works ,i am only 
enough acquainted to admire his meekness
  of opposition1 and his mildness of    
censure4  ,it was not only in his book1 
but in his mind1 that orthodoxy was     
united with charity4    ,of his         

philosophical pieces1 his 8,logic0 has  
been received into the  ,universities1  
and therefore wants no private          
recommendation2 if he owes  part of it  
to ,le ,clerc1 it must be considered    
that no man who undertakes  merely to   
methodise or illustrate a system        
pretends to be its author4    ,in his   
metaphysical disquisitions it was       
observed by the late learned ,mr4       
,dyer1 that he confounded the idea of   
space with that of empty space1  and did
 not consider that though space might be
 without matter1 yet  matter being      
extended could not be without space4    
,few books have been perused by me with 
greater pleasure than his  8,improvement
 of the ,mind10 of which the radical    
principle may indeed be  found in       
,locke's 8,conduct of the               
,understanding20 but they are so        
expanded  and ramified by ,watts1 as to 
confer upon him the merit of a work in  
the  highest degree useful and pleasing4
  ,whoever has the care of instructing  

others may be charged with deficiency in
 his duty if this book is not           
recommended4    ,i have mentioned his   
treatises of theology as distinct from  
his other  productions2 but the truth is
 that whatever he took in hand was1 by  
his  incessant solicitude for souls1    
converted to theology4  ,as piety       
predominated in his mind1 it is diffused
 over his works4  ,under his  direction 
it may be truly said1 ,theologi         
philosophia ancillatur  7,philosophy is 
subservient to evangelical instruction74
  ,it is difficult  to read a page      
without learning1 or at least wishing1  
to be better4  ,the  attention is caught
 by indirect instruction2 and he that   
sat down only to  reason is on a sudden 
compelled to pray4  ,it was therefore   
with great  propriety that1 in #agbh1 he
 received from ,edinburgh and ,aberdeen 
an  unsolicited diploma1 by which he    
became a ,doctor of ,divinity4          
,academical  honours would have more    
value if they were always bestowed with 

equal  judgment4  ,he continued many    
years to study and to preach1 and to do 
good  by his instruction and example1   
till at last the infirmities of age     
disabled him from the more laborious    
part of his ministerial functions1  and1
 being no longer capable of public duty1
 he offered to remit the  salary        
appendent to it2 but his congregation   
would not accept the  resignation4  ,by 
degrees his weakness increased1 and at  
last confined him  to his chamber and   
his bed1 where he was worn gradually    
away without  pain1 till he expired     
,november #beth #agdh1 in the           
seventy-fifth year of  his age4    ,few 
men have left behind such purity of     
character1 or such monuments of         
laborious piety4  ,he has provided      
instruction for all ages--from those who
  are lisping their first lessons1 to   
the enlightened readers of  ,malebranche
 and ,locke2 he has left neither        
corporeal nor spiritual nature          
unexamined2 he has taught the art of    

reasoning1 and the science of the       
stars4  ,his character1 therefore1 must 
be formed from the multiplicity  and    
diversity of his attainments1 rather    
than from any single  performance1 for  
it would not be safe to claim for him   
the highest rank  in any single         
denomination of literary dignity2 yet1  
perhaps1 there was  nothing in which he 
would not have excelled1 if he had not  
divided his  powers to different        
pursuits4    ,as a poet1 had he been    
only a poet1 he would probably have     
stood high  among the authors with whom 
he is now associated4  ,for his judgment
 was  exact1 and he noted beauties and  
faults with very nice discernment2 his  
imagination1 as the 8,dacian ,battle0   
proves1 was vigorous and active1 and    
the stores of knowledge were large by   
which his fancy was to be supplied4     
,his ear was well tuned1 and his diction
 was elegant and copious4  ,but his     
devotional poetry is1 like that of      
others1 unsatisfactory4  ,the paucity   

of its topics enforces perpetual        
repetition1 and the sanctity of the     
matter rejects the ornaments of         
figurative diction4  ,it is sufficient  
for  ,watts to have done better than    
others what no man has done well4  ,his 
poems on other subjects seldom rise     
higher than might be expected from  the 
amusements of a man of letters1 and have
 different degrees of value  as they are
 more or less laboured1 or as the       
occasion was more or less  favourable to
 invention4  ,he writes too often       
without regular measures1  and too often
 in blank verse2 the rhymes are not     
always sufficiently  correspondent4  ,he
 is particularly unhappy in coining     
names expressive of  characters4  ,his  
lines are commonly smooth and easy1 and 
his thoughts  always religiously pure2  
but who is there that1 to so much piety 
and  innocence1 does not wish for a     
greater measure of sprightliness and    
vigour8  ,he is at least one of the few 
poets with whom youth and  ignorance may

 be safely pleased2 and happy will be   
that reader whose mind  is disposed1 by 
his verses or his prose1 to imitate him 
in all but his  non-conformity1 to copy 
his benevolence to man1 and his         
reverence to ,god4          ,a4         
,,philips4      ,,of the birth or early 
part of the life of ,ambrose ,philips ,i
 have not been  able to find any        
account4  ,his academical education he  
received at ,st4  ,john's ,college in   
,cambridge1 where he first solicited the
 notice of the  world by some ,english  
verses1 in the collection published by  
the  ,university on the death of ,queen 
,mary4  ,from this time how he was      
employed1 or in what station he passed  
his life1 is not yet discovered4  ,he   
must have published his 8,pastorals0    
before the year #agjh1 because they  are
 evidently prior to those of ,pope4  ,he
 afterwards 7#agji7 addressed to  the   
universal patron1 the ,duke of ,dorset1 
a 8,poetical ,letter from  ,copenhagen10
 which was published in the ,tatler1 and

 is by ,pope1 in one  of his first      
,letters1 mentioned with high praise as 
the production of a  man 8who could     
write very nobly40    ,philips was a    
zealous ,whig1 and therefore easily     
found access to ,addison  and ,steele2  
but his ardour seems not to have        
procured him anything more  than kind   
words1 since he was reduced to translate
 the 8,persian ,tales0  for ,tonson1 for
 which he was afterwards reproached1    
with this addition of  contempt1 that he
 worked for half-a-crown4  ,the book is 
divided into many  sections1 for each of
 which1 if he received half-a-crown1 his
 reward1 as  writers then were paid1 was
 very liberal2 but half-a-crown had a   
mean  sound4  ,he was employed in       
promoting the principles of his party1  
by  epitomising ,hacket's 8,life of     
,archbishop ,williams40  ,the original  
book is  written with such depravity of 
genius1 such mixture of the fop and     
pedant1 as has not often appeared4  ,the
 epitome is free enough from            

affectation1 but has little spirit or   
vigour4    ,in #agab he brought upon the
 stage ,the ,distressed ,mother1 almost 
a  translation of ,racine's ,andromaque4
  ,such a work requires no uncommon     
powers1 but the friends of ,philips     
exerted every art to promote his        
interest4 ,before the appearance of the 
play a whole ,spectator1 none  indeed of
 the best1 was devoted to its praise2   
while it yet continued to  be acted1    
another ,spectator was written to tell  
what impression it made  upon ,sir      
,roger1 and on the first night a select 
audience1 says ,pope1 was  called       
together to applaud it4  ,it was        
concluded with the most successful      
,epilogue that was ever yet spoken on   
the ,english theatre4  ,the three  first
 nights it was recited twice1 and not   
only continued to be demanded  through  
the run1 as it is termed1 of the play1  
but whenever it is  recalled to the     
stage1 where by peculiar fortune1 though
 a copy from the  ,french1 it yet keeps 

its place1 the ,epilogue is still       
expected1 and is  still spoken4    ,the 
propriety of ,epilogues in general1 and 
consequently of this1 was  questioned by
 a correspondent of the ,spectator1     
whose letter was  undoubtedly admitted  
for the sake of the answer1 which soon  
followed1  written with much zeal and   
acrimony4  ,the attack and the defence  
equally  contributed to stimulate       
curiosity and continue attention4  ,it  
may be  discovered in the defence that  
,prior's ,epilogue to ,phdra had a      
little  excited jealousy1 and something 
of ,prior's plan may be discovered in   
the  performance of his rival4  ,of this
 distinguished ,epilogue the reputed    
author was the wretched ,budgell1 whom  
,addison used to denominate 8the man    
who calls me cousin20 and when he was   
asked how such a silly fellow could     
write so well1 replied1 8,the ,epilogue 
was quite another thing when ,i saw  it 
first40  ,it was known in ,tonson's     
family1 and told to ,garrick1 that      

,addison was himself the author of it1  
and that1 when it had been at first     
printed with his name1 he came early in 
the morning1 before the copies  were    
distributed1 and ordered it to be given 
to ,budgell1 that it might  add weight  
to the solicitation which he was then   
making for a place4    ,philips was now 
high in the ranks of literature4  ,his  
play was applauded2  his translations   
from ,sappho had been published in the  
,spectator2 he  was an important and    
distinguished associate of clubs1 witty 
and  poetical2 and nothing was wanting  
to his happiness but that he should be  
sure of its continuance4  ,the work     
which had procured him the first  notice
 from the public was his 8,six          
,pastorals10 which1 flattering the      
imagination with ,arcadian scenes1      
probably found many readers1 and might  
have long passed as a pleasing amusement
 had they not been unhappily too  much  
commended4    ,the rustic poems of      
,theocritus were so highly valued by the

 ,greeks and  ,romans that they         
attracted the imitation of ,virgil1     
whose ,eclogues seem  to have been      
considered as precluding all attempts of
 the same kind2 for  no shepherds were  
taught to sing by any succeeding poet1  
till ,nemesian  and ,calphurnius        
ventured their feeble efforts in the    
lower age of ,latin  literature4    ,at 
the revival of learning in ,italy it was
 soon discovered that a  dialogue of    
imaginary swains might be composed with 
little difficulty1  because the         
conversation of shepherds excludes      
profound or refined  sentiment2 and for 
images and descriptions1 satyrs and     
fauns1 and naiads  and dryads1 were     
always within call2 and woods and       
meadows1 and hills and  rivers1 supplied
 variety of matter1 which1 having a     
natural power to  soothe the mind1 did  
not quickly cloy it4    ,petrarch       
entertained the learned men of his age  
with the novelty of  modern pastorals in
 ,latin4  ,being not ignorant of ,greek1

 and finding  nothing in the word       
eclogue of rural meaning1 he supposed it
 to be  corrupted by the copiers1 and   
therefore called his own productions    
glogues1 by which he meant to express   
the talk of goat-herds1 though  it will 
mean only the talk of goats4  ,this new 
name was adopted by  subsequent writers1
 and among others by our ,spenser4      
,more than a century afterwards 7#adih7 
,mantuan published his ,bucolics with   
such success that they were soon        
dignified by ,badius with a comment1    
and1  as ,scaliger complained1 received 
into schools1 and taught as classical2  
his complaint was vain1 and the         
practice1 however injudicious1 spread   
far  and continued long4  ,mantuan was  
read1 at least in some of the inferior  
schools of this kingdom1 to the         
beginning of the present century4  ,the 
speakers of ,mantuan carried their      
disquisitions beyond the country to     
censure the corruptions of the ,church1 
and from him ,spenser learned to  employ

 his swains on topics of controversy4   
,the ,italians soon  transferred        
pastoral poetry into their own language4
  ,sannazaro wrote  8,arcadia0 in prose 
and verse2 ,tasso and ,guarini wrote    
8,favole  ,boschareccie10 or ,sylvan    
,dramas2 and all nations of ,europe     
filled volumes  with ,thyrsis and       
,damon1 and ,thestylis and ,phyllis4    
,philips thinks it 8somewhat strange to 
conceive how1 in an age so  addicted to 
the ,muses1 pastoral poetry never comes 
to be so much as  thought upon40  ,his  
wonder seems very unseasonable2 there   
had never1 from  the time of ,spenser1  
wanted writers to talk occasionally of  
,arcadia and  ,strephon1 and half the   
book1 in which he first tried his       
powers1 consists  of dialogues on ,queen
 ,mary's death1 between ,tityrus and    
,corydon1 or  ,mopsus and ,menalcas4  ,a
 series or book of pastorals1 however1  
,i know not  that anyone had then lately
 published4    ,not long afterwards     
,pope made the first display of his     

powers in four  pastorals1 written in a 
very different form4  ,philips had taken
 ,spenser1  and ,pope took ,virgil for  
his pattern4  ,philips endeavoured to be
 natural1  ,pope laboured to be elegant4
    ,philips was now favoured by        
,addison and by ,addison's companions1  
who were  very willing to push him into 
reputation4  ,the ,guardian gave an     
account  of ,pastoral1 partly critical  
and partly historical2 in which1 when   
the  merit of the modern is compared1   
,tasso and ,guarini are censured for    
remote thoughts and unnatural           
refinements1 and1 upon the whole1 the   
,italians and ,french are all excluded  
from rural poetry1 and the pipe of  the 
pastoral muse is transmitted by lawful  
inheritance from ,theocritus to         
,virgil1 from ,virgil to ,spenser1 and  
from ,spenser to ,philips4  ,with this  
inauguration of ,philips his rival ,pope
 was not much delighted2 he  therefore  
drew a comparison of ,philips's         
performance with his own1 in  which1    

with an unexampled and unequalled       
artifice of irony1 though he has        
himself always the advantage1 he gives  
the preference to ,philips4  ,the       
design of aggrandising himself he       
disguised with such dexterity that1     
though ,addison discovered it1 ,steele  
was deceived1 and was afraid of         
displeasing ,pope by publishing his     
paper4  ,published however it was       
7,guardian1 ,no4 #dj71 and from that    
time ,pope and ,philips lived in a      
perpetual reciprocation of malevolence4 
,in poetical powers1 of either  praise  
or satire1 there was no proportion      
between the combatants2 but  ,philips1  
though he could not prevail by wit1     
hoped to hurt ,pope with  another       
weapon1 and charged him1 as ,pope       
thought with ,addison's  approbation1 as
 disaffected to the ,government4  ,even 
with this he was not  satisfied1 for1   
indeed1 there is no appearance that any 
regard was paid  to his clamours4  ,he  
proceeded to grosser insults1 and hung  

up a rod at  ,button's1 with which he   
threatened to chastise ,pope1 who       
appears to have  been extremely         
exasperated1 for in the first edition of
 his ,letters he  calls ,philips        
8rascal10 and in the last still charges 
him with detaining  in his hands the    
subscriptions for 8,homer0 delivered to 
him by the  ,hanover ,club4  ,i suppose 
it was never suspected that he meant to 
appropriate the money2 he only delayed1 
and with sufficient meanness1 the       
gratification of him by whose prosperity
 he was pained4    ,men sometimes suffer
 by injudicious kindness2 ,philips      
became ridiculous1  without his own     
fault1 by the absurd admiration of his  
friends1 who  decorated him with        
honorary garlands1 which the first      
breath of  contradiction blasted4       
,when upon the succession of the ,house 
of ,hanover every ,whig expected to  be 
happy1 ,philips seems to have obtained  
too little notice2 he caught few  drops 
of the golden shower1 though he did not 

omit what flattery could  perform4  ,he 
was only made a commissioner of the     
lottery 7#agag71 and1  what did not much
 elevate his character1 a justice of the
 peace4    ,the success of his first    
play must naturally dispose him to turn 
his  hopes towards the stage2 he did    
not1 however1 soon commit himself to the
  mercy of an audience1 but contented   
himself with the fame already  acquired1
 till after nine years he produced      
7#agbb7 ,the ,briton1 a  tragedy which1 
whatever was its reception1 is now      
neglected2 though one  of the scenes1   
between ,vanoc the ,british ,prince and 
,valens the ,roman  ,general1 is        
confessed to be written with great      
dramatic skill1 animated  by spirit     
truly poetical4  ,he had not been idle  
though he had been  silent1 for he      
exhibited another tragedy the same year 
on the story of  ,humphry1 ,duke of     
,gloucester4  ,this tragedy is only     
remembered by its  title4    ,his       
happiest undertaking was 7#agaa7 of a   

paper called ,the ,freethinker1  in     
conjunction with associates1 of whom one
 was ,dr4 ,boulter1 who1 then  only     
minister of a parish in ,southwark1 was 
of so much consequence to the           
,government that he was made first      
,bishop of ,bristol1 and afterwards     
,primate of ,ireland1 where his piety   
and his charity will be long  honoured4 
,it may easily be imagined that what was
 printed under the  direction of        
,boulter would have nothing in it       
indecent or licentious2 its  title is to
 be understood as implying only freedom 
from unreasonable  prejudice4  ,it has  
been reprinted in volumes1 but is little
 read2 nor can  impartial criticism     
recommend it as worthy of revival4      
,boulter was not well qualified to write
 diurnal essays1 but he knew how  to    
practise the liberality of greatness and
 the fidelity of friendship4  ,when he  
was advanced to the height of           
ecclesiastical dignity1 he did not      
forget the companion of his labours4    

,knowing ,philips to be slenderly       
supported1 he took him to ,ireland as   
partaker of his fortune1 and1 making    
him his secretary1 added such           
preferments as enabled him to represent 
the  county of ,armagh in the ,irish    
,parliament4  ,in ,december1 #agbf1 he  
was made  secretary to the ,lord        
,chancellor1 and in ,august1 #agcc1     
became ,judge of  the ,prerogative      
,court4    ,after the death of his      
patron he continued some years in       
,ireland1 but at  last longing1 as it   
seems1 for his native country1 he       
returned 7#agdh7 to  ,london1 having    
doubtless survived most of his friends  
and enemies1 and  among them his dreaded
 antagonist ,pope4  ,he found1 however1 
the ,duke of  ,newcastle still living1  
and to him he dedicated his poems       
collected into  a volume4    ,having    
purchased an annuity of #djj1 he now    
certainly hoped to pass some  years of  
life in plenty and tranquillity2 but his
 hope deceived him3 he  was struck with 

a palsy1 and died ,june #ah1 #agdi1 in  
his seventy-eighth  year4    ,of his    
personal character all that ,i have     
heard is1 that he was eminent  for      
bravery and skill in the sword1 and that
 in conversation he was  solemn and     
pompous4  ,he had great sensibility of  
censure1 if judgment may  be made by a  
single story which ,i heard long ago    
from ,mr4 ,ing1 a  gentleman of great   
eminence in ,staffordshire4  8,philips10
 said he1 8was  once at table1 when ,i  
asked him1 #8,how came thy king of      
,epirus to drive  oxen1 and to say1     
8,i'm goaded on by love08'  ,after which
 question he  never spoke again40    ,of
 ,the ,distressed ,mother not much is   
pretended to be his own1 and  therefore 
it is no subject of criticism3 his other
 two tragedies1 ,i  believe1 are not    
below mediocrity1 nor above it4  ,among 
the poems  comprised in the late        
,collection1 the 8,letter from ,denmark0
 may be justly  praised2 the ,pastorals1
 which by the writer of the ,guardian   

were ranked  as one of the four genuine 
productions of the rustic ,muse1 cannot 
surely  be despicable4  ,that they      
exhibit a mode of life which did not    
exist1 nor  ever existed1 is not to be  
objected3 the supposition of such a     
state is  allowed to be pastoral4  ,in  
his other poems he cannot be denied the 
praise of lines sometimes elegant2 but  
he has seldom much force or much        
comprehension4  ,the pieces that please 
best are those which1 from ,pope  and   
,pope's adherents1 procured him the name
 of 8,namby-,pamby10 the poems  of short
 lines1 by which he paid his court to   
all ages and characters1  from ,walpole 
the 8steerer of the realm10 to ,miss    
,pulteney in the nursery4  ,the numbers 
are smooth and sprightly1 and the       
diction is seldom faulty4  ,they are not
 loaded with much thought1 yet1 if they 
had been written by  ,addison1 they     
would have had admirers3 little things  
are not valued but  when they are done  
by those who can do greater4    ,in his 

translations from 8,pindar0 he found the
 art of reaching all the  obscurity of  
the ,theban bard1 however he may fall   
below his sublimity2 he  will be        
allowed1 if he has less fire1 to have   
more smoke4  ,he has added  nothing to  
,english poetry1 yet at least half his  
book deserves to be  read3 perhaps he   
valued most himself that part which the 
critic would  reject4          ,,west4  
,,gilbert ,,west is one of the writers  
of whom ,i regret my inability to give  
a sufficient account2 the intelligence  
which my inquiries have obtained  is    
general and scanty4  ,he was the son of 
the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,west2 perhaps him  who  
published 8,pindar0 at ,oxford about the
 beginning of this century4  ,his mother
 was sister to ,sir ,richard ,temple1   
afterwards ,lord ,cobham4  ,his  father1
 purposing to educate him for the       
,church1 sent him first to ,eton1  and  
afterwards to ,oxford2 but he was       
seduced to a more airy mode of life1  by
 a commission in a troop of horse1      

procured him by his uncle4  ,he         
continued some time in the army1 though 
it is reasonable to suppose that  he    
never sunk into a mere soldier1 nor ever
 lost the love1 or much  neglected the  
pursuit1 of learning2 and afterwards1   
finding himself more  inclined to civil 
employment1 he laid down his commission1
 and engaged in  business under the     
,lord ,townshend1 then ,secretary of    
,state1 with whom he  attended the ,king
 to ,hanover4    ,his adherence to ,lord
 ,townshend ended in nothing but a      
nomination 7,may1  #agbi7 to be         
,clerk-,extraordinary of the ,privy     
,council1 which produced no  immediate  
profit2 for it only placed him in a     
state of expectation and  right of      
succession1 and it was very long before 
a vacancy admitted him  to profit4      
,soon afterwards he married1 and settled
 himself in a very pleasant house  at   
,wickham1 in ,kent1 where he devoted    
himself to learning and to piety4  ,of  
his learning the late ,collection       

exhibits evidence1 which would have     
been yet fuller if the dissertations    
which accompany his version of          
8,pindar0 had not been improperly       
omitted4  ,of his piety the influence   
has1 ,i hope1 been extended far by his  
8,observations on the ,resurrection10   
published in #agdg1 for which the       
,university of ,oxford created him a    
,doctor of ,laws1 by diploma 7,march    
#cj1 #agdh71 and would doubtless have   
reached yet further had he lived to     
complete what he had for some time      
meditated--the 8,evidences of the ,truth
 of the ,new ,testament40  ,perhaps it  
may not be without effect to tell that  
he read the prayers of the public       
,liturgy every morning to his family1   
and that on ,sunday evening he called   
his servants into the parlour and read  
to them first a sermon and then         
prayers4  ,crashaw is now not the only  
maker of verses to whom may be  given   
the two venerable names of ,poet and    
,saint4  ,he was very often  visited by 

,lyttelton and ,pitt1 who1 when they    
were weary of faction and  debates1 used
 at ,wickham to find books and quiet1 a 
decent table1 and  literary             
conversation4  ,there is at ,wickham a  
walk made by ,pitt2 and1  what is of far
 more importance1 at ,wickham1          
,lyttelton received that  conviction    
which produced his 8,dissertation on    
,st4 ,paul40  ,these two  illustrious   
friends had for a while listened to the 
blandishments of  infidelity2 and when  
,west's book was published1 it was      
bought by some who  did not know his    
change of opinion1 in expectation of new
 objections  against ,christianity2 and 
as infidels do not want malignity1 they 
revenged the disappointment by calling  
him a ,methodist4    ,mr4 ,west's income
 was not large2 and his friends         
endeavoured1 but without  success1 to   
obtain an augmentation4  ,it is reported
 that the education of  the young       
,prince was offered to him1 but that he 
required a more  extensive power of     

superintendence than it was thought     
proper to allow  him4  ,in time1        
however1 his revenue was improved2 he   
lived to have one of  the lucrative     
clerkships of the ,privy ,council       
7#ageb72 and ,mr4 ,pitt at  last had it 
in his power to make him ,treasurer of  
,chelsea ,hospital4  ,he  was now       
sufficiently rich2 but wealth came too  
late to be long enjoyed2  nor could it  
secure him from the calamities of life2 
he lost 7#agee7 his  only son2 and the  
year after 7,march #bf7 a stroke of the 
palsy brought to  the grave one of the  
few poets to whom the grave might be    
without its  terrors4    ,of his        
translations ,i have only compared the  
first ,olympic ,ode with the  original1 
and found my expectation surpassed1 both
 by its elegance and  its exactness4    
,he does not confine himself to his     
author's train of  stanzas2 for he saw  
that the difference of languages        
required a different  mode of           
versification4  ,the first strophe is   

eminently happy2 in the  second he has a
 little strayed from ,pindar's meaning1 
who says1 8,if thou1  my soul1 wishest  
to speak of games1 look not in the      
desert sky for a  planet hotter than the
 sun2 nor shall we tell of nobler games 
than those  of ,olympia40  ,he is       
sometimes too paraphrastical4  ,pindar  
bestows upon  ,hiero an epithet which1  
in one word1 signifies delighting in    
horses2 a  word which1 in the           
translation1 generates these lines3--   
8,hiero's royal brows1 whose care       
,tends the courser's noble breed1       
,pleased to nurse the pregnant mare1    
,pleased to train the youthful steed40  
,pindar says of ,pelops1 that 8he came  
alone in the dark to the ,white ,sea20  
and ,west--        8,near the           
billow-beaten side      ,of the         
foam-besilvered main1      ,darkling1   
and alone1 he stood30    which1 however1
 is less exuberant than the former      
passage4    ,a work of this kind must1  
in a minute examination1 discover many  

imperfections2 but ,west's version1 so  
far as ,i have considered it1  appears  
to be the product of great labour and   
great abilities4    ,his 8,institution  
of the ,garter0 7#agdb7 is written with 
sufficient  knowledge of the manners    
that prevailed in the age to which it is
  referred1 and with great elegance of  
diction2 but1 for want of a process  of 
events1 neither knowledge nor elegance  
preserves the reader from  weariness4   
,his 8,imitations of ,spenser0 are very 
successfully performed1 both with       
respect to the metre1 the language1 and 
the fiction2 and being engaged at  once 
by the excellence of the sentiments1 and
 the artifice of the copy1  the mind has
 two amusements together4  ,but such    
compositions are not to  be reckoned    
among the great achievements of         
intellect1 because their  effect is     
local and temporary2 they appeal not to 
reason or passion1 but  to memory1 and  
presuppose an accidental or artificial  
state of mind4  ,an  imitation of       

,spenser is nothing to a reader1 however
 acute1 by whom  ,spenser has never been
 perused4  ,works of this kind may      
deserve praise1  as proofs of great     
industry and great nicety of            
observation2 but the  highest praise1   
the praise of genius1 they cannot claim4
  ,the noblest  beauties of art are     
those of which the effect is co-extended
 with  rational nature1 or at least with
 the whole circle of polished life2 what
  is less than this can be only pretty1 
the plaything of fashion1 and the       
amusement of a day4    ,there is in the 
,adventurer a paper of verses given to  
one of the  authors as ,mr4 ,west's1 and
 supposed to have been written by him4  
,it  should not be concealed1 however1  
that it is printed with ,mr4 ,jago's    
name  in ,dodsley's ,collection1 and is 
mentioned as his in a letter of         
,shenstone's4  ,perhaps ,west gave it   
without naming the author1 and          
,hawkesworth1 receiving it from him1    
thought it his2 for his he thought  it1 

as he told me1 and as he tells the      
public4          ,,collins4             
,,william ,,collins was born at         
,chichester1 on the #beth day of        
,december1  about #agbj4  ,his father   
was a hatter of good reputation4  ,he   
was in #agcc1  as ,dr4 ,warton has      
kindly informed me1 admitted scholar of 
,winchester  ,college1 where he was     
educated by ,dr4 ,burton4  ,his ,english
 exercises were  better than his ,latin4
  ,he first courted the notice of the   
public by some  verses to a 8,lady      
weeping10 published in ,the ,gentleman's
 ,magazine  7,january1 #agci74    ,in   
#agdj he stood first in the list of the 
scholars to be received in  succession  
at ,new ,college1 but unhappily there   
was no vacancy4  ,he became  a ,commoner
 of ,queen's ,college1 probably with a  
scanty maintenance2 but  was1 in about  
half a year1 elected a ,demy of         
,magdalen ,college1 where he  continued 
till he had taken a ,bachelor's degree1 
and then suddenly left  the ,university2

 for what reason ,i know not that he    
told4    ,he now 7about #agdd7 came to  
,london a literary adventurer1 with many
  projects in his head1 and very little 
money in his pocket4  ,he designed  many
 works2 but his great fault was         
irresolution2 or the frequent calls  of 
immediate necessity broke his scheme1   
and suffered him to pursue no  settled  
purpose4  ,a man doubtful of his dinner1
 or trembling at a  creditor1 is not    
much disposed to abstracted meditation  
or remote  inquiries4  ,he published    
proposals for a 8,history of the        
,revival of  ,learning20 and ,i have    
heard him speak with great kindness of  
,leo ,x41 and  with keen resentment of  
his tasteless successor4  ,but probably 
not a page  of his history was ever     
written4  ,he planned several tragedies1
 but he  only planned them4  ,he wrote  
now and then odes and other poems1 and  
did  something1 however little4  ,about 
this time ,i fell into his company4     
,his  appearance was decent and manly2  

his knowledge considerable1 his views   
extensive1 his conversation elegant1 and
 his disposition cheerful4  ,by  degrees
 ,i gained his confidence2 and one day  
was admitted to him when he  was immured
 by a bailiff that was prowling in the  
street4  ,on this  occasion recourse was
 had to the booksellers1 who1 on the    
credit of a  translation of ,aristotle's
 8,poetics10 which he engaged to write  
with a  large commentary1 advanced as   
much money as enabled him to escape into
  the country4  ,he showed me the       
guineas safe in his hand4  ,soon        
afterwards  his uncle1 ,mr4 ,martin1 a  
lieutenant-colonel1 left him about      
#bjjj2 a sum  which ,collins could      
scarcely think exhaustible1 and which he
 did not live  to exhaust4 ,the guineas 
were then repaid1 and the translation   
neglected4  ,but man is not born for    
happiness4  ,collins1 who1 while he     
studied to  live1 felt no evil but      
poverty1 no sooner lived to study than  
his life  was assailed by more dreadful 

calamities--disease and insanity4       
,having formerly written his character1 
while perhaps it was yet more           
distinctly impressed upon my memory1 ,i 
shall insert it here4    8,mr4 ,collins 
was a man of extensive literature1 and  
of vigorous  faculties4  ,he was        
acquainted not only with the learned    
tongues1 but with  the ,italian1        
,french1 and ,spanish languages4  ,he   
had employed his mind  chiefly on works 
of fiction1 and subjects of fancy2 and1 
by indulging  some peculiar habits of   
thought1 was eminently delighted with   
those  flights of imagination which pass
 the bounds of nature1 and to which the 
mind is reconciled only by a passive    
acquiescence in popular traditions4  ,he
 loved fairies1 genii1 giants1 and      
monsters2 he delighted to rove  through 
the meanders of enchantment1 to gaze on 
the magnificence of  golden palaces1 to 
repose by the waterfalls of ,elysian    
gardens4  ,this  was1 however1 the      
character rather of his inclination than

 his genius2  the grandeur of wildness1 
and the novelty of extravagance1 were   
always  desired by him1 but not always  
attained4  ,yet1 as diligence is never  
wholly lost1 if his efforts sometimes   
caused harshness and obscurity1  they   
likewise produced in happier moments    
sublimity and splendour4  ,this  idea   
which he had formed of excellence led   
him to ,oriental fictions and           
allegorical imagery1 and1 perhaps1 while
 he was intent upon description1  he did
 not sufficiently cultivate sentiment4  
,his poems are the  productions of a    
mind not deficient in fire1 nor         
unfurnished with  knowledge either of   
books or life1 but somewhat obstructed  
in its  progress by deviation in quest  
of mistaken beauties4    8,his morals   
were pure1 and his opinions pious2 in a 
long continuance of  poverty1 and long  
habits of dissipation1 it cannot be     
expected that any  character should be  
exactly uniform4  ,there is a degree of 
want by which  the freedom of agency is 

almost destroyed2 and long association  
with  fortuitous companions will at last
 relax the strictness of truth1 and     
abate the fervour of sincerity4  ,that  
this man1 wise and virtuous as he  was1 
passed always unentangled through the   
snares of life1 it would be  prejudice  
and temerity to affirm2 but it may be   
said that at least he  preserved the    
source of action unpolluted1 that his   
principles were never  shaken1 that his 
distinctions of right and wrong were    
never confounded1  and that his faults  
had nothing of malignity or design1 but 
proceeded  from some unexpected         
pressure1 or casual temptation4    8,the
 latter part of his life cannot be      
remembered but with pity and  sadness4  
,he languished some years under that    
depression of mind which  enchains the  
faculties without destroying them1 and  
leaves reason the  knowledge of right   
without the power of pursuing it4       
,these clouds which  he perceived       
gathering on his intellect he           

endeavoured to disperse by  travel1 and 
passed into ,france2 but found himself  
constrained to yield to  his malady1 and
 returned4  ,he was for some time       
confined in a house of  lunatics1 and   
afterwards retired to the care of his   
sister in ,chichester1  where death1 in 
#agef1 came to his relief4    8,after   
his return from ,france1 the writer of  
this character paid him a  visit at     
,islington1 where he was waiting for his
 sister1 whom he had  directed to meet  
him4  ,there was then nothing of        
disorder discernible in  his mind by any
 but himself2 but he had withdrawn from 
study1 and  travelled with no other book
 than an ,english ,testament1 such as   
children  carry to the school4  ,when   
his friend took it into his hand1 out of
  curiosity to see what companion a man 
of letters had chosen1 #8,i have but    
one book1' said ,collins1 #8but that is 
the best4'0    ,such was the fate of    
,collins1 with whom ,i once delighted to
 converse1 and  whom ,i yet remember    

with tenderness4    ,he was visited at  
,chichester1 in his last illness1 by his
 learned friends  ,dr4 ,warton and his  
brother1 to whom he spoke with          
disapprobation of his  8,oriental       
,eclogues10 as not sufficiently         
expressive of ,asiatic manners1  and    
called them his 8,irish ,eclogues40  ,he
 showed them1 at the same time1  an ode 
inscribed to ,mr4 ,john ,home1 on the   
superstitions of the ,highlands1  which 
they thought superior to his other      
works1 but which no search has  yet     
found4  ,his disorder was no alienation 
of mind1 but general laxity  and        
feebleness--a deficiency rather of his  
vital than his intellectual  powers4    
,what he spoke wanted neither judgment  
nor spirit2 but a few  minutes exhausted
 him1 so that he was forced to rest upon
 the couch1 till  a short cessation     
restored his powers1 and he was again   
able to talk with  his former vigour4   
,the approaches of this dreadful malady 
he began to  feel soon after his uncle's

 death2 and1 with the usual weakness of 
men so  diseased1 eagerly snatched that 
temporary relief with which the table   
and  the bottle flatter and seduce4     
,but his health continually declined1   
and  he grew more and more burthensome  
to himself4    ,to what ,i have formerly
 said of his writings may be added1 that
 his  diction was often harsh1          
unskilfully laboured1 and injudiciously 
selected4  ,he affected the obsolete    
when it was not worthy of revival3  and 
he puts his words out of the common     
order1 seeming to think1 with  some     
later candidates for fame1 that not to  
write prose is certainly to  write      
poetry4  ,his lines commonly are of slow
 motion1 clogged and impeded  with      
clusters of consonants4  ,as men are    
often esteemed who cannot be  loved1 so 
the poetry of ,collins may sometimes    
extort praise when it gives  little     
pleasure4    ,mr4 ,collins's first      
production is added here from the       
,poetical  ,calendar3--                 

,,to ,,miss ,,aurelia ,c--,r1           
,,on ,,her ,,weeping ,,at ,,her         
,,sister',s ,,wedding4        8,cease1  
fair ,aurelia1 cease to mourn2          
,lament not ,hannah's happy state2      
,you may be happy in your turn1         
,and seize the treasure you regret4     
,with ,love united ,hymen stands1       
,and softly whispers to your charms1    
#8,meet but your lover in my bands1     
,you'll find your sister in his arms4'0 
,,dyer4      ,,john ,,dyer1 of whom ,i  
have no other account to give than his  
own letters1  published with ,hughes's  
correspondence1 and the notes added by  
the  editor1 have afforded me1 was born 
in #agjj1 the second son of ,robert     
,dyer  of ,aberglasney1 in              
,caermarthenshire1 a solicitor of great 
capacity and  note4  ,he passed through 
,westminster school under the care of   
,dr4 ,freind1  and was then called home 
to be instructed in his father's        
profession4  ,but his father died soon1 
and he took no delight in the study of  

the law2  but1 having always amused     
himself with drawing1 resolved to turn  
painter1  and became pupil to ,mr4      
,richardson1 an artist then of high     
reputation1  but now better known by his
 books than by his pictures4    ,having 
studied a while under his master1 he    
became1 as he tells his  friend1 an     
itinerant painter1 and wandered about   
,south ,wales and the  parts adjacent2  
but he mingled poetry with painting1 and
 about #agbg  #agbf printed 8,grongar   
,hill0 in ,lewis's ,miscellany4  ,being1
 probably1  unsatisfied with his own    
proficiency1 he1 like other painters1   
travelled  to ,italy2 and coming back in
 #agdj1 published the 8,ruins of ,rome40
  ,if his  poem was written soon after  
his return1 he did not make use of his  
acquisitions in painting1 whatever they 
might be2 for decline of health  and    
love of study determined him to the     
,church4  ,he therefore entered  into   
orders2 and1 it seems1 married about the
 same time a lady of the  name of       

,ensor2 8whose grandmother10 says he1   
8was a ,shakspeare1 descended  from a   
brother of everybody's ,shakspeare20 by 
her1 in #agef1 he had a son  and three  
daughters living4    ,his ecclesiastical
 provision was for a long time but      
slender4  ,his first  patron1 ,mr4      
,harper1 gave him1 in #agda1 ,calthorp  
in ,leicestershire1 of  eighty pounds a 
year1 on which he lived ten years1 and  
then exchanged it  for ,belchford1 in   
,lincolnshire1 of seventy-five4  ,his   
condition now began  to mend4  ,in #agea
 ,sir ,john ,heathcote gave him         
,coningsby1 of one hundred  and forty   
pounds a year2 and in #agee the         
,chancellor added ,kirkby1 of one       
hundred and ten4  ,he complains that the
 repair of the house at ,coningsby1  and
 other expenses1 took away the profit4  
,in #ageg he published 8,the  ,fleece10 
his greatest poetical work2 of which ,i 
will not suppress a  ludicrous story4   
,dodsley the bookseller was one day     
mentioning it to a  critical visitor1   

with more expectation of success than   
the other could  easily admit4  ,in the 
conversation the author's age was asked2
 and being  represented as advanced in  
life1 8,he will10 said the critic1 8be  
buried  in woollen40  ,he did not indeed
 long survive that publication1 nor long
  enjoy the increase of his preferments1
 for in #ageh he died4    ,dyer is not a
 poet of bulk or dignity sufficient to  
require an elaborate  criticism4        
8,grongar ,hill0 is the happiest of his 
productions3 it is not  indeed very     
accurately written2 but the scenes which
 it displays are so  pleasing1 the      
images which they raise are so welcome  
to the mind1 and the  reflections of the
 writer so consonant to the general     
sense or experience  of mankind1 that   
when it is once read1 it will be read   
again4  ,the idea  of the 8,ruins of    
,rome0 strikes more1 but pleases less1  
and the title  raises greater           
expectation than the performance        
gratifies4  ,some  passages1 however1   

are conceived with the mind of a poet2  
as when1 in the  neighbourhood of       
dilapidating edifices1 he says1         
8,the ,pilgrim oft      ,at dead of     
night1 'mid his orison hears            
,aghast the voice of ,time1 disparting  
tow'rs      ,tumbling all precipitate   
down dashed1      ,rattling around1 loud
 thund'ring to the ,moon40    ,of 8,the 
,fleece10 which never became popular1   
and is now universally  neglected1 ,i   
can say little that is likely to recall 
it to attention4  ,the woolcomber and   
the poet appear to me such discordant   
natures1 that an  attempt to bring them 
together is to couple the serpent with  
the fowl4  ,when ,dyer1 whose mind was  
not unpoetical1 has done his utmost1 by 
interesting his reader in our native    
commodity by interspersing rural        
imagery1 and incidental digressions1 by 
clothing small images in great  words1  
and by all the writer's arts of         
delusion1 the meanness naturally        
adhering1 and the irreverence habitually

 annexed to trade and  manufacture1 sink
 him under insuperable oppression2 and  
the disgust which  blank verse1         
encumbering and encumbered1 superadds to
 an unpleasing  subject1 soon repels the
 reader1 however willing to be pleased4 
,let me1 however1 honestly report       
whatever may counterbalance this weight 
of censure4  ,i have been told that     
,akenside1 who1 upon a poetical         
question1 has a right to be heard1 said1
 8,that he would regulate his  opinion  
of the reigning taste by the fate of    
,dyer's #8,fleece2' for1 if  that were  
ill-received1 he should not think it any
 longer reasonable to  expect fame from 
excellence40          ,,shenstone4      
,,william ,,shenstone1 the son of       
,thomas ,shenstone and ,anne ,pen1 was  
born in  ,november1 #agad1 at the       
,leasowes in ,hales-,owen1 one of those 
insulated  districts which1 in the      
division of the kingdom1 was appended1  
for some  reason not now discoverable1  
to a distant county2 and which1 though  

surrounded by ,warwickshire and         
,worcestershire1 belongs to ,shropshire1
  though perhaps thirty miles distant   
from any other part of it4  ,he  learned
 to read of an old dame1 whom his poem  
of the 8,schoolmistress0 has  delivered 
to posterity2 and soon received such    
delight from books1 that  he was always 
calling for fresh entertainment1 and    
expected that1 when  any of the family  
went to market1 a new book should be    
brought him1  which1 when it came1 was  
in fondness carried to bed and laid by  
him4  ,it  is said1 that1 when his      
request had been neglected1 his mother  
wrapped up  a piece of wood of the same 
form1 and pacified him for the night4   
,as he  grew older1 he went for a while 
to the ,grammar-school in ,hales-,owen1 
and  was placed afterwards with ,mr4    
,crumpton1 an eminent schoolmaster at   
,solihul1 where he distinguished himself
 by the quickness of his progress4      
,when he was young 7,june1 #agbd7 he was
 deprived of his father1 and soon  after

 7,august1 #agbf7 of his grandfather2   
and was1 with his brother1 who  died    
afterwards unmarried1 left to the care  
of his grandmother1 who  managed the    
estate4    ,from school he was sent in  
#agcb to ,pembroke ,college in ,oxford1 
a society  which for half a century has 
been eminent for ,english poetry and    
elegant  literature4  ,here it appears  
that he found delight and advantage2 for
 he  continued his name in the book ten 
years1 though he took no degree4  ,after
 the first four years he put on the     
civilian's gown1 but without  showing   
any intention to engage in the          
profession4  ,about the time when  he   
went to ,oxford1 the death of his       
grandmother devolved his affairs to  the
 care of the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,dolman1 of     
,brome in ,staffordshire1 whose         
attention he always mentioned with      
gratitude4  ,at ,oxford he employed     
himself upon ,english poetry2 and in    
#agcg published a small ,miscellany1    
without his name4  ,he then for a time  

wandered about1 to acquaint himself     
with life1 and was sometimes at ,london1
 sometimes at ,bath1 or any other  place
 of public resort2 but he did not forget
 his poetry4  ,he published  in #agda   
his 8,judgment of ,hercules10 addressed 
to ,mr4 ,lyttelton1 whose  interest he  
supported with great warmth at an       
election3 this was next  year followed  
by the 8,schoolmistress40    ,mr4       
,dolman1 to whose care he was indebted  
for his ease and leisure1 died  in      
#agde1 and the care of his own fortune  
now fell upon him4  ,he tried to  escape
 it awhile1 and lived at his house with 
his tenants1 who were  distantly        
related2 but1 finding that imperfect    
possession inconvenient1  he took the   
whole estate into his own hands1 more to
 the improvement of  its beauty than the
 increase of its produce4  ,now was     
excited his delight  in rural pleasures 
and his ambition of rural elegance2 he  
began from this  time to point his      
prospects1 to diversify his surface1 to 

entangle his  walks1 and to wind his    
waters1 which he did with such judgment 
and such  fancy as made his little      
domain the envy of the great and the    
admiration  of the skilful2 a place to  
be visited by travellers and copied by  
designers4  ,whether to plant a walk in 
undulating curves1 and to place a  bench
 at every turn where there is an object 
to catch the view1 to make  the water   
run where it will be heard1 and to      
stagnate where it will be  seen1 to     
leave intervals where the eye will be   
pleased1 and to thicken  the plantation 
where there is something to be hidden1  
demands any great  powers of mind1 ,i   
will not inquire3 perhaps a sullen and  
surly spectator  may think such         
performances rather the sport than the  
business of human  reason4  ,but it must
 be at least confessed that to embellish
 the form of  ,nature is an innocent    
amusement1 and some praise must be      
allowed1 by the  most supercilious      
observer1 to him who does best what such

 multitudes are  contending to do well4 
,this praise was the praise of          
,shenstone2 but1 like all other modes of
  felicity1 it was not enjoyed without  
its abatements4  ,lyttelton was his     
neighbour and his rival1 whose empire1  
spacious and opulent1 looked with       
disdain on the petty state that appeared
 behind it4  ,for a while the           
inhabitants of ,hagley affected to tell 
their acquaintance of the little  fellow
 that was trying to make himself        
admired2 but when by degrees the        
,leasowes forced themselves into notice1
 they took care to defeat the  curiosity
 which they could not suppress by       
conducting their visitants  perversely  
to inconvenient points of view1 and     
introducing them at the  wrong end of a 
walk to detect a deception2 injuries of 
which ,shenstone  would heavily         
complain4  ,where there is emulation    
there will be vanity2  and where there  
is vanity there will be folly4    ,the  
pleasure of ,shenstone was all in his   

eye2 he valued what he valued  merely   
for its looks4  ,nothing raised his     
indignation more than to ask if  there  
were any fishes in his water4  ,his     
house was mean1 and he did not  improve 
it2 his care was of his grounds4  ,when 
he came home from his  walks1 he might  
find his floors flooded by a shower     
through the broken  roof2 but could     
spare no money for its reparation4  ,in 
time his expenses  brought clamours     
about him that overpowered the lamb's   
bleat and the  linnet's song1 and his   
groves were haunted by beings very      
different from  fauns and fairies4  ,he 
spent his estate in adorning it1 and his
 death was  probably hastened by his    
anxieties4  ,he was a lamp that spent   
its oil in  blazing4  ,it is said that1 
if he had lived a little longer1 he     
would have  been assisted by a pension3 
such bounty could not have been ever    
more  properly bestowed2 but that it was
 ever asked is not certain2 it is too   
certain that it never was enjoyed4  ,he 

died at ,leasowes1 of a putrid  fever1  
about five on ,friday morning1 ,february
 #aa1 #agfc1 and was buried by  the side
 of his brother in the churchyard of    
,hales-,owen4    ,he was never married1 
though he might have obtained the lady1 
whoever she  was1 to whom his 8,pastoral
 ,ballad0 was addressed4  ,he is        
represented by  his friend ,dodsley as a
 man of great tenderness and generosity1
 kind to  all that were within his      
influence2 but1 if once offended1 not   
easily  appeased2 inattentive to        
economy1 and careless of his expenses2  
in his  person he was larger than the   
middle-size1 with something clumsy in   
his  form2 very negligent of his        
clothes1 and remarkable for wearing his 
grey  hair in a particular manner1 for  
he held that the fashion was no rule of 
dress1 and that every man was to suit   
his appearance to his natural form4     
,his mind was not very comprehensive1   
nor his curiosity active2 he had no     
value for those parts of knowledge which

 he had not himself cultivated4  ,his   
life was unstained by any crime4  ,the  
8,elegy on ,jesse10 which has  been     
supposed to relate an unfortunate and   
criminal amour of his own1 was  known by
 his friends to have been suggested by  
the story of ,miss ,godfrey  in         
,richardson's 8,pamela40    ,what ,gray 
thought of his character1 from the      
perusal of his ,letters1 was  this3--   
8,i have read1 too1 an octavo volume of 
,shenstone's ,letters4  ,poor      man6 
he was always wishing for money1 for    
fame1 and other      distinctions2 and  
his whole philosophy consisted in living
 against      his will in retirement1   
and in a place which his taste had      
adorned1      but which he only enjoyed 
when people of note came to see and     
commend      it4  ,his correspondence is
 about nothing else but this place and  
his      own writings1 with two or three
 neighbouring clergymen1 who wrote      
verses too40    ,his poems consist of   
elegies1 odes1 and ballads1 humorous    

sallies1 and  moral pieces4  ,his       
conception of an ,elegy he has in his   
,preface very  judiciously and          
discriminately explained4  ,it is1      
according to his  account1 the effusion 
of a contemplative mind1 sometimes      
plaintive1 and  always serious1 and     
therefore superior to the glitter of    
slight  ornaments4  ,his compositions   
suit not ill to this description4  ,his 
topics of praise are the domestic       
virtues1 and his thoughts are pure and  
simple1 but wanting combination2 they   
want variety4  ,the peace of  solitude1 
the innocence of inactivity1 and the    
unenvied security of an  humble station1
 can fill but a few pages4  ,that of    
which the essence is  uniformity will be
 soon described4  ,his elegies have1    
therefore1 too much  resemblance of each
 other4  ,the lines are sometimes1 such 
as ,elegy  requires1 smooth and easy2   
but to this praise his claim is not     
constant2  his diction is often harsh1  
improper1 and affected1 his words       

ill-coined  or ill-chosen1 and his      
phrase unskilfully inverted4    ,the    
,lyric ,poems are almost all of the     
light and airy kind1 such as trip       
lightly and nimbly along1 without the   
load of any weighty meaning4  ,from     
these1 however1 8,rural ,elegance0 has  
some right to be excepted4  ,i once     
heard it praised by a very learned lady2
 and1 though the lines are  irregular1  
and the thoughts diffused with too much 
verbosity1 yet it  cannot be denied to  
contain both philosophical argument and 
poetical  spirit4  ,of the rest ,i      
cannot think any excellent2 the         
8,skylark0 pleases  me best1 which has1 
however1 more of the epigram than of the
 ode4    ,but the four parts of his     
8,pastoral ,ballad0 demand particular   
notice4  ,i  cannot but regret that it  
is pastoral3 an intelligent reader      
acquainted  with the scenes of real life
 sickens at the mention of the crook1   
the  pipe1 the sheep1 and the kids1     
which it is not necessary to bring      

forward to notice2 for the poet's art is
 selection1 and he ought to show  the   
beauties without the grossness of the   
country life4  ,his stanza seems  to    
have been chosen in imitation of ,rowe's
 8,despairing ,shepherd40  ,in the      
first are two passages1 to which if any 
mind denies its sympathy1 it has  no    
acquaintance with love or nature3--     
8,i prized every hour that went by1     
,beyond all that had pleased me before3 
,but now they are past1 and ,i sigh1    
,and ,i grieve that ,i prized them no   
more4        ,when forced the fair nymph
 to forego1         ,what anguish ,i    
felt in my heart6      ,yet ,i thought  
7but it might not be so7         ',twas 
with pain that she saw me depart4       
,she gazed1 as ,i slowly withdrew1      
,my path ,i could hardly discern2       
,so sweetly she bade me adieu1          
,i thought that she bade me return40    
,in the second this passage has its     
prettiness2 though it be not equal to   
the former3--        8,i have found out 

a gift for my fair3         ,i have     
found where the wood pigeons breed3     
,but let me that plunder forbear1       
,she will say 'twas a barbarous deed3   
,for he ne'er could be true1 she        
averred1         ,who could rob a poor  
bird of its young2      ,and ,i loved   
her the more when ,i heard         ,such
 tenderness fall from her tongue40      
,in the third he mentions the           
common-places of amorous poetry with    
some  address3--        8',tis his with 
mock passion to glow6         ',tis his 
in smooth tales to unfold1      ,how her
 face is as bright as the snow1         
,and her bosom1 be sure1 is as cold3    
,how the nightingales labour the strain1
         ,with the notes of this charmer
 to vie3      ,how they vary their      
accents in vain1         ,repine at her 
triumphs1 and die40    ,in the fourth ,i
 find nothing better than this natural  
strain of ,hope3--        8,alas6 from  
the day that we met1         ,what hope 
of an end to my woes1      ,when ,i     

cannot endure to forget         ,the    
glance that undid my repose8        ,yet
 ,time may diminish the pain3           
,the flower1 and the shrub1 and the     
tree1      ,which ,i reared for her     
pleasure in vain1         ,in time may  
have comfort for me40    ,his           
8,levities0 are by their title exempted 
from the severities of  criticism1 yet  
it may be remarked in a few words that  
his humour is  sometimes gross1 and     
seldom sprightly4    ,of the ,moral     
,poems1 the first is the 8,choice of    
,hercules10 from ,xenophon4  ,the       
numbers are smooth1 the diction elegant1
 and the thoughts just2 but  something  
of vigour is still to be wished1 which  
it might have had by  brevity and       
compression4  ,his 8,fate of ,delicacy0 
has an air of gaiety1  but not a very   
pointed and general moral4  ,his blank  
verses1 those that  can read them1 may  
probably find to be like the blank      
verses of his  neighbours4  8,love and  
,honour0 is derived from the old ballad1

 8,did you  not hear of a ,spanish      
,lady80--,i wish it well enough to wish 
it were in  rhyme4    ,the              
8,schoolmistress10 of which ,i know not 
what claim it has to stand  among the   
,moral ,works1 is surely the most       
pleasing of ,shenstone's  performances4 
,the adoption of a particular style1 in 
light and short  compositions1          
contributes much to the increase of     
pleasure3 we are  entertained at once   
with two imitations of nature in the    
sentiments1 of  the original author in  
the style1 and between them the mind is 
kept in  perpetual employment4    ,the  
general recommendation of ,shenstone is 
easiness and simplicity2 his  general   
defect is want of comprehension and     
variety4  ,had his mind been  better    
stored with knowledge1 whether he could 
have been great1 ,i know  not2 he could 
certainly have been agreeable4          
,,young4      ,,the following life was  
written1 at my request1 by a gentleman  
7,mr4  ,herbert ,croft7 who had better  

information than ,i could easily have   
obtained2 and the public will perhaps   
wish that ,i had solicited and  obtained
 more such favours from him3--          
8,dear ,sir1--,in consequence of our    
different conversations about           
authentic materials for the ,life of    
,young1 ,i send you the following       
details30--    ,of great men something  
must always be said to gratify          
curiosity4  ,of the  illustrious author 
of the 8,night ,thoughts0 much has been 
told of which  there never could have   
been proofs1 and little care appears to 
have been  taken to tell that of which  
proofs1 with little trouble1 might have 
been  procured4    ,edward ,young was   
born at ,upham1 near ,winchester1 in    
,june1 #afha4  ,he was  the son of      
,edward ,young1 at that time ,fellow of 
,winchester ,college1 and  ,rector of   
,upham1 who was the son of ,jo4 ,young1 
of ,woodhay1 in ,berkshire1  styled by  
,wood1 gentleman4  ,in ,september1      
#afhb1 the poet's father was  collated  

to the prebend of ,gillingham ,minor1 in
 the church of ,sarum1 by  ,bishop      
,ward4  ,when ,ward's faculties were    
impaired through age1 his duties  were  
necessarily performed by others4  ,we   
learn from ,wood that1 at a  visitation 
of ,sprat's1 ,july the #abth1 #afhf1 the
 prebendary preached a  ,latin sermon1  
afterwards published1 with which the    
,bishop was so pleased1  that he told   
the chapter he was concerned to find the
 preacher had one of  the worst prebends
 in their ,church4  ,some time after    
this1 in consequence  of his merit and  
reputation1 or of the interest of ,lord 
,bradford1 to  whom1 in #agjb1 he       
dedicated two volumes of sermons1 he was
 appointed  chaplain to ,king ,william  
and ,queen ,mary1 and preferred to the  
,deanery of  ,sarum4  ,jacob1 who wrote 
in #agbj1 says1 8he was ,chaplain and   
,clerk of the  ,closet to the late      
,queen1 who honoured him by standing    
godmother to the  poet40  ,his          
,fellowship of ,winchester he resigned  

in favour of a gentleman  of the name of
 ,harris1 who married his only daughter4
  ,the ,dean died at  ,sarum1 after a   
short illness1 in #agje1 in the         
sixty-third year of his  age4  ,on the  
,sunday after his decease1 ,bishop      
,burnet preached at the  cathedral1 and 
began his sermon with saying1 8,death   
has been of late  walking round us1 and 
making breach upon breach upon us1 and  
has now  carried away the head of this  
body with a stroke1 so that he1 whom you
  saw a week ago distributing the holy  
mysteries1 is now laid in the dust4     
,but he still lives in the many         
excellent directions he has left us both
  how to live and how to die40    ,the  
dean placed his son upon the foundation 
at ,winchester ,college1 where  he had  
himself been educated4  ,at this school 
,edward ,young remained till  the       
election after his eighteenth birthday1 
the period at which those  upon the     
foundation are superannuated4  ,whether 
he did not betray his  abilities early  

in life1 or his masters had not skill   
enough to discover  in their pupil any  
marks of genius for which he merited    
reward1 or no  vacancy at ,oxford       
offered them an opportunity to bestow   
upon him the  reward provided for merit 
by ,william of ,wykeham2 certain it is1 
that to  an ,oxford fellowship our poet 
did not succeed4  ,by chance1 or by     
choice1  ,new ,college cannot claim the 
honour of numbering among its fellows   
him  who wrote the 8,night ,thoughts40  
,on the #acth of ,october1 #agjc1 he was
 entered an independent member of ,new  
,college1 that he might live at little  
expense in the warden's lodgings1  who  
was a particular friend of his father's1
 till he should be qualified  to stand  
for a fellowship at ,all ,souls4  ,in a 
few months the warden of  ,new ,college 
died4  ,he then removed to ,corpus      
,college4  ,the president of  this      
society1 from regard also for his       
father1 invited him thither1 in  order  
to lessen his academical expenses4  ,in 

#agjh he was nominated to a             
law-fellowship at ,all ,souls by        
,archbishop ,tenison1 into whose hands  
it  came by devolution4  ,such repeated 
patronage1 while it justifies ,burnet's 
praise of the father1 reflects credit on
 the conduct of the son4  ,the  manner  
in which it was exerted seems to prove  
that the father did not  leave behind   
him much wealth4    ,on the #bcrd of    
,april1 #agad1 ,young took his degree of
 bachelor of civil  laws1 and his       
doctor's degree on the #ajth of ,june1  
#agai4  ,soon after he  went to ,oxford 
he discovered1 it is said1 an           
inclination for pupils4  ,whether he    
ever commenced tutor is not known4      
,none has hitherto boasted  to have     
received his academical instruction from
 the author of 8,night  ,thoughts40  ,it
 is probable that his ,college was proud
 of him no less as a  scholar than as a 
poet2 for in #agaf1 when the foundation 
of the  ,codrington ,library was laid1  
two years after he had taken his        

bachelor's  degree1 ,young was appointed
 to speak the ,latin oration4  ,this is 
at least  particular for being dedicated
 in ,english 8,to the ,ladies of the    
,codrington ,family40  ,to these ladies 
he says 8that he was unavoidably  flung 
into a singularity1 by being obliged to 
write an epistle dedicatory  void of    
commonplace1 and such an one was never  
published before by any  author         
whatever2 that this practice absolved   
them from any obligation of  reading    
what was presented to them2 and that the
 bookseller approved of  it1 because it 
would make people stare1 was absurd     
enough and perfectly  right40  ,of this 
oration there is no appearance in his   
own edition of his  works2 and prefixed 
to an edition by ,curll and ,tonson1 in 
#agda1 is a  letter from ,young to      
,curll1 if we may credit ,curll1 dated  
,december the  #ith1 #agci1 wherein he  
says that he has not leisure to review  
what he  formerly wrote1 and adds1 8,i  
have not the #8,epistle to ,lord        

,lansdowne4'  ,if you will take my      
advice1 ,i would have you omit that1 and
 the oration  on ,codrington4  ,i think 
the collection will sell better without 
them40    ,there are who relate that1   
when first ,young found himself         
independent1  and his own master at ,all
 ,souls1 he was not the ornament to     
religion and  morality which he         
afterwards became4  ,the authority of   
his father1  indeed1 had ceased1 some   
time before1 by his death2 and ,young   
was  certainly not ashamed to be        
patronised by the infamous ,wharton4    
,but  ,wharton befriended in ,young1    
perhaps1 the poet1 and particularly the 
tragedian4  ,if virtuous authors must be
 patronised only by virtuous  peers1 who
 shall point them out8  ,yet ,pope is   
said by ,ruffhead to have  told         
,warburton that 8,young had much of a   
sublime genius1 though without  common  
sense2 so that his genius1 having no    
guide1 was perpetually liable  to       
degenerate into bombast4  ,this made him

 pass a foolish youth1 the  sport of    
peers and poets3 but his having a very  
good heart enabled him to  support the  
clerical character when he assumed it1  
first with decency1  and afterwards with
 honour40    ,they who think ill of     
,young's morality in the early part of  
his life may  perhaps be wrong2 but     
,tindal could not err in his opinion of 
,young's  warmth and ability in the     
cause of religion4  ,tindal used to     
spend much  of his time at ,all ,souls4 
8,the other boys10 said the atheist1 8,i
 can  always answer1 because ,i always  
know whence they have their arguments1  
which ,i have read a hundred times2 but 
that fellow ,young is continually       
pestering me with something of his own40
    ,after all1 ,tindal and the         
censurers of ,young may be reconcilable4
  ,young  might1 for two or three years1
 have tried that kind of life1 in which 
his  natural principles would not suffer
 him to wallow long4  ,if this were so1 
he has left behind him not only his     

evidence in favour of virtue1 but the   
potent testimony of experience against  
vice4  ,we shall soon see that one  of  
his earliest productions was more       
serious than what comes from the        
generality of unfledged poets4    ,young
 perhaps ascribed the good fortune of   
,addison to the 8,poem to his           
,majesty10 presented with a copy of     
verses1 to ,somers3 and hoped that he   
also might soar to wealth and honours on
 wings of the same kind4  ,his  first   
poetical flight was when ,queen ,anne   
called up to the ,house of ,lords  the  
sons of the ,earls of ,northampton and  
,aylesbury1 and added1 in one  day1 ten 
others to the number of ,peers4  ,in    
order to reconcile the people  to one1  
at least1 of the new lords1 he          
published1 in #agab1 8,an ,epistle to   
the ,right ,honourable ,george ,lord    
,lansdowne40  ,in this composition the  
poet pours out his panegyric with the   
extravagance of a young man1 who  thinks
 his present stock of wealth will never 

be exhausted4  ,the poem  seems intended
 also to reconcile the public to the    
late peace4  ,this is  endeavoured to be
 done by showing that men are slain in  
war1 and that in  peace 8harvests wave1 
and commerce swells her sail40  ,if this
 be  humanity1 for which he meant it1 is
 it politics8  ,another purpose of this 
epistle appears to have been to prepare 
the public for the reception of  some   
tragedy he might have in hand4  ,his    
lordship's patronage1 he says1  will not
 let him 8repent his passion for the    
stage20 and the particular  praise      
bestowed on ,othello and ,oroonoko looks
 as if some such  character as ,zanga   
was even then in contemplation4  ,the   
affectionate  mention of the death of   
his friend ,harrison of ,new ,college1  
at the close  of this poem1 is an       
instance of ,young's art1 which         
displayed itself so  wonderfully some   
time afterwards in the 8,night          
,thoughts10 of making the  public a     
party in his private sorrow4  ,should   

justice call upon you to  censure this  
poem1 it ought at least to be remembered
 that he did not  insert it in his      
works2 and that in the letter to ,curll1
 as we have seen1  he advises its       
omission4  ,the booksellers1 in the late
 body of ,english  poetry1 should have  
distinguished what was deliberately     
rejected by the  respective authors4    
,this ,i shall be careful to do with    
regard to ,young4  8,i think10 says he1 
8the following pieces in four volumes to
 be the  most excusable of all that ,i  
have written2 and ,i wish less apology  
was  less needful for these4  ,as there 
is no recalling what is got abroad1 the 
pieces here republished ,i have revised 
and corrected1 and rendered them  as    
pardonable as it was in my power to do40
    ,shall the gates of repentance be   
shut only against literary sinners8     
,when ,addison published 8,cato0 in     
#agac1 ,young had the honour of         
prefixing  to it a recommendatory copy  
of verses4  ,this is one of the pieces  

which  the author of the 8,night        
,thoughts0 did not republish4    ,on the
 appearance of his poem on the 8,last   
,day10 ,addison did not return  ,young's
 compliment2 but 8,the ,englishman0 of  
,october #bi1 #agac1 which was  probably
 written by ,addison1 speaks handsomely 
of this poem4  ,the 8,last  ,day0 was   
published soon after the peace4  ,the   
,vice-,chancellor's  imprimatur 7for it 
was printed at ,oxford7 is dated the    
#aith1 #agac4  ,from the exordium1      
,young appears to have spent some time  
on the  composition of it4  ,while other
 bards 8with ,britain's hero set their  
souls on fire10 he draws1 he says1 a    
deeper scene4  ,marlborough had  been   
considered by ,britain as her hero2 but1
 when the 8,last ,day0 was  published1  
female cabal had blasted for a time the 
laurels of ,blenheim4  ,this serious    
poem was finished by ,young as early as 
#agaj1 before he was  thirty2 for part  
of it is printed in the ,tatler4  ,it   
was inscribed to  the queen1 in a       

dedication1 which1 for some reason1 he  
did not admit into  his works4  ,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  indulgence4  ,of this   
obligation nothing is now known1 unless 
he alluded  to her being his godmother4 
,he is said indeed to have been engaged 
at a  settled stipend as a writer for   
the ,court4  ,in ,swift's 8,rhapsody on 
,poetry0 are these lines1 speaking of   
the ,court3--        8,whence ,gay was  
banished in disgrace1      ,where ,pope 
will never show his face1      ,where   
,y-- must torture his invention      ,to
 flatter knaves1 or lose his pension40  
,that ,y-- means ,young seems clear from
 four other lines in the same poem3--   
8,attend1 ye ,popes1 and ,youngs1 and   
,gays1      ,and tune your harps and    
strew your bays2      ,your panegyrics  
here provide2      ,you cannot err on   
flattery's side40    ,yet who shall say 
with certainty that ,young was a        

pensioner8  ,in all  modern periods of  
this country1 have not the writers on   
one side been  regularly called         
,hirelings1 and on the other ,patriots8 
,of the dedication the complexion is    
clearly political4  ,it speaks in the   
highest terms of the late peace2 it     
gives her ,majesty praise indeed for    
her victories1 but says that the author 
is more pleased to see her rise  from   
this lower world1 soaring above the     
clouds1 passing the first and  second   
heavens1 and leaving the fixed stars    
behind her2 nor will he lose  her there1
 he says1 but keep her still in view    
through the boundless  spaces on the    
other side of creation1 in her journey  
towards eternal  bliss1 till he behold  
the heaven of heavens open1 and angels  
receiving  and conveying her still      
onward from the stretch of his          
imagination1 which  tires in her        
pursuit1 and falls back again to earth4 
,the queen was soon called away from    
this lower world1 to a place where      

human praise or human flattery1 even    
less general than this1 are of  little  
consequence4  ,if ,young thought the    
dedication contained only the  praise of
 truth1 he should not have omitted it in
 his works4  ,was he  conscious of the  
exaggeration of party8  ,then he should 
not have written  it4  ,the poem itself 
is not without a glance towards         
politics1  notwithstanding the subject4 
,the cry that the ,church was in danger 
had  not yet subsided4  ,the 8,last     
,day10 written by a layman1 was much    
approved  by the ministry and their     
friends4    ,before the queen's death1  
8,the ,force of ,religion1 or           
,vanquished ,love10  was sent into the  
world4  ,this poem is founded on the    
execution of ,lady  ,jane ,grey and her 
husband1 ,lord ,guildford1 #aeed1 a     
story chosen for the  subject of a      
tragedy by ,edmund ,smith1 and wrought  
into a tragedy by ,rowe4  ,the          
dedication of it to the ,countess of    
,salisbury does not appear in his  own  

edition4  ,he hopes it may be some      
excuse for his presumption that the     
story could not have been read without  
thoughts of the ,countess of            
,salisbury1 though it had been dedicated
 to another4  8,to behold10 he          
proceeds1 8a person only virtuous1 stirs
 in us a prudent regret2 to  behold a   
person only amiable to the sight1 warms 
us with a religious  indignation2 but to
 turn our eyes to a ,countess of        
,salisbury1 gives us  pleasure and      
improvement2 it works a sort of miracle1
 occasions the bias  of our nature to   
fall off from sin1 and makes our very   
senses and  affections converts to our  
religion1 and promoters of our duty40   
,his  flattery was as ready for the     
other sex as for ours1 and was at least 
as  well adapted4    ,august the #bgth1 
#agad1 ,pope writes to his friend       
,jervas1 that he is just  arrived from  
,oxford2 that every one is much         
concerned for the queen's  death1 but   
that no panegyrics are ready yet for the

 king4  ,nothing like  friendship has   
yet taken place between ,pope and       
,young1 for1 soon after  the event which
 ,pope mentions1 ,young published a poem
 on the queen's  death1 and his         
,majesty's accession to the throne4  ,it
 is inscribed to  ,addison1 then        
secretary to the ,lords ,justices4      
,whatever were the  obligations which he
 had formerly received from ,anne1 the  
poet appears to  aim at something of the
 same sort from ,george4  ,of the poem  
the intention  seems to have been1 to   
show that he had the same extravagant   
strain of  praise for a king as for a   
queen4  ,to discover1 at the very onset 
of a  foreigner's reign1 that the gods  
bless his new subjects in such a king is
  something more than praise4  ,neither 
was this deemed one of his excusable    
pieces4  ,we do not find it in his      
works4    ,young's father had been well 
acquainted with ,lady ,anne ,wharton1   
the first  wife of ,thomas ,wharton1    
,esq41 afterwards ,marquis of ,wharton2 

a lady  celebrated for her poetical     
talents by ,burnet and by ,waller4      
,to the ,dean of ,sarum's visitation    
sermon1 already mentioned1 were added   
some verses 8by that excellent poetess1 
,mrs4 ,anne ,wharton10 upon its  being  
translated into ,english1 at the        
instance of ,waller by ,atwood4         
,wharton1 after he became ennobled1 did 
not drop the son of his old  friend4    
,in him1 during the short time he lived1
 ,young found a patron1  and in his     
dissolute descendant a friend and a     
companion4  ,the marquis  died in       
,april1 #agae4  ,in the beginning of the
 next year1 the young  marquis set out  
upon his travels1 from which he returned
 in about a  twelvemonth4  ,the         
beginning of #agag carried him to       
,ireland3 where1 says  the ,biographia1 
8on the score of his extraordinary      
qualities1 he had the  honour done him  
of being admitted1 though under age1 to 
take his seat in  the ,house of ,lords40
  ,with this unhappy character it is not

 unlikely that  ,young went to ,ireland4
  ,from his letter to ,richardson on    
8,original  ,composition10 it is clear  
he was1 at some period of his life1 in  
that  country4  8,i remember10 says he1 
in that letter1 speaking of ,swift1 8as 
,i  and others were taking with him an  
evening walk1 about a mile out of       
,dublin1 he stopped short2 we passed on2
 but perceiving he did not follow  us1  
,i went back1 and found him fixed as a  
statue1 and earnestly gazing  upward at 
a noble elm1 which in its uppermost     
branches was much withered  and decayed4
  ,pointing at it1 he said1 #8,i shall  
be like that tree1 ,i  shall die at     
top4'0  ,is it not probable1 that this  
visit to ,ireland was  paid when he had 
an opportunity of going thither with his
 avowed friend  and patron8    ,from    
8,the ,englishman0 it appears that a    
tragedy by ,young was in the  theatre so
 early as #agac4  ,yet ,busiris was not 
brought upon ,drury ,lane  stage till   
#agai4  ,it was inscribed to the ,duke  

of ,newcastle1 8because the  late       
instances he had received of his grace's
 undeserved and uncommon  favour1 in an 
affair of some consequence1 foreign to  
the theatre1 had  taken from him the    
privilege of choosing a patron40  ,the  
,dedication he  afterwards suppressed4  
,busiris was followed in the year #agba 
by ,the ,revenge4  ,he dedicated  this  
famous tragedy to the ,duke of ,wharton4
  8,your ,grace10 says the  ,dedication1
 8has been pleased to make yourself     
accessory to the following  scenes1 not 
only by suggesting the most beautiful   
incident in them1 but  by making all    
possible provision for the success of   
the whole40  ,that his  grace should    
have suggested the incident to which he 
alludes1 whatever  that incident might  
have been1 is not unlikely4  ,the last  
mental exertion  of the superannuated   
young man1 in his quarters at ,lerida1  
in ,spain1 was  some scenes of a tragedy
 on the story of ,mary ,queen of ,scots4
    ,dryden dedicated 8,marriage a la   

,mode0 to ,wharton's infamous relation  
,rochester1 whom he acknowledges not    
only as the defender of his poetry1  but
 as the promoter of his fortune4  ,young
 concludes his address to  ,wharton     
thus--8,my present fortune is his       
bounty1 and my future his care2  which  
,i will venture to say will be always   
remembered to his honour1  since he1 ,i 
know1 intended his generosity as an     
encouragement to merit1  though through 
his very pardonable partiality to one   
who bears him so  sincere a duty and    
respect1 ,i happen to receive the       
benefit of it40  ,that  he ever had such
 a patron as ,wharton1 ,young took all  
the pains in his  power to conceal from 
the world1 by excluding this dedication 
from his  works4  ,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      
composition4  ,the passage just quoted  
is1 in a  poem afterwards addressed to  

,walpole1 literally copied3        8,be 
this thy partial smile from censure     
free6      ',twas meant for merit1      
though it fell on me40    ,while ,young1
 who1 in his 8,love of ,fame10 complains
 grievously how often  8dedications wash
 an thiop white10 was painting an       
amiable ,duke of  ,wharton in perishable
 prose1 ,pope was1 perhaps1 beginning to
 describe the  8scorn and wonder of his 
days0 in lasting verse4  ,to the        
patronage of  such a character1 had     
,young studied men as much as ,pope1 he 
would have  known how little to have    
trusted4  ,young1 however1 was certainly
 indebted  to it for something material2
 and the duke's regard for ,young1 added
 to  his lust of praise1 procured to    
,all ,souls ,college a donation1 which  
was  not forgotten by the poet when he  
dedicated ,the ,revenge4    ,it will    
surprise you to see me cite second      
,atkins1 ,case #acf1 ,stiles  versus the
 ,attorney-,general1 ,march #ad1 #agdj1 
as authority for the life  of a poet4   

,but biographers do not always find such
 certain guides as the  oaths of the    
persons whom they record4  ,chancellor  
,hardwicke was to  determine whether two
 annuities1 granted by the ,duke of     
,wharton to ,young1  were for legal     
considerations4  ,one was dated the     
#bdth ,march1 #agai1 and  accounted for 
his grace's bounty in a style princely  
and commendable1 if  not                
legal--8considering that the public good
 is advanced by the  encouragement of   
learning and the polite arts1 and being 
pleased therein  with the attempts of   
,dr4 ,young1 in consideration thereof1  
and of the love  ,i bear him1 c40  ,the 
other was dated the #ajth of ,july1     
#agbb4    ,young1 on his examination1   
swore that he quitted the ,exeter       
family1 and  refused an annuity of #ajj 
which had been offered him for life if  
he  would continue tutor to ,lord       
,burleigh1 upon the pressing            
solicitations of  the ,duke of ,wharton1
 and his grace's assurances of providing

 for him in a  much more ample manner4  
,it also appeared that the duke had     
given him a  bond for #fjj dated the    
#aeth of ,march1 #agba1 in consideration
 of his  taking several journeys1 and   
being at great expenses1 in order to be 
chosen member of the ,house of ,commons1
 at the duke's desire1 and in           
consideration of his not taking two     
livings of #bjj and #djj in the gift  of
 ,all ,souls ,college1 on his grace's   
promises of serving and advancing  him  
in the world4    ,of his adventures in  
the ,exeter family ,i am unable to give 
any account4  ,the attempt to get into  
,parliament was at ,cirencester1 where  
,young stood  a contested election4     
,his grace discovered in him talents for
 oratory as  well as for poetry4  ,nor  
was this judgment wrong4  ,young1 after 
he took  orders1 became a very popular  
preacher1 and was much followed for the 
grace and animation of his delivery4    
,by his oratorical talents he was  once 
in his life1 according to the           

,biographia1 deserted4  ,as he was      
preaching in his turn at ,st4 ,james's1 
he plainly perceived it was out of  his 
power to command the attention of his   
audience4  ,this so affected the        
feelings of the preacher1 that he sat   
back in the pulpit1 and burst into      
tears4  ,but we must pursue his poetical
 life4    ,in #agai he lamented the     
death of ,addison1 in a letter addressed
 to their  common friend ,tickell4  ,for
 the secret history of the following    
lines1 if  they contain any1 it is now  
vain to seek3        8,in joy once      
joined1 in sorrow1 now1 for years--     
,partner in grief1 and brother of my    
tears1      ,tickell1 accept this verse1
 thy mournful due40    ,from your       
account of ,tickell it appears that he  
and ,young used to  8communicate to each
 other whatever verses they wrote1 even 
to the least  things40    ,in #agai     
appeared a 8,paraphrase on ,part of the 
,book of ,job40  ,parker1 to  whom it is
 dedicated1 had not long1 by means of   

the seals1 been qualified  for a patron4
  ,of this work the author's opinion may
 be known from his  letter to ,curll3   
8,you seem1 in the ,collection you      
propose1 to have  omitted what ,i think 
may claim the first place in it2 ,i mean
 #8a  ,translation from part of ,job1'  
printed by ,mr4 ,tonson40  ,the         
,dedication1  which was only suffered to
 appear in ,mr4 ,tonson's edition1 while
 it  speaks with satisfaction of his    
present retirement1 seems to make an    
unusual struggle to escape from         
retirement4  ,but every one who sings in
  the dark does not sing from joy4  ,it 
is addressed1 in no common strain of    
flattery1 to a chancellor1 of whom he   
clearly appears to have had no kind  of 
knowledge4    ,of his ,satires it would 
not have been possible to fix the dates 
without  the assistance of first        
editions1 which1 as you had occasion to 
observe  in your account of ,dryden1 are
 with difficulty found4  ,we must then  
have  referred to the poems1 to discover

 when they were written4  ,for these    
internal notes of time we should not    
have referred in vain4  ,the first      
,satire laments1 that 8,guilt's chief   
foe in ,addison is fled40  ,the second1 
addressing himself1 asks3--        8,is 
thy ambition sweating for a rhyme1      
,thou unambitious fool1 at this late    
time8      ,a fool at forty is a fool   
indeed40    ,the ,satires were          
originally published separately in      
folio1 under the  title of 8,the        
,universal ,passion40  ,these passages  
fix the appearance of  the first to     
about #agbe1 the time at which it came  
out4  ,as ,young seldom  suffered his   
pen to dry after he had once dipped it  
in poetry1 we may  conclude that he     
began his ,satires soon after he had    
written the  8,paraphrase on ,job40     
,the last ,satire was certainly finished
 in the  beginning of the year #agbf4   
,in ,december1 #agbe1 the ,king1 in his 
passage  from ,helvoetsluys1 escaped    
with great difficulty from a storm by   

landing  at ,rye2 and the conclusion of 
the ,satire turns the escape into a     
miracle1  in such an encomiastic strain 
of compliment as poetry too often seeks 
to  pay to royalty4  ,from the sixth of 
these poems we learn1        8',midst   
empire's charms1 how ,carolina's heart  
,glowed with the love of virtue and of  
art40    ,since the grateful poet tells 
us1 in the next couplet1        8,her   
favour is diffused to that degree1      
,excess of goodness6 it has dawned on   
me40    ,her ,majesty had stood         
godmother1 and given her name1 to the   
daughter of  the lady whom ,young       
married in #agca2 and had perhaps shown 
some attention  to ,lady ,elizabeth's   
future husband4    ,the fifth ,satire1  
8,on ,women10 was not published till    
#agbg2 and the sixth  not till #agbh4   
,to these poems1 when1 in #agbh1 he     
gathered them into one publication1 he  
prefixed a ,preface1 in which he        
observes that 8no man can converse much 
in the world1 but at what he meets with 

he must either be insensible or  grieve1
 or be angry or smile4  ,now to smile at
 it1 and turn it into  ridicule10 he    
adds1 8,i think most eligible1 as it    
hurts ourselves least1  and gives vice  
and folly the greatest offence4         
,laughing at the  misconduct of the     
world will1 in a great measure1 ease us 
of any more  disagreeable passion about 
it4  ,one passion is more effectually   
driven  out by another than by reason1  
whatever some teach40  ,so wrote1 and so
 of  course thought1 the lively and     
witty satirist at the grave age of      
almost  fifty1 who1 many years earlier  
in life1 wrote the 8,last ,day40  ,after
 all1  ,swift pronounced of these       
,satires1 that they should either have  
been more  angry or more merry4    ,is  
it not somewhat singular that ,young    
preserved1 without any palliation1  this
 ,preface1 so bluntly decisive in favour
 of laughing at the world1 in  the same 
collection of his works which contains  
the mournful1 angry1  gloomy 8,night    

,thoughts60  ,at the conclusion of the  
,preface he applies  ,plato's beautiful 
fable of the 8,birth of ,love0 to modern
 poetry1 with the  addition1 8that      
,poetry1 like ,love1 is a little subject
 to blindness1  which makes her mistake 
her way to preferments and honours2 and 
that she  retains a dutiful admiration  
of her father's family2 but divides her 
favours1 and generally lives with her   
mother's relations40  ,poetry1 it is    
true1 did not lead ,young to preferments
 or to honours2 but was there not       
something like blindness in the flattery
 which he sometimes forced her1  and her
 sister ,prose1 to utter8  ,she was     
always1 indeed1 taught by him to        
entertain a most dutiful admiration of  
riches2 but surely ,young1 though       
nearly related to ,poetry1 had no       
connection with her whom ,plato makes   
the  mother of ,love4  ,that he could   
not well complain of being related to   
,poverty appears clearly from the       
frequent bounties which his gratitude   

records1 and from the wealth which he   
left behind him4  ,by 8,the ,universal  
,passion0 he acquired no vulgar         
fortune--more than three thousand       
pounds4  ,a considerable sum had already
 been swallowed up in the ,south ,sea4  
,for  this loss he took the vengeance of
 an author4  ,his ,muse makes poetical  
use more than once of a ,south ,sea     
,dream4    ,it is related by ,mr4       
,spence1 in his 8,manuscript            
,anecdotes10 on the  authority of ,mr4  
,rawlinson1 that ,young1 upon the       
publication of his  8,universal         
,passion10 received from the ,duke of   
,grafton two thousand  pounds2 and that1
 when one of his friends exclaimed1     
8,two thousand pounds  for a poem60 he  
said it was the best bargain he ever    
made in his life1  for the poem was     
worth four thousand4  ,this story may be
 true2 but it  seems to have been raised
 from the two answers of ,lord ,burghley
 and ,sir  ,philip ,sidney in ,spenser's
 ,life4    ,after inscribing his        

,satires1 not perhaps without the hopes 
of  preferments and honours1 to such    
names as the ,duke of ,dorset1 ,mr4     
,dodington1 ,mr4 ,spencer ,compton1     
,lady ,elizabeth ,germain1 and ,sir     
,robert  ,walpole1 he returns to plain  
panegyric4  ,in #agbf he addressed a    
poem to  ,sir ,robert ,walpole1 of which
 the title sufficiently explains the    
intention4  ,if ,young must be          
acknowledged a ready celebrator1 he did 
not  endeavour1 or did not choose1 to be
 a lasting one4  8,the ,instalment0 is  
among the pieces he did not admit into  
the number of his excusable  writings4  
,yet it contains a couplet which        
pretends to pant after the  power of    
bestowing immortality3--        8,oh6   
how ,i long1 enkindled by the theme1    
,in deep eternity to launch thy name60  
,the bounty of the former reign seems to
 have been continued1 possibly          
increased1 in this4  ,whatever it might 
have been1 the poet thought he  deserved
 it2 for he was not ashamed to          

acknowledge what1 without his           
acknowledgment1 would now perhaps never 
have been known3--        8,my breast1  
,o ,walpole1 glows with grateful fire4  
,the streams of royal bounty1 turned by 
thee1      ,refresh the dry remains of  
poesy40    ,if the purity of modern     
patriotism will term ,young a pensioner1
 it must  at least be confessed he was a
 grateful one4    ,the reign of the new 
monarch was ushered in by ,young with   
8,ocean1 an  ,ode40  ,the hint of it was
 taken from the royal speech1 which     
recommended  the increase and the       
encouragement of the seamen2 that they  
might be  8invited1 rather than         
compelled by force and violence1 to     
enter into the  service of their        
country0--a plan which humanity must    
lament that policy  has not even yet    
been able1 or willing1 to carry into    
execution4  ,prefixed to the original   
publication were an 8,ode to the ,king1 
,pater  ,patri10 and an 8,essay on      
,lyric ,poetry40  ,it is but justice to 

confess  that he preserved neither of   
them2 and that the ,ode itself1 which in
 the  first edition1 and in the last1   
consists of seventy-three stanzas1 in   
the  author's own edition is reduced to 
forty-nine4  ,among the omitted         
passages is a 8,wish10 that concluded   
the poem1 which few would have          
suspected ,young of forming2 and of     
which few1 after having formed it1      
would confess something like their shame
 by suppression4  ,it stood  originally 
so high in the author's opinion1 that he
 entitled the poem1  8,ocean1 an ,ode4  
,concluding with a ,wish40  ,this wish  
consists of thirteen  stanzas4  ,the    
first runs thus3--              8,o may 
,i steal            ,along the vale     
,of humble life1 secure from foes6      
,my friend sincere1            ,my      
judgment clear1      ,and gentle        
business my repose60    ,the three last 
stanzas are not more remarkable for just
 rhymes2 but1  altogether1 they will    
make rather a curious page in the life  

of ,young3--              8,prophetic   
schemes1            ,and golden dreams1 
,may ,i1 unsanguine1 cast away6         
,have what ,i have1            ,and     
live1 not leave1      ,enamoured of the 
present day6              8,my hours my 
own6            ,my faults unknown6     
,my chief revenue in content6           
,then leave one beam            ,of     
honest fame6      ,and scorn the        
laboured monument6              8,unhurt
 my urn            ,till that great     
,,turn      ,when mighty ,nature's self 
shall die1            ,time cease to    
glide1            ,with human pride1    
,sunk in the ocean of eternity60    ,it 
is whimsical that he1 who was soon to   
bid adieu to rhyme1 should fix  upon a  
measure in which rhyme abounds even to  
satiety4  ,of this he said1  in his     
8,essay on ,lyric ,poetry10 prefixed to 
the poem--8,for the more  harmony       
likewise ,i chose the frequent return of
 rhyme1 which laid me  under great      
difficulties4  ,but difficulties        

overcome give grace and  pleasure4  ,nor
 can ,i account for the pleasure of     
rhyme in general 7of  which the moderns 
are too fond7 but from this truth40     
,yet the moderns  surely deserve not    
much censure for their fondness of what1
 by their own  confession1 affords      
pleasure1 and abounds in harmony4  ,the 
next paragraph  in his ,essay did not   
occur to him when he talked of 8that    
great turn0 in  the stanza just quoted4 
8,but then the writer must take care    
that the  difficulty is overcome4  ,that
 is1 he must make rhyme consistent with 
as  perfect sense and expression as     
could be expected if he was perfectly   
free from that shackle40  ,another part 
of this ,essay will convict the         
following stanza of what every reader   
will discover in it 8involuntary        
burlesque3--              8,the northern
 blast1            ,the shattered mast1 
,the syrt1 the whirlpool1 and the rock1 
,the breaking spout1            ,the    
stars gone out1      ,the boiling       

strait1 the monster's shock40    ,but   
would the ,english poets fill quite so  
many volumes if all their  productions  
were to be tried1 like this1 by an      
elaborate essay on each  particular     
species of poetry of which they exhibit 
specimens8    ,if ,young be not a lyric 
poet1 he is at least a critic in that   
sort of  poetry2 and1 if his lyric      
poetry can be proved bad1 it was first  
proved  so by his own criticism4  ,this 
surely is candid4    ,milbourne was     
styled by ,pope 8the fairest of         
critics10 only because he  exhibited his
 own version of 8,virgil0 to be compared
 with ,dryden's1 which  he condemned1   
and with which every reader had it not  
otherwise in his  power to compare it4  
,young was surely not the most unfair of
 poets for  prefixing to a lyric        
composition an 8,essay on ,lyric        
,poetry10 so just and  impartial as to  
condemn himself4    ,we shall soon come 
to a work1 before which we find indeed  
no critical  essay1 but which disdains  

to shrink from the touchstone of the    
severest  critic2 and which certainly1  
as ,i remember to have heard you say1 if
 it  contains some of the worst1        
contains also some of the best things in
 the  language4    ,soon after the      
appearance of 8,ocean10 when he was     
almost fifty1 ,young  entered into      
orders4  ,in ,april1 #agbh1 not long    
after he had put on the  gown1 he was   
appointed chaplain to ,george ,,ii4     
,the tragedy of ,the ,brothers1 which   
was already in rehearsal1 he            
immediately withdrew from the stage4    
,the managers resigned it with some     
reluctance to the delicacy of the new   
clergyman4  ,the ,epilogue to ,the      
,brothers1 the only appendages to any of
 his three plays which he added         
himself1 is1 ,i believe1 the only one of
 the kind4  ,he calls it an  historical 
,epilogue4  ,finding that 8,guilt's     
dreadful close his narrow  scene        
denied10 he1 in a manner1 continues the 
tragedy in the ,epilogue1  and relates  

how ,rome revenged the shade of         
,demetrius1 and punished  ,perseus 8for 
this night's deed40    ,of ,young's     
taking orders something is told by the  
biographer of ,pope1  which places the  
easiness and simplicity of the poet in a
 singular light4  ,when he determined on
 the ,church he did not address himself 
to ,sherlock1  to ,atterbury1 or to     
,hare1 for the best instructions in     
theology1 but to  ,pope1 who1 in a      
youthful frolic1 advised the diligent   
perusal of ,thomas  ,aquinas4  ,with    
this treasure ,young retired from       
interruption to an  obscure place in the
 suburbs4  ,his poetical guide to       
godliness hearing  nothing of him during
 half a year1 and apprehending he might 
have carried  the jest too far1 sought  
after him1 and found him just in time to
 prevent  what ,ruffhead calls 8an      
irretrievable derangement40    ,that    
attachment to his favourite study1 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 preferments4    
,not long indeed  after he took orders  
he published in prose 7#agbh7 8,a ,true 
,estimate of  ,human ,life10 dedicated1 
notwithstanding the ,latin quotations   
with which  it abounds1 to the ,queen2  
and a sermon preached before the ,house 
of  ,commons1 #agbi1 on the martyrdom of
 ,king ,charles1 entitled1 8,an ,apology
  for ,princes2 or1 the ,reverence due  
to ,government40  ,but the 8,second     
,course10 the counterpart of his        
8,estimate10 without which it cannot be 
called 8,a ,true ,estimate10 though in  
#agbh it was announced as 8soon to be   
published10 never appeared1 and his old 
friends the ,muses were not  forgotten4 
,in #agcj he relapsed to poetry1 and    
sent into the world  8,imperium ,pelagi3
 a ,naval ,lyric1 written in imitation  
of ,pindar's ,spirit1  occasioned by his
 ,majesty's return from ,hanover1       
,september1 #agbi1 and the  succeeding  
peace40  ,it is inscribed to the ,duke  

of ,chandos4  ,in the  ,preface we are  
told that the ,ode is the most spirited 
kind of poetry1 and  that the ,pindaric 
is the most spirited kind of ,ode4      
8,this ,i speak10 he  adds1 8with       
sufficient candour at my own very great 
peril4  ,but truth has  an eternal title
 to our confession1 though we are sure  
to suffer by it40  ,behold1 again1 the  
fairest of poets4  ,young's 8,imperium  
,pelagi0 was  ridiculed in ,fielding's  
8,tom ,thumb20 but let us not forget    
that it was  one of his pieces which the
 author of the 8,night ,thoughts0       
deliberately  refused to own4  ,not long
 after this ,pindaric attempt he        
published two  ,epistles to ,pope1      
8,concerning the ,authors of the ,age10 
#agcj4  ,of these  poems one occasion   
seems to have been an apprehension lest1
 from the  liveliness of his satires1 he
 should not be deemed sufficiently      
serious  for promotion in the ,church4  
,in ,july1 #agcj1 he was presented by   
his ,college to the ,rectory of ,welwyn1

  in ,hertfordshire4  ,in ,may1 #agca1  
he married ,lady ,elizabeth ,lee1       
daughter  of the ,earl of ,lichfield1   
and widow of ,colonel ,lee4  ,his       
connection with  this lady arose from   
his father's acquaintance1 already      
mentioned1 with  ,lady ,anne ,wharton1  
who was co-heiress of ,sir ,henry ,lee  
of ,ditchley in  ,oxfordshire4  ,poetry 
had lately been taught by ,addison to   
aspire to the  arms of nobility1 though 
not with extraordinary happiness4  ,we  
may  naturally conclude that ,young now 
gave himself up in some measure to the  
comforts of his new connection1 and to  
the expectations of that  preferment    
which he thought due to his poetical    
talents1 or1 at least1 to  the manner in
 which they had so frequently been      
exerted4    ,the next production of his 
muse was 8,the ,sea-piece10 in two odes4
    ,young enjoys the credit of what is 
called an 8,extempore ,epigram on       
,voltaire10 who1 when he was in         
,england1 ridiculed1 in the company of  

the  jealous ,english poet1 ,milton's   
allegory of 8,sin and ,death30          
8,you are so witty1 profligate and thin1
      ,at once we think thee ,milton1   
,death1 and ,sin40    ,from the         
following passage in the poetical       
dedication of his 8,sea-piece0  to      
,voltaire it seems that this            
extemporaneous reproof1 if it must be   
extemporaneous 7for what few will now   
affirm ,voltaire to have deserved  any  
reproof71 was something longer than a   
distich1 and something more  gentle than
 the distich just quoted4        8,no   
stranger1 sir1 though born in foreign   
climes4         ,on ,dorset ,downs1 when
 ,milton's page1         ,with ,sin and 
,death provoked thy rage1      ,thy rage
 provoked who soothed with gentle       
rhymes80    ,by 8,dorset ,downs0 he     
probably meant ,mr4 ,dodington's seat4  
,in ,pitt's  ,poems is 8,an ,epistle to 
,dr4 ,edward ,young1 at ,eastbury1 in   
,dorsetshire1 on  the ,review at ,sarum1
 #agbb40        8,while with your       

,dodington retired you sit1             
,charmed with his flowing ,burgundy and 
wit10 etc4    ,thomson1 in his ,autumn1 
addressing ,mr4 ,dodington calls his    
seat the seat  of the ,muses1           
8,where1 in the secret bower and winding
 walk1      ,for virtuous ,young and    
thee they twine the bay40    ,the       
praises ,thomson bestows but a few lines
 before on ,philips1 the second         
8,who nobly durst1 in rhyme-unfettered  
verse1      ,with ,british freedom sing 
the ,british song10    added to         
,thomson's example and success1 might   
perhaps induce ,young1 as we  shall see 
presently1 to write his great work      
without rhyme4    ,in #agcd he published
 8,the ,foreign ,address1 or the best   
,argument for  ,peace1 occasioned by the
 ,british ,fleet and the ,posture of    
,affairs4  ,written in the ,character of
 a ,sailor40  ,it is not to be found in 
the  author's four volumes4  ,he now    
appears to have given up all hopes of   
overtaking ,pindar1 and perhaps at last 

resolved to turn his ambition to  some  
original species of poetry4  ,this poem 
concludes with a formal  farewell to    
,ode1 which few of ,young's readers will
 regret3        8,my shell1 which ,clio 
gave1 which ,kings applaud1      ,which 
,europe's bleeding genius called abroad1
      ,adieu60    ,in a species of      
poetry altogether his own he next tried 
his skill1 and  succeeded4    ,of his   
wife he was deprived in #agda4  ,lady   
,elizabeth had lost1 after her  marriage
 with ,young1 an amiable daughter1 by   
her former husband1 just  after she was 
married to ,mr4 ,temple1 son of ,lord   
,palmerston4  ,mr4 ,temple  did not long
 remain after his wife1 though he was   
married a second time  to a daughter of 
,sir ,john ,barnard's1 whose son is the 
present peer4  ,mr4  and ,mrs4 ,temple  
have generally been considered as       
,philander and ,narcissa4  ,from the    
great friendship which constantly       
subsisted between ,mr4 ,temple  and     
,young1 as well as from other           

circumstances1 it is probable that the  
poet had both him and ,mrs4 ,temple in  
view for these characters2 though1  at  
the same time1 some passages respecting 
,philander do not appear to  suit either
 ,mr4 ,temple or any other person with  
whom ,young was known to  be connected  
or acquainted1 while all the            
circumstances relating to  ,narcissa    
have been constantly found applicable to
 ,young's  daughter-in-law4  ,at what   
short intervals the poet tells us he was
  wounded by the deaths of the three    
persons particularly lamented1 none     
that has read the 8,night ,thoughts0    
7and who has not read them87 needs to   
be informed4        8,insatiate archer6 
could not one suffice8      ,thy shaft  
flew thrice1 and thrice my peace was    
slain2      ,and thrice1 ere thrice yon 
moon had filled her horn40    ,yet how  
is it possible that ,mr4 and ,mrs4      
,temple and ,lady ,elizabeth ,young     
could be these three victims1 over whom 
,young has hitherto been pitied  for    

having to pour the 8,midnight ,sorrows0 
of his religious poetry8  ,mrs4  ,temple
 died in #agcf2 ,mr4 ,temple four years 
afterwards1 in #agdj2 and the  poet's   
wife seven months after ,mr4 ,temple1 in
 #agda4  ,how could the  insatiate      
archer thrice slay his peace1 in these  
three persons1 8ere  thrice the moon had
 filled her horn40  ,but in the short   
preface to 8,the  ,complaint0 he        
seriously tells us1 8that the occasion  
of this poem was  real1 not fictitious1 
and that the facts mentioned did        
naturally pour  these moral reflections 
on the thought of the writer40  ,it is  
probable1  therefore1 that in these     
three contradictory lines the poet      
complains  more than the father-in-law1 
the friend1 or the widower4  ,whatever  
names  belong to these facts1 or if the 
names be those generally supposed1      
whatever heightening a poet's sorrow may
 have given the facts2 to the  sorrow   
,young felt from them religion and      
morality are indebted for the  8,night  

,thoughts40  ,there is a pleasure sure  
in sadness which mourners  only know6   
,of these poems the two or three first  
have been perused  perhaps more eagerly 
and more frequently than the rest4      
,when he got as  far as the fourth or   
fifth his original motive for taking up 
the pen was  answered2 his grief was    
naturally either diminished or          
exhausted4  ,we  still find the same    
pious poet1 but we hear less of         
,philander and  ,narcissa1 and less of  
the mourner whom he loved to pity4      
,mrs4 ,temple died of a consumption at  
,lyons1 on her way to ,nice1 the year   
after her marriage2 that is1 when poetry
 relates the fact1 8in her bridal       
hour40  ,it is more than poetically true
 that ,young accompanied her to the     
,continent3        8,i flew1 ,i snatched
 her from the rigid ,north1      ,and   
bore her nearer to the sun40    ,but in 
vain4  ,her funeral was attended with   
the difficulties painted in  such       
animated colours in 8,night the ,third40

  ,after her death the  remainder of the
 party passed the ensuing winter at     
,nice4  ,the poet seems  perhaps in     
these compositions to dwell with more   
melancholy on the death  of ,philander  
and ,narcissa than of his wife4  ,but it
 is only for this  reason4  ,he who runs
 and reads may remember that in the     
8,night ,thoughts0  ,philander and      
,narcissa are often mentioned and often 
lamented4  ,to  recollect lamentations  
over the author's wife the memory must  
have been  charged with distinct        
passages4  ,this lady brought him one   
child1  ,frederick1 now living1 to whom 
the ,prince of ,wales was godfather4    
,that domestic grief is1 in the first   
instance1 to be thanked for these       
ornaments to our language it is         
impossible to deny4  ,nor would it be   
common hardiness to contend that worldly
 discontent had no hand in these  joint 
productions of poetry and piety4  ,yet  
am ,i by no means sure that1  at any    
rate1 we should not have had something  

of the same colour from  ,young's       
pencil1 notwithstanding the liveliness  
of his satires4  ,in so  long a life    
causes for discontent and occasions for 
grief must have  occurred4  ,it is not  
clear to me that his ,muse was not      
sitting upon the  watch for the first   
which happened4  8,night ,thoughts0 were
 not uncommon  to her1 even when first  
she visited the poet1 and at a time when
 he  himself was remarkable neither for 
gravity nor gloominess4  ,in his 8,last 
,day10 almost his earliest poem1 he     
calls her 8,the ,melancholy ,maid10     
8whom dismal scenes delight1            
,frequent at tombs and in the realms of 
,night40    ,in the prayer which        
concludes the second book of the same   
poem1 he says3        8,oh6 permit the  
gloom of solemn night      ,to sacred   
thought may forcibly invite4      ,oh6  
how divine to tread the milky way1      
,to the bright palace of ,eternal ,day60
    ,when ,young was writing a tragedy1 
,grafton is said by ,spence to have sent

  him a human skull1 with a candle in   
it1 as a lamp1 and the poet is  reported
 to have used it4  ,what he calls 8,the 
true ,estimate of ,human  ,life10 which 
has already been mentioned1 exhibits    
only the wrong side of  the tapestry1   
and being asked why he did not show the 
right1 he is said  to have replied that 
he could not4  ,by others it has been   
told me that  this was finished1 but    
that1 before there existed any copy1 it 
was torn  in pieces by a lady's monkey4 
,still1 is it altogether fair to dress  
up  the poet for the man1 and to bring  
the gloominess of the 8,night ,thoughts0
  to prove the gloominess of ,young1 and
 to show that his genius1 like the      
genius of ,swift1 was in some measure   
the sullen inspiration of  discontent8  
,from them who answer in the affirmative
 it should not be  concealed that1      
though 8,invisibilia non decipiunt0     
appeared upon a  deception in ,young's  
grounds1 and 8,ambulantes in horto      
audierunt vocem  ,dei0 on a building in 

his garden1 his parish was indebted to  
the good  humour of the author of the   
8,night ,thoughts0 for an assembly and a
  bowling green4    ,whether you think  
with me1 ,i know not2 but the famous    
8,de mortuis nil  nisi bonum0 always    
appeared to me to savour more of female 
weakness than  of manly reason4  ,he    
that has too much feeling to speak ill  
of the dead1  who1 if they cannot defend
 themselves1 are at least ignorant of   
his  abuse1 will not hesitate by the    
most wanton calumny to destroy the      
quiet1  the reputation1 the fortune of  
the living4  ,yet censure is not heard  
beneath the tomb1 any more than praise4 
8,de mortuis nil nisi verum--,de  vivis 
nil nisi bonum0 would approach much     
nearer to good sense4  ,after  all1 the 
few handfuls of remaining dust which    
once composed the body of  the author of
 the 8,night ,thoughts0 feel not much   
concern whether ,young  pass now for a  
man of sorrow or for 8a fellow of       
infinite jest40  ,to this  favour must  

come the whole family of ,yorick4  ,his 
immortal part1 wherever  that now       
dwells1 is still less solicitous on this
 head4  ,but to a son of  worth and     
sensibility it is of some little        
consequence whether  contemporaries     
believe1 and posterity be taught to     
believe1 that his  debauched and        
reprobate life cast a ,stygian gloom    
over the evening of his  father's days1 
saved him the trouble of feigning a     
character completely  detestable1 and   
succeeded at last in bringing his 8grey 
hairs with sorrow  to the grave40  ,the 
humanity of the world1 little satisfied 
with  inventing perhaps a melancholy    
disposition for the father1 proceeds    
next  to invent an argument in support  
of their invention1 and chooses that    
,lorenzo should be ,young's own son4    
8,the ,biographia10 and every account   
of ,young1 pretty roundly assert this to
 be the fact2 of the absolute           
impossibility of which1 the             
8,biographia0 itself1 in particular     

dates1  contains undeniable evidence4   
,readers ,i know there are of a strange 
turn  of mind1 who will hereafter peruse
 the 8,night ,thoughts0 with less       
satisfaction2 who will wish they had    
still been deceived2 who will  quarrel  
with me for discovering that no such    
character as their ,lorenzo  ever yet   
disgraced human nature or broke a       
father's heart4  ,yet would  these      
admirers of the sublime and terrible be 
offended should you set  them down for  
cruel and for savage8  ,of this report1 
inhuman to the  surviving son1 if it be 
true1 in proportion as the character of 
,lorenzo  is diabolical1 where are we to
 find the proof8  ,perhaps it is clear  
from  the poems4    ,from the first line
 to the last of the 8,night ,thoughts0  
no one expression  can be discovered    
which betrays anything like the father4 
,in the 8,second  ,night0 ,i find an    
expression which betrays something      
else--that ,lorenzo was  his friend2    
one1 it is possible1 of his former      

companions2 one of the  ,duke of        
,wharton's set4  ,the poet styles him   
8gay friend20 an appellation  not very  
natural from a pious incensed father to 
such a being as he  paints ,lorenzo1 and
 that being his son4  ,but let us see   
how he has  sketched this dreadful      
portrait1 from the sight of some of     
whose features  the artist himself must 
have turned away with horror4  ,a       
subject more  shocking1 if his only     
child really sat to him1 than the       
crucifixion of  ,michael ,angelo2 upon  
the horrid story told of which ,young   
composed a  short poem of fourteen lines
 in the early part of his life1 which he
 did  not think deserved to be          
republished4  ,in the 8,first ,night0   
the address  to the poet's supposed son 
is3--        8,lorenzo1 ,fortune makes  
her court to thee40    ,in the 8,fifth  
,night30--        8,and burns ,lorenzo  
still for the sublime      ,of life8 to 
hang his airy nest on high80    ,is this
 a picture of the son of the ,rector of 

,welwyn8  8,eighth ,night30--           
8,in foreign realms 7for thou hast      
travelled far70--    which even now does
 not apply to his son4  ,in 8,night     
,five30--        8,so wept ,lorenzo fair
 ,clarissa's fate1      ,who gave that  
angel-boy on whom he dotes1      ,and   
died to give him1 orphaned in his       
birth60    ,at the beginning of the     
8,fifth ,night0 we find3--              
8,lorenzo1 to recriminate is just1      
,i grant the man is vain who writes for 
praise40    ,but1 to cut short all      
inquiry2 if any one of these passages1  
if any  passage in the poems1 be        
applicable1 my friend shall pass for    
,lorenzo4  ,the son of the author of the
 8,night ,thoughts0 was not old enough1 
when  they were written1 to recriminate 
or to be a father4  ,the 8,night        
,thoughts0 were begun immediately after 
the mournful event of #agda4  ,the      
first 8,nights0 appear1 in the books of 
the ,company of ,stationers1 as the     
property of ,robert ,dodsley1 in #agdb4 

,the ,preface to 8,night ,seven0 is     
dated ,july #gth1 #agdd4  ,the marriage1
 in consequence of which the supposed   
,lorenzo was born1 happened in ,may1    
#agca4  ,young's child was not born till
  ,june1 #agcc4  ,in #agda1 this        
,lorenzo1 this finished infidel1 this   
father to  whose education ,vice had for
 some years put the last hand1 was only 
eight  years old4  ,an anecdote of this 
cruel sort1 so open to contradiction1 so
  impossible to be true1 who could      
propagate8  ,thus easily are blasted the
  reputation of the living and of the   
dead4  8,who1 then1 was ,lorenzo80      
exclaim the readers ,i have mentioned4  
,if we cannot be sure that he was  his  
son1 which would have been finely       
terrible1 was he not his nephew1  his   
cousin8  ,these are questions which ,i  
do not pretend to answer4  ,for  the    
sake of human nature1 ,i could wish     
,lorenzo to have been only the  creation
 of the poet's fancy3 like the ,quintus 
of ,anti ,lucretius1 8quo  nomine10 says

 ,polignac1 8quemvis ,atheum intellige40
  ,that this was the  case many         
expressions in the 8,night ,thoughts0   
would seem to prove1 did  not a passage 
in 8,night ,eight0 appear to show that  
he had somebody in his  eye for the     
groundwork at least of the painting4    
,lovelace or ,lorenzo may  be feigned   
characters2 but a writer does not feign 
a name of which he  only gives the      
initial letter3--        8,tell not     
,calista4  ,she will laugh thee dead1   
,or send thee to her hermitage with     
,l--40    ,the 8,biographia10 not       
satisfied with pointing out the son of  
,young1 in  that son's lifetime1 as his 
father's ,lorenzo1 travels out of its   
way into  the history of the son1 and   
tells of his having been forbidden his  
college at ,oxford for misbehaviour4    
,how such anecdotes1 were they true1    
tend to illustrate the life of ,young1  
it is not easy to discover4  ,was  the  
son of the author of the 8,night        
,thoughts10 indeed1 forbidden his       

college for a time1 at one of our       
,universities8  ,the author of          
8,paradise  ,lost0 is by some supposed  
to have been disgracefully ejected from 
the  other4  ,from juvenile follies who 
is free8  ,but1 whatever the            
8,biographia0 chooses to relate1 the son
 of ,young experienced no  dismission   
from his college1 either lasting or     
temporary4  ,yet1 were  nature to       
indulge him with a second youth1 and to 
leave him at the same  time the         
experience of that which is past1 he    
would probably spend it                 
differently--who would not8--he would   
certainly be the occasion of less       
uneasiness to his father4  ,but1 from   
the same experience1 he would as        
certainly1 in the same case1 be treated 
differently by his father4    ,young was
 a poet3 poets1 with reverence be it    
spoken1 do not make the  best parents4  
,fancy and imagination seldom deign to  
stoop from their  heights2 always stoop 
unwillingly to the low level of common  

duties4  ,aloof from vulgar life1 they  
pursue their rapid flight beyond the ken
 of  mortals1 and descend not to earth  
but when compelled by necessity4  ,the  
prose of ordinary occurrences is beneath
 the dignity of poets4  ,he who is      
connected with the author of the 8,night
 ,thoughts0 only by veneration for  the 
,poet and the ,christian may be allowed 
to observe that ,young is one of  those 
concerning whom1 as you remark in your  
account of ,addison1 it is  proper      
rather to say 8nothing that is false    
than all that is true40  ,but  the son  
of ,young would almost sooner1 ,i know1 
pass for a ,lorenzo than see  himself   
vindicated1 at the expense of his       
father's memory1 from follies  which1 if
 it may be thought blameable in a boy to
 have committed them1 it  is surely     
praiseworthy in a man to lament and     
certainly not only  unnecessary1 but    
cruel in a biographer to record4    ,of 
the 8,night ,thoughts10 notwithstanding 
their author's professed  retirement1   

all are inscribed to great or to growing
 names4  ,he had not  yet weaned himself
 from earls and dukes1 from the         
,speakers of the ,house  of ,commons1   
,lords ,commissioners of the ,treasury1 
and ,chancellors of the  ,exchequer4    
,in 8,night ,eight0 the politician      
plainly betrays himself3--              
8,think no post needful that demands a  
knave3      ,when late our civil helm   
was shifting hands1      ,so ,p--       
thought3 think better if you can40      
,yet it must be confessed that at the   
conclusion of 8,night ,nine10 weary     
perhaps of courting earthly patrons1 he 
tells his soul--                        
8,henceforth      ,thy patron he1 whose 
diadem has dropped      ,you gems of    
,heaven2 ,eternity thy prize2      ,and 
leave the racers of the world their     
own40    ,the 8,fourth ,night0 was      
addressed by 8a much-indebted ,muse0 to 
the  ,honourable ,mr4 ,yorke1 now ,lord 
,hardwicke1 who meant to have laid the  
,muse  under still greater obligation1  

by the living of ,shenfield1 in ,essex1 
if  it had become vacant4  ,the 8,first 
,night0 concludes with this passage3--  
8,dark1 though not blind1 like thee1    
,meonides2      ,or1 ,milton1 thee4     
,ah6 could ,i reach your strain2        
,or his who made ,meonides our own6     
,man too he sung4  ,immortal man ,i     
sing4      ,oh had he pressed his theme1
 pursued the track      ,which opens out
 of darkness into day6      ,oh1 had he 
mounted on his wing of fire1            
,soared1 where ,i sink1 and sung        
immortal man--      ,how had it blest   
mankind1 and rescued me60    ,to the    
author of these lines was dedicated1 in 
#agef1 the first volume of  an 8,essay  
on the ,writings and ,genius of ,pope10 
which attempted1 whether  justly or not1
 to pluck from ,pope his 8,wing of      
,fire10 and to reduce him  to a rank at 
least one degree lower than the first   
class of ,english  poets4  ,if ,young   
accepted and approved the dedication1 he
 countenanced  this attack upon the fame

 of him whom he invokes as his ,muse4   
,part of 8paper-sparing0 ,pope's ,third 
,book of the 8,odyssey10 deposited in   
the ,museum1 is written upon the back of
 a letter signed 8,e4 ,young10 which  is
 clearly the handwriting of our ,young4 
,the letter1 dated only ,may #bnd1      
seems obscure2 but there can be little  
doubt that the friendship he  requests  
was a literary one1 and that he had the 
highest literary opinion  of ,pope4     
,the request was a prologue1 ,i am told4
                                        
8,may the #bnd4        8,,dear          
,,sir1--,having been often from home1 ,i
 know not if you have done      me the  
favour of calling on me4  ,but1 be that 
as it will1 ,i much want      that      
instance of your friendship ,i mentioned
 in my last2 a friendship      ,i am    
very sensible ,i can receive from no one
 but yourself4  ,i should      not urge 
this thing so much but for very         
particular reasons2 nor can      you be 
at a loss to conceive how a #8trifle of 

this nature' may be of      serious     
moment to me2 and while ,i am in hopes  
of the great advantage      of your     
advice about it1 ,i shall not be so     
absurd as to make any      further step 
without it4  ,i know you are much       
engaged1 and only hope      to hear of  
you at your entire leisure4             
8,i am1 sir1 your most faithful         
8and obedient servant1                  
8,e4 ,,young40    ,nay1 even after      
,pope's death1 he says in 8,night       
,seven30--                 8,pope1 who  
could'st make immortals1 art thou dead80
    ,either the 8,essay10 then1 was     
dedicated to a patron who disapproved   
its  doctrine1 which ,i have been told  
by the author was not the case2 or      
,young  appears1 in his old age1 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 opinions4  ,from 
this account of ,young1 two or  three   
short passages1 which stand almost      

together in 8,night ,four10 should  not 
be excluded4  ,they afford a picture1 by
 his own hand1 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 life4            
8,ah me6 the dire effect      ,of       
loitering here1 of death defrauded long2
      ,of old so gracious 7and let that 
suffice71      ,my very master knows me 
not4      ,i've been so long remembered 
,i'm forgot4                            
99 99 99 99 99        ,when in his      
courtiers' ears ,i pour my plaint1      
,they drink it as the ,nectar of the    
,great2      ,and squeeze my hand1 and  
beg me come to-morrow4                  
99 99 99 99 99        ,twice told the   
period spent on stubborn ,troy1         
,court favour1 yet untaken1 ,i besiege4 
99 99 99 99 99        ,if this song     
lives1 ,posterity shall know      ,one1 
though in ,britain born1 with courtiers 
bred1      ,who thought1 even gold might
 come a day too late2      ,nor on his  

subtle deathbed planned his scheme      
,for future vacancies in ,church or     
,state40    ,deduct from the writer's   
age 8twice told the period spent on     
stubborn  ,troy10 and you will still    
leave him more than forty when he sate  
down to  the miserable siege of         
court-favour4  ,he has before told us-- 
8,a fool at forty is a fool indeed40    
,after all1 the siege seems to have been
 raised only in consequence of  what the
 general thought his 8deathbed40  ,by   
these extraordinary poems1  written     
after he was sixty1 of which ,i have    
been led to say so much1 ,i  hope1 by   
the wish of doing justice to the living 
and the dead1 it was the  desire of     
,young to be principally known4  ,he    
entitled the four volumes  which he     
published himself1 8,the ,works of the  
,author of the ,night  ,thoughts40      
,while it is remembered that from these 
he excluded many of  his writings1 let  
it not be forgotten that the rejected   
pieces contained  nothing prejudicial to

 the cause of virtue or of religion4    
,were  everything that ,young ever wrote
 to be published1 he would only appear  
perhaps in a less respectable light as a
 poet1 and more despicable as a         
dedicator2 he would not pass for a worse
 ,christian or for a worse man4  ,this  
enviable praise is due to ,young4  ,can 
it be claimed by every writer8  ,his    
dedications1 after all1 he had perhaps  
no right to suppress4  ,they  all1 ,i   
believe1 speak1 not a little to the     
credit of his gratitude1 of  favours    
received2 and ,i know not whether the   
author1 who has once  solemnly printed  
an acknowledgment of a favour1 should   
not always print  it4  ,is it to the    
credit or to the discredit of ,young1 as
 a poet1 that of  his 8,night ,thoughts0
 the ,french are particularly fond8     
,of the 8,epitaph on ,lord ,aubrey      
,beauclerk10 dated #agdj1 all ,i know   
is1  that ,i find it in the late body of
 ,english poetry1 and that ,i am sorry  
to  find it there4  ,notwithstanding the

 farewell which he seemed to have  taken
 in the 8,night ,thoughts0 of everything
 which bore the least  resemblance to   
ambition1 he dipped again in politics4  
,in #agde he wrote  8,reflections on the
 ,public ,situation of the ,kingdom1    
addressed to the  ,duke of ,newcastle20 
indignant1 as it appears1 to behold     
8--a pope-bred ,princeling crawl ashore1
      ,and whistle cut-throats1 with    
those swords that scraped      ,their   
barren rocks for wretched sustenance1   
,to cut his passage to the ,british     
throne40    ,this political poem might  
be called a 8,night ,thought20 indeed1  
it was  originally printed as the       
conclusion of the 8,night ,thoughts10   
though he  did not gather it with his   
other works4    ,prefixed to the second 
edition of ,howe's 8,devout             
,meditations0 is a letter  from ,young1 
dated ,january #ai1 #ageb1 addressed to 
,archibald ,macauly1 ,esq41  thanking   
him for the book1 8which10 he says1 8he 
shall never lay far out  of his reach2  

for a greater demonstration of a sound  
head and a sincere  heart he never saw40
    ,in #agec1 when ,the ,brothers had  
lain by him above thirty years1 it      
appeared upon the stage4  ,if any part  
of his fortune had been acquired by     
servility of adulation1 he now          
determined to deduct from it no         
inconsiderable sum1 as a gift to the    
,society for the ,propagation of the    
,gospel4  ,to this sum he hoped the     
profits of ,the ,brothers would amount4 
,in his calculation he was deceived2 but
 by the bad success of his play  the    
,society was not a loser4  ,the author  
made up the sum he originally  intended1
 which was a thousand pounds1 from his  
own pocket4    ,the next performance    
which he printed was a prose            
publication1 entitled  8,the ,centaur   
,not ,fabulous1 in ,six ,letters to a   
,friend on the ,life in  ,vogue40  ,the 
conclusion is dated ,november #bi1      
#aged4  ,in the third letter  is        
described the death-bed of the 8gay1    

young1 noble1 ingenious1  accomplished1 
and most wretched ,altamont40  ,his last
 words were--8,my  principles have      
poisoned my friend1 my extravagance has 
beggared my boy1  my unkindness has     
murdered my wife60  ,either ,altamont   
and ,lorenzo were  the twin production  
of fancy1 or ,young was unlucky enough  
to know two  characters who bore no     
little resemblance to each other in     
perfection of  wickedness4  ,report has 
been accustomed to call ,altamont ,lord 
,euston4    8,the ,old ,man's ,relapse10
 occasioned by an ,epistle to ,walpole1 
if written  by ,young1 which ,i much    
doubt1 must have been written very late 
in life4  ,it has been seen1 ,i am told1
 in a ,miscellany published thirty years
  before his death4  ,in #ageh he       
exhibited 8,the ,old ,man's ,relapse10  
in more  than words1 by again becoming a
 dedicator1 and publishing a sermon     
addressed to the king4    ,the lively   
letter in prose1 on 8,original          
,composition10 addressed to             

,richardson1 the author of 8,clarissa10 
appeared in #agei4  ,though he  despairs
 8of 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 require10 yet  
it is more like the production of       
untamed1 unbridled youth1 than of jaded 
fourscore4  ,some sevenfold  volumes put
 him in mind of ,ovid's sevenfold       
channels of the ,nile at the            
conflagration3--                        
8--ostia septem      ,pulverulenta      
vocant1 septem sine flumine valles40    
,such leaden labours are like           
,lycurgus's iron money1 which was so    
much  less in value than in bulk1 that  
it required barns for strong boxes1 and 
a yoke of oxen to draw five hundred     
pounds4  ,if there is a famine of       
invention in the land1 we must travel1  
he says1 like ,joseph's brethren1  far  
for food1 we must visit the remote and  
rich ancients4  ,but an  inventive      

genius may safely stay at home2 that1   
like the widow's cruse1  is divinely    
replenished from within1 and affords us 
a miraculous delight4  ,he asks why it  
should seem altogether impossible that  
,heaven's latest  editions of the human 
mind may be the most correct and fair8  
,and ,jonson1  he tells us1 was very    
learned1 as ,samson was very strong1 to 
his own  hurt4  ,blind to the nature of 
tragedy1 he pulled down all antiquity on
  his head1 and buried himself under it4
  ,is this 8care's incumbent cloud10  or
 8the frozen obstructions of age80  ,in 
this letter ,pope is severely  censured 
for his 8fall from ,homer's numbers1    
free as air1 lofty and  harmonious as   
the spheres1 into childish shackles and 
tinkling sounds2  for putting ,achilles 
into petticoats a second time30 but we  
are told that  the dying swan talked    
over an epic plan with ,young a few     
weeks before his  decease4  ,young's    
chief inducement to write this letter   
was1 as he  confesses1 that he might    

erect a monumental marble to the memory 
of an  old friend4  ,he1 who employed   
his pious pen for almost the last time  
in  thus doing justice to the exemplary 
death-bed of ,addison1 might probably1  
at the close of his own life1 afford no 
unuseful lesson for the deaths of       
others4  ,in the postscript he writes to
 ,richardson that he will see in  his   
next how far ,addison is an original4   
,but no other letter appears4    ,the   
few lines which stand in the last       
edition1 as 8sent by ,lord ,melcombe  to
 ,dr4 ,young not long before his        
lordship's death10 were indeed so sent1 
but were only an introduction to what   
was there meant by 8,the ,muse's        
,latest ,spark40  ,the poem is          
necessary1 whatever may be its merit1   
since  the ,preface to it is already    
printed4  ,lord ,melcombe called his    
,tusculum  8,la ,trappe03--             
8,love thy country1 wish it well1       
,not with too intense a care2      ',tis
 enough1 that1 when it fell1            

,thou its ruin didst not share4         
,envy's censure1 ,flattery's praise1    
,with unmoved indifference view2        
,learn to tread life's dangerous maze1  
,with unerring ,virtue's clue4          
,void of strong desire and fear1        
,life's void ocean trust no more2       
,strive thy little bark to steer        
,with the tide1 but near the shore4     
,thus prepared1 thy shortened sail      
,shall1 whene'er the winds increase1    
,seizing each propitious gale1          
,waft thee to the ,port of ,peace4      
,keep thy conscience from offence1      
,and tempestuous passions free1         
,so1 when thou art called from hence1   
,easy shall thy passage be2        ,easy
 shall thy passage be1         ,cheerful
 thy allotted stay1      ,short the     
account 'twixt ,god and thee2           
,hope shall meet thee on the way3       
,truth shall lead thee to the gate1     
,mercy's self shall let thee in1        
,where its never-changing state1        
,full perfection1 shall begin40    ,the 

poem was accompanied by a letter4       
8,la ,trappe1 the #bgth of ,october1    
#agfa        8,,dear ,,sir1--,you seemed
 to like the ode ,i sent you for your   
amusement2      ,i now send it you as a 
present4  ,if you please to accept of   
it1 and      are willing that our       
friendship should be known when we are  
gone1 you      will be pleased to leave 
this among those of your own papers that
 may      possibly see the light by a   
posthumous publication4  ,god send us   
health while we stay1 and an easy       
journey6--,my dear ,dr4 ,young1         
8,yours1 most cordially1                
8,,melcombe40    ,in #agfb1 a short time
 before his death1 ,young published     
8,resignation40  ,notwithstanding the   
manner in which it was really forced    
from him by the  world1 criticism has   
treated it with no common severity4  ,if
 it shall be  thought not to deserve the
 highest praise1 on the other side of   
fourscore1 by whom1 except by ,newton   
and by ,waller1 has praise been         

merited8    ,to ,mrs4 ,montagu1 the     
famous champion of ,shakespeare1 ,i am  
indebted for  the history of            
8,resignation40  ,observing that ,mrs4  
,boscawen1 in the midst  of her grief   
for the loss of the admiral1 derived    
consolation from the  perusal of the    
8,night ,thoughts10 ,mrs4 ,montagu      
proposed a visit to the  author4  ,from 
conversing with ,young1 ,mrs4 ,boscawen 
derived still further  consolation2 and 
to that visit she and the world were    
indebted for this  poem4  ,it           
compliments ,mrs4 ,montagu in the       
following lines3--        8,yet write ,i
 must4  ,a lady sues3         ,how      
shameful her request6      ,my brain in 
labour with dull rhyme1         ,hers   
teeming with the best60    ,and again-- 
8,a friend you have1 and ,i the same1   
,whose prudent1 soft address      ,will 
bring to life those healing thoughts    
,which died in your distress4      ,that
 friend1 the spirit of my theme         
,extracting for your ease1      ,will   

leave to me the dreg1 in thoughts       
,too common2 such as these40    ,by the 
same lady ,i was enabled to say1 in her 
own words1 that ,young's  unbounded     
genius appeared to greater advantage in 
the companion than even  in the author2 
that the ,christian was in him a        
character still more  inspired1 more    
enraptured1 more sublime1 than the poet2
 and that1 in his  ordinary             
conversation--        8--letting down   
the golden chain from high1      ,he    
drew his audience upward to the sky40   
,notwithstanding ,young had said1 in his
 8,conjectures on ,original             
,composition10 that 8blank verse is     
verse unfallen1 uncursed--verse         
reclaimed1 re-enthroned in the true     
language of the gods20  notwithstanding 
he administered consolation to his own  
grief in this  immortal language1 ,mrs4 
,boscawen was comforted in rhyme4       
,while the poet and the ,christian were 
applying this comfort1 ,young had       
himself occasion for comfort1 in        

consequence of the sudden death of      
,richardson1 who was printing the former
 part of the poem4  ,of  ,richardson's  
death he says--        8,when heaven    
would kindly set us free1         ,and  
earth's enchantment end2      ,it takes 
the most effectual means1         ,and  
robs us of a friend40    ,to            
8,resignation0 was prefixed an apology  
for its appearance1 to which  more      
credit is due than to the generality of 
such apologies1 from ,young's  unusual  
anxiety that no more productions of his 
old age should disgrace  his former     
fame4  ,in his will1 dated ,february1   
#agfj1 he desires of his  executors1 in 
a particular manner1 that all his       
manuscript books and  writings1         
whatever1 might be burned1 except his   
book of accounts4  ,in  ,september1     
#agfd1 he added a kind of codicil1      
wherein he made it his dying  entreaty  
to his housekeeper1 to whom he left     
#a1jjj1 8that all his  manuscripts might
 be destroyed as soon as he was dead1   

which would  greatly oblige her deceased
 friend40    ,it may teach mankind the  
uncertainty of wordly friendships to    
know that  ,young1 either by surviving  
those he loved1 or by outliving their   
affections1 could only recollect the    
names of two friends1 his  housekeeper  
and a hatter1 to mention in his will2   
and it may serve to  repress that       
testamentary pride1 which too often     
seeks for sounding names  and titles1 to
 be informed that the author of the     
8,night ,thoughts0 did  not blush to    
leave a legacy to his 8friend ,henry    
,stevens1 a hatter at the               
,temple-gate40  ,of these two remaining 
friends1 one went before ,young4  ,but1 
at eighty-four1 8where10 as he asks in  
,the ,centaur1 8is that world  into     
which we were born80  ,the same humility
 which marked a hatter and a            
housekeeper for the friends of the      
author of the 8,night ,thoughts10 had   
before bestowed the same title on his   
footman1 in an epitaph in his           

8,churchyard0 upon ,james ,baker1 dated 
#agdi2 which ,i am glad to find in the  
late collection of his works4  ,young   
and his housekeeper were ridiculed1     
with more ill-nature than wit1 in a kind
 of novel published by ,kidgell in      
#agee1 called 8,the ,card10 under the   
names of ,dr4 ,elwes and ,mrs4 ,fusby4  
,in  ,april1 #agfe1 at an age to which  
few attain1 a period was put to the life
  of ,young4  ,he had performed no duty 
for three or four years1 but he         
retained his intellects to the last4    
,much is told in the 8,biographia10     
which ,i know not to have been true1 of 
the manner of his burial2 of the master 
and children of a charity-school1  which
 he founded in his parish1 who neglected
 to attend their  benefactor's corpse2  
and a bell which was not caused to toll 
as often as  upon those occasions bells 
usually toll4  ,had that humanity1 which
 is  here lavished upon things of little
 consequence either to the living or  to
 the dead1 been shown in its proper     

place to the living1 ,i should have  had
 less to say about ,lorenzo4  ,they who 
lament that these misfortunes  happened 
to ,young1 forget the praise he bestows 
upon ,socrates1 in the  ,preface to     
8,night ,seven10 for resenting his      
friend's request about his  funeral4    
,during some part of his life ,young was
 abroad1 but ,i have not  been able to  
learn any particulars4  ,in his seventh 
,satire he says1        8,when1 after   
battle1 ,i the field have ,,seen        
,spread o'er with ghastly shapes which  
once were men40    ,it is known1 also1  
that from this or from some other field 
he once  wandered into the camp with a  
classic in his hand1 which he was       
reading  intently2 and had some         
difficulty to prove that he was only an 
absent  poet1 and not a spy4    ,the    
curious reader of ,young's life will    
naturally inquire to what it was  owing1
 that though he lived almost forty years
 after he took orders1  which included  
one whole reign uncommonly long1 and    

part of another1 he  was never thought  
worthy of the least preferment4  ,the   
author of the  8,night ,thoughts0 ended 
his days upon a living which came to him
 from his  college without any favour1  
and to which he probably had an eye when
 he  determined on the ,church4  ,to    
satisfy curiosity of this kind is1 at   
this  distance of time1 far from easy4  
,the parties themselves know not often1 
at the instant1 why they are neglected1 
or why they are preferred4  ,the        
neglect of ,young is by some ascribed to
 his having attached himself to  the    
,prince of ,wales1 and to his having    
preached an offensive sermon at  ,st4   
,james's4  ,it has been told me that he 
had two hundred a year in the  late     
reign1 by the patronage of ,walpole2 and
 that1 whenever any one  reminded the   
king of ,young1 the only answer was1 8he
 has a pension40  ,all  the light thrown
 on this inquiry1 by the following      
letter from ,secker1  only serves to    
show at what a late period of life the  

author of the  8,night ,thoughts0       
solicited preferment3--                 
8,deanery of ,st4 ,paul's1 ,july #h1    
#ageh4        8,,good ,,dr4 ,,young1--,i
 have long wondered that more suitable  
notice of      your great merit hath not
 been taken by persons in power4  ,but  
how to      remedy the omission ,i see  
not4  ,no encouragement hath ever been  
given      me to mention things of this 
nature to his majesty4  ,and therefore1 
in all likelihood1 the only consequence 
of doing it would be      weakening the 
little influence which else ,i may      
possibly have on some      other        
occasions4  ,your fortune and your      
reputation set you above the      need  
of advancement2 and your sentiments1    
above that concern for it1      on your 
own account1 which1 on that of the      
public1 is sincerely felt      by       
8,your loving ,brother1 ,,tho4 ,,cant40 
,at last1 at the age of fourscore1 he   
was appointed1 in #agfa1 ,clerk of the  
,closet to the ,princess ,dowager4  ,one

 obstacle must have stood not a  little 
in the way of that preferment after     
which his whole life seems to  have     
panted4  ,though he took orders1 he     
never entirely shook off  politics4  ,he
 was always the lion of his master      
,milton1 8pawing to get  free his hinder
 parts40  ,by this conduct1 if he gained
 some friends1 he  made many enemies4   
,again3 ,young was a poet2 and again1   
with reverence be  it spoken1 poets by  
profession do not always make the best  
clergymen4  ,if  the author of the      
8,night ,thoughts0 composed many        
sermons1 he did not  oblige the public  
with many4  ,besides1 in the latter part
 of his life1  ,young was fond of       
holding himself out for a man retired   
from the world4  ,but he seemed to have 
forgotten that the same verse which     
contains  8oblitus meorum10 contains    
also 8obliviscendus et illis40  ,the    
brittle  chain of worldly friendship and
 patronage is broken as effectually1    
when  one goes beyond the length of it1 

as when the other does4  ,to the vessel 
which is sailing from the shore1 it only
 appears that the shore also  recedes2  
in life it is truly thus4  ,he who      
retires from the world will  find       
himself1 in reality1 deserted as fast1  
if not faster1 by the world4  ,the      
public is not to be treated as the      
coxcomb treats his mistress2 to be      
threatened with desertion1 in order to  
increase fondness4    ,young seems to   
have been taken at his word4            
,notwithstanding his frequent           
complaints of being neglected1 no hand  
was reached out to pull him from  that  
retirement of which he declared himself 
enamoured4  ,alexander  assigned no     
palace for the residence of ,diogenes1  
who boasted his surly  satisfaction with
 his tub4  ,of the domestic manners and 
petty habits of  the author of the      
8,night ,thoughts10 ,i hoped to have    
given you an account  from the best     
authority2 but who shall dare to say1   
,to-morrow ,i will be  wise or virtuous1

 or to-morrow ,i will do a particular   
thing8  ,upon  inquiring for his        
housekeeper1 ,i learned that she was    
buried two days  before ,i reached the  
town of her abode4    ,in a letter from 
,tscharner1 a noble foreigner1 to ,count
 ,haller1 ,tscharner  says1 he has      
lately spent four days with ,young at   
,welwyn1 where the  author tastes all   
the ease and pleasure mankind can       
desire4  8,everything  about him shows  
the man1 each individual being placed by
 rule4  ,all is  neat without art4  ,he 
is very pleasant in conversation1 and   
extremely  polite40  ,this1 and more1   
may possibly be true2 but ,tscharner's  
was a  first visit1 a visit of curiosity
 and admiration1 and a visit which the  
author expected4    ,of ,edward ,young  
an anecdote which wanders among readers 
is not true1 that  he was ,fielding's   
,parson ,adams4  ,the original of that  
famous painting was  ,william ,young1   
who was a clergyman4  ,he supported an  
uncomfortable  existence by translating 

for the booksellers from ,greek1 and1 if
 he did  not seem to be his own friend1 
was at least no man's enemy4  ,yet the  
facility with which this report has     
gained belief in the world argues1  were
 it not sufficiently known that the     
author of the 8,night ,thoughts0  bore  
some resemblance to ,adams4  ,the       
attention which ,young bestowed upon    
the perusal of books is not unworthy    
imitation4  ,when any passage pleased   
him he appears to have folded down the  
leaf4  ,on these passages he  bestowed a
 second reading4  ,but the labours of   
man are too frequently  vain4  ,before  
he returned to much of what he had once 
approved he died4  ,many of his books1  
which ,i have seen1 are by those notes  
of approbation  so swelled beyond their 
real bulk1 that they will hardly shut4  
8,what though we wade in wealth1 or soar
 in fame6      ,earth's highest station 
ends in ,here he lies6      ,and dust to
 dust concludes her noblest song60      
,the author of these lines is not       

without his #8,hic jacet4'  ,by the good
  sense of his son it contains none of  
that praise which no marble can make    
the bad or the foolish merit2 which1    
without the direction of stone or a     
turf1 will find its way1 sooner or      
later1 to the deserving4                
,m4 ,s4                                 
,optimi parentis                        
,,edwardi ,,young1 ,,ll4,d4             
,hujus ,ecclesi rect4 et ,elizabeth fm4 
prnob                                   
,conjugis ejus amantissim               
,pio  gratissimo animo hoc marmor posuit
                                        
,f4 ,y4                                 
,filius superstes4        ,is it not    
strange that the author of the 8,night  
,thoughts0 has      inscribed no        
monument to the memory of his lamented  
wife8  ,yet what      marble will endure
 as long as the poems8        ,such1 my 
good friend1 is the account which ,i    
have been able to      collect of the   
great ,young4  ,that it may be long     

before anything like      what ,i have  
just transcribed be necessary for you1  
is the sincere      wish of1            
,dear ,sir1 your greatly obliged        
,friend1                                
,,herbert ,,croft1 ,jun4                
,lincoln's ,inn1 ,sept41 #aghj4         
,p4,s4--,this account of ,young was seen
 by you in manuscript1 you know1        
sir1 and1 though ,i could not prevail on
 you to make any alteration1      you   
insisted on striking out one passage1   
because it said that if ,i      did not 
wish you to live long for your sake1 ,i 
did for the sake of      myself and of  
the world4  ,but this postscript you    
will not see before      the printing of
 it1 and ,i will say here1 in spite of  
you1 how ,i feel      myself honoured   
and bettered by your friendship1 and    
that if ,i do      credit to the        
,church1 after which ,i always longed1  
and for which ,i am      now going to   
give in exchange the bar1 though not at 
so late a period      of life as ,young 

took orders1 it will be owing1 in no    
small measure1      to my having had the
 happiness of calling the author of     
8,the ,rambler0      my friend4         
,h4 ,c4        ,oxford1 ,oct41 #aghb4   
,of ,young's ,poems it is difficult to  
give any general character1 for he  has 
no uniformity of manner2 one of his     
pieces has no great resemblance  to     
another4  ,he began to write early and  
continued long1 and at different  times 
had different modes of poetical         
excellence in view4  ,his numbers  are  
sometimes smooth and sometimes rugged2  
his style is sometimes  concatenated and
 sometimes abrupt1 sometimes diffusive  
and sometimes  concise4  ,his plan seems
 to have started in his mind at the     
present  moment1 and his thoughts appear
 the effect of chance1 sometimes adverse
  and sometimes lucky1 with very little 
operation of judgment4  ,he was not  one
 of those writers whom experience       
improves1 and who1 observing their  own 
faults1 become gradually correct4  ,his 

poem on the 8,last ,day10 his  first    
great performance1 has an equability and
 propriety1 which he  afterwards either 
never endeavoured or never attained4    
,many paragraphs  are noble1 and few are
 mean1 yet the whole is languid2 the    
plan is too  much extended1 and a       
succession of images divides and weakens
 the general  conception1 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 horror1 that        
oppresses distinction and disdains      
expression4  ,his story of 8,jane ,grey0
  was never popular4  ,it is written    
with elegance enough1 but ,jane is too  
heroic to be pitied4    8,the ,universal
 ,passion0 is indeed a very great       
performance4  ,it is said  to be a      
series of epigrams1 but1 if it be1 it is
 what the author  intended2 his         
endeavour was at the production of      
striking distichs and  pointed          

sentences1 and his distichs have the    
weight of solid sentiments1  and his    
points the sharpness of resistless      
truth4  ,his characters are  often      
selected with discernment and drawn with
 nicety2 his illustrations  are often   
happy1 and his reflections often just4  
,his species of satire is  between those
 of ,horace and ,juvenal1 and he has the
 gaiety of ,horace  without his laxity  
of numbers1 and the morality of ,juvenal
 with greater  variation of images4  ,he
 plays1 indeed1 only on the surface of  
life2 he  never penetrates the recesses 
of the mind1 and therefore the whole    
power  of his poetry is exhausted by a  
single perusal2 his conceits please only
  when they surprise4  ,to translate he 
never condescended1 unless his          
8,paraphrase on ,job0 may be considered 
as a version1 in which he has not1  ,i  
think1 been unsuccessful2 he indeed     
favoured himself by choosing those      
parts which most easily admit the       
ornaments of ,english poetry4  ,he had  

least success in his lyric attempts1 in 
which he seems to have been under  some 
malignant influence2 he is always       
labouring to be great1 and at last  is  
only turgid4    ,in his 8,night         
,thoughts0 he has exhibited a very wide 
display of original  poetry1 variegated 
with deep reflections and striking      
allusions1 a  wilderness of thought1 in 
which the fertility of fancy scatters   
flowers  of every hue and of every      
odour4  ,this is one of the few poems in
 which  blank verse could not be changed
 for rhyme but with disadvantage4  ,the 
wild diffusion of the sentiments and the
 digressive sallies of  imagination     
would have been compressed and          
restrained by confinement to  rhyme4    
,the excellence of this work is not     
exactness but copiousness2  particular  
lines are not to be regarded2 the power 
is in the whole1 and  in the whole there
 is a magnificence like that ascribed to
 ,chinese  plantation1 the magnificence 
of vast extent and endless diversity4   

,his last poem was the 8,resignation10  
in which he made1 as he was  accustomed1
 an experiment of a new mode of writing1
 and succeeded better  than in his      
8,ocean0 or his 8,merchant40  ,it was   
very falsely represented  as a proof of 
decaying faculties4  ,there is ,young in
 every stanza1 such  as he often was in 
the highest vigour4  ,his tragedies1 not
 making part of  the collection1 ,i had 
forgotten1 till ,mr4 ,stevens recalled  
them to my  thoughts1 by remarking1 that
 he seemed to have one favourite        
catastrophe1  as his three plays all    
concluded with lavish suicide1 a method 
by which1  as ,dryden remarked1 a poet  
easily rids his scene of persons whom he
 wants  not to keep alive4  ,in ,busiris
 there are the greatest ebullitions of  
imagination1 but the pride of ,busiris  
is such as no other man can have1  and  
the whole is too remote from known life 
to raise either grief1  terror1 or      
indignation4  ,the ,revenge approaches  
much nearer to human  practices and     

manners1 and therefore keeps possession 
of the stage2 the  first design seems   
suggested by ,othello1 but the          
reflections1 the  incidents1 and the    
diction1 are original4  ,the moral      
observations are so  introduced and so  
expressed as to have all the novelty    
that can be  required4  ,of ,the        
,brothers ,i may be allowed to say      
nothing1 since  nothing was ever said of
 it by the public4  ,it must be allowed 
of ,young's  poetry that it abounds in  
thought1 but without much accuracy or   
selection4  ,when he lays hold of an    
illustration he pursues it beyond       
expectation1 sometimes happily1 as in   
his parallel of ,quicksilver with       
,pleasure1 which ,i have heard repeated 
with approbation by a lady1 of  whose   
praise he would have been justly proud1 
and which is very  ingenious1 very      
subtle1 and almost exact2 but sometimes 
he is less lucky1  as when1 in his      
8,night ,thoughts10 having it dropped   
into his mind that  the orbs1 floating  

in space1 might be called the cluster of
 creation1  he thinks of a cluster of   
grapes1 and says1 that they all hang on 
the  great vine1 drinking the           
8nectareous juice of immortal life40    
,his  conceits are sometimes yet less   
valuable4  ,in the 8,last ,day0 he hopes
 to  illustrate the reassembly of the   
atoms that compose the human body at the
  8,trump of ,doom0 by the collection of
 bees into a swarm at the tinkling of  a
 pan4  ,the ,prophet says of ,tyre that 
8her merchants are princes40  ,young    
says of ,tyre in his 8,merchant10       
8,her merchants princes1 and each deck a
 throne40    ,let burlesque try to go   
beyond him4    ,he has the trick of     
joining the turgid and familiar3 to buy 
the alliance  of ,britain1 8,climes were
 paid down40  ,antithesis is his        
favourite1 8,they  for kindness hate30  
and 8because she's right1 she's ever in 
the wrong40  ,his versification is his  
own2 neither his blank nor his rhyming  
lines  have any resemblance to those of 

former writers2 he picks up no          
hemistichs1 he copies no favourite      
expressions2 he seems to have laid up   
no stores of thought or diction1 but to 
owe all to the fortuitous  suggestions  
of the present moment4  ,yet ,i have    
reason to believe that1  when once he   
had formed a new design1 he then        
laboured it with very  patient industry2
 and that he composed with great labour 
and frequent  revisions4  ,his verses   
are formed by no certain model2 he is no
 more like  himself in his different    
productions than he is like others4  ,he
 seems  never to have studied prosody1  
nor to have had any direction but from  
his  own ear4  ,but with all his        
defects1 he was a man of genius and a   
poet4          ,,mallet4      ,,of      
,david ,mallet1 having no written       
memorial1 ,i am able to give no other   
account than such as is supplied by the 
unauthorised loquacity of common  fame1 
and a very slight personal knowledge4   
,he was by his original one  of the     

,macgregors1 a clan that became1 about  
sixty years ago1 under the  conduct of  
,robin ,roy1 so formidable and so       
infamous for violence and  robbery1 that
 the name was annulled by a legal       
abolition2 and when they  were all to   
denominate themselves anew1 the father1 
,i suppose1 of this  author1 called     
himself ,malloch4    ,david ,malloch    
was1 by the penury of his parents1      
compelled to be  ,janitor of the ,high  
,school at ,edinburgh1 a mean office of 
which he did  not afterwards delight to 
hear4  ,but he surmounted the           
disadvantages of  his birth and fortune2
 for1 when the ,duke of ,montrose       
applied to the  ,college of ,edinburgh  
for a tutor to educate his sons1        
,malloch was  recommended2 and ,i never 
heard that he dishonoured his           
credentials4  ,when  his pupils were    
sent to see the world1 they were        
entrusted to his care2  and having      
conducted them round the common circle  
of modish travels1 he  returned with    

them to ,london1 where1 by the influence
 of the family in  which he resided1 he 
naturally gained admission to many      
persons of the  highest rank1 and the   
highest character--to wits1 nobles1 and 
statesmen4  ,of his works1 ,i know not  
whether ,i can trace the series4  ,his  
first  production was1 8,william and    
,margaret20 of which1 though it contains
  nothing very striking or difficult1 he
 has been envied the reputation2  and   
plagiarism has been boldly charged1 but 
never proved4  ,not long  afterwards he 
published the 8,excursion0 7#agbh72 a   
desultory and  capricious view of such  
scenes of nature as his fancy led him1  
or his  knowledge enabled him1 to       
describe4  ,it is not devoid of poetical
 spirit4  ,many of his images are       
striking1 and many of the paragraphs are
 elegant4  ,the cast of diction seems to
 be copied from ,thomson1 whose         
8,seasons0 were  then in their full     
blossom of reputation4  ,he has         
,thomson's beauties and  his faults4    

,his poem on 8,verbal ,criticism0       
7#agcc7 was written to pay  court to    
,pope1 on a subject which he either did 
not understand1 or  willingly           
misrepresented2 and is little more than 
an improvement1 or  rather expansion1 of
 a fragment which ,pope printed in a    
miscellany long  before he engrafted it 
into a regular poem4  ,there is in this 
piece more  pertness than wit1 and more 
confidence than knowledge4  ,the        
versification  is tolerable1 nor can    
criticism allow it a higher praise4     
,his first tragedy was ,eurydice1 acted 
at ,drury ,lane in #agca2 of which ,i   
know not the reception nor the merit1   
but have heard it mentioned as a  mean  
performance4  ,he was not then too high 
to accept a prologue and  epilogue from 
,aaron ,hill1 neither of which can be   
much commended4  ,having  cleared his   
tongue from his native pronunciation so 
as to be no longer  distinguished as a  
,scot1 he seems inclined to disencumber 
himself from  all adherences of his     

original1 and took upon him to change   
his name from  ,scotch ,malloch to      
,english ,mallet1 without any imaginable
 reason of  preference which the eye or 
ear can discover4  ,what other proofs he
 gave  of disrespect to his native      
country ,i know not2 but it was remarked
 of  him that he was the only ,scot whom
 ,scotchmen did not commend4  ,about    
this  time ,pope1 whom he visited       
familiarly1 published his 8,essay on    
,man10 but  concealed the author2 and1  
when ,mallet entered one day1 ,pope     
asked him  slightly what there was new4 
,mallet told him that the newest piece  
was  something called an 8,essay on     
,man10 which he had inspected idly1 and 
seeing the utter inability of the       
author1 who had neither skill in        
writing nor knowledge of the subject1   
had tossed it away4  ,pope1 to  punish  
his self-conceit1 told him the secret4  
,a new edition of the works of ,bacon   
being prepared 7#agdj7 for the press1   
,mallet was employed to prefix a ,life1 

which he has written with elegance1     
perhaps with some affectation2 but with 
so much more knowledge of history  than 
of science1 that1 when he afterwards    
undertook the 8,life of  ,marlborough10 
,warburton remarked that he might       
perhaps forget that  ,marlborough was a 
general1 as he had forgotten that ,bacon
 was a  philosopher4    ,when the       
,prince of ,wales was driven from the   
palace1 and1 setting himself  at the    
head of the opposition1 kept a separate 
court1 he endeavoured to  increase his  
popularity by the patronage of          
literature1 and made ,mallet  his       
under-secretary1 with a salary of two   
hundred pounds a year2 ,thomson         
likewise had a pension2 and they were   
associated in the composition of  ,the  
,masque of ,alfred1 which in its        
original state was played at  ,cliefden 
in #agdj2 it was afterwards almost      
wholly changed by ,mallet1 and  brought 
upon the stage at ,drury ,lane in #agea1
 but with no great success4  ,mallet1 in

 a familiar conversation with ,garrick1 
discoursing of the  diligence which he  
was then exerting upon the 8,life of    
,marlborough10 let  him know that in the
 series of great men quickly to be      
exhibited he  should find a niche for   
the hero of the theatre4  ,garrick      
professed to  wonder by what artifice he
 could be introduced3 but ,mallet let   
him know  that1 by a dexterous          
anticipation1 he should fix him in a    
conspicuous  place4  8,mr4 ,mallet10    
says ,garrick1 in his gratitude of      
exultation1 8have  you left off to write
 for the stage80  ,mallet then confessed
 that he had  a drama in his hands4     
,garrick promised to act it2 and ,alfred
 was  produced4    ,the long retardation
 of the life of the ,duke of            
,marlborough shows1 with  strong        
conviction1 how little confidence can be
 placed on posthumous  renown4  ,when he
 died1 it was soon determined that his  
story should be  delivered to posterity2
 and the papers supposed to contain the 

necessary  information were delivered to
 ,lord ,molesworth1 who had been his    
favourite  in ,flanders4  ,when         
,molesworth died1 the same papers were  
transferred with  the same design to    
,sir ,richard ,steele1 who1 in some of  
his exigencies1  put them in pawn4      
,they remained with the old duchess1 who
 in her will  assigned the task to      
,glover and ,mallet1 with a reward of a 
thousand  pounds1 and a prohibition to  
insert any verses4  ,glover rejected1 ,i
  suppose1 with disdain1 the legacy1 and
 devolved the whole work upon  ,mallet2 
who had from the late ,duke of          
,marlborough a pension to promote  his  
industry1 and who talked of the         
discoveries which he had made2 but  left
 not1 when he died1 any historical      
labours behind him4  ,while he was  in  
the ,prince's service he published      
,mustapha with a prologue by  ,thomson1 
not mean1 but far inferior to that which
 he had received from  ,mallet for      
,agamemnon4  ,the epilogue1 said to be  

written by a friend1  was composed in   
haste by ,mallet1 in the place of one   
promised1 which was  never given4  ,this
 tragedy was dedicated to the ,prince   
his master4  ,it  was acted at ,drury   
,lane in #agci1 and was well received1  
but was never  revived4  ,in #agdj he   
produced1 as has been already mentioned1
 ,the ,masque  of ,alfred1 in           
conjunction with ,thomson4  ,for some   
time afterwards he lay  at rest4  ,after
 a long interval his next work was      
8,amyntor and ,theodora0  7#agdg71 a    
long story in blank verse2 in which it  
cannot be denied that  there is         
copiousness and elegance of language1   
vigour of sentiment1 and  imagery well  
adapted to take possession of the fancy4
  ,but it is blank  verse4  ,this he    
sold to ,vaillant for one hundred and   
twenty pounds4  ,the  first sale was not
 great1 and it is now lost in           
forgetfulness4    ,mallet1 by address or
 accident1 perhaps by his dependence on 
the ,prince1  found his way to          

,bolingbroke1 a man whose pride and     
petulance made his  kindness difficult  
to gain or keep1 and whom ,mallet was   
content to court  by an act which ,i    
hope was unwillingly performed4  ,when  
it was found that  ,pope clandestinely  
printed an unauthorised pamphlet called 
the 8,patriot  ,king10 ,bolingbroke in a
 fit of useless fury resolved to blast  
his memory1  and employed ,mallet       
7#agdi7 as the executioner of his       
vengeance4  ,mallet  had not virtue1 or 
had not spirit1 to refuse the office2   
and was  rewarded1 not long after1 with 
the legacy of ,lord ,bolingbroke's      
works4    ,many of the political pieces 
had been written during the opposition  
to  ,walpole1 and given to ,francklin1  
as he supposed1 in perpetuity4  ,these1 
among the rest1 were claimed by the     
will4  ,the question was referred to    
arbitrators2 but1 when they decided     
against ,mallet1 he refused to yield  to
 the award2 and1 by the help of ,millar 
the bookseller1 published all  that he  

could find1 but with success very much  
below his expectation4    ,in #agge sic1
 his masque of ,britannia was acted at  
,drury ,lane1 and  his tragedy of       
,elvira in #agfc2 in which year he was  
appointed keeper of  the book of entries
 for ships in the port of ,london4  ,in 
the beginning of  the last war1 when the
 nation was exasperated by ill success1 
he was  employed to turn the public     
vengeance upon ,byng1 and wrote a letter
 of  accusation under the character of a
 8,plain ,man40  ,the paper was with    
great industry circulated and dispersed2
 and he1 for his seasonable             
intervention1 had a considerable pension
 bestowed upon him1 which he  retained  
to his death4  ,towards the end of his  
life he went with his wife  to ,france2 
but after a while1 finding his health   
declining1 he returned  alone to        
,england1 and died in ,april1 #agfe4    
,he was twice married1 and by  his first
 wife had several children4  ,one       
daughter1 who married an  ,italian of   

rank named ,cilesia1 wrote a tragedy    
called ,almida1 which was  acted at     
,drury ,lane4  ,his second wife was the 
daughter of a nobleman's  steward1 who  
had a considerable fortune1 which she   
took care to retain in  her own hands4  
,his stature was diminutive1 but he was 
regularly formed2  his appearance1 till 
he grew corpulent1 was agreeable1 and he
 suffered it  to want no recommendation 
that dress could give it4  ,his         
conversation was  elegant and easy4     
,the rest of his character may1 without 
injury to his  memory1 sink into        
silence4  ,as a writer1 he cannot be    
placed in any high  class4  ,there is no
 species of composition in which he was 
eminent4  ,his  dramas had their day1 a 
short day1 and are forgotten3 his blank 
verse  seems to my ear the echo of      
,thomson4  ,his 8,life of ,bacon0 is    
known1 as it  is appended to ,bacon's   
volumes1 but is no longer mentioned4    
,his works  are such as a writer1       
bustling in the world1 showing himself  

in public1  and emerging occasionally   
from time to time into notice1 might    
keep alive  by his personal influence2  
but which1 conveying little information1
 and  giving no great pleasure1 must    
soon give way1 as the succession of     
things  produces new topics of          
conversation and other modes of         
amusement4          ,,akenside4         
,,mark ,,akenside was born on the #ith  
of ,november1 #agba1 at                 
,newcastle-upon-,tyne4  ,his father     
,mark was a butcher1 of the             
,presbyterian  sect2 his mother's name  
was ,mary ,lumsden4  ,he received the   
first part of  his education at the     
grammar-school of ,newcastle2 and was   
afterwards  instructed by ,mr4 ,wilson1 
who kept a private academy4  ,at the age
 of  eighteen he was sent to ,edinburgh 
that he might qualify himself for the   
office of a dissenting minister1 and    
received some assistance from the  fund 
which the dissenters employ in educating
 young men of scanty  fortune4  ,but a  

wider view of the world opened other    
scenes1 and prompted  other hopes3 he   
determined to study physic1 and repaid  
that contribution1  which being received
 for a different purpose1 he justly     
thought it  dishonourable to retain4    
,whether1 when he resolved not to be a  
dissenting minister1 he ceased to be a  
dissenter1 ,i know not4  ,he  certainly 
retained an unnecessary and outrageous  
zeal for what he called  and thought    
liberty2 a zeal which sometimes         
disguises from the world1 and  not      
rarely from the mind which it possesses1
 an envious desire of  plundering wealth
 or degrading greatness2 and of which   
the immediate  tendency is innovation   
and anarchy1 an impetuous eagerness to  
subvert and  confound1 with very little 
care what shall be established4         
,akenside was one of those poets who    
have felt very early the motions of     
genius1 and one of those students who   
have very early stored their  memories  
with sentiments and images4  ,many of   

his performances were  produced in his  
youth2 and his greatest work1 8,the     
,pleasures of  ,imagination10 appeared  
in #agdd4  ,i have heard ,dodsley1 by   
whom it was  published1 relate that when
 the copy was offered him1 the price    
demanded  for it1 which was a hundred   
and twenty pounds1 being such as he was 
not  inclined to give precipitately1 he 
carried the work to ,pope1 who1 having  
looked into it1 advised him not to make 
a niggardly offer2 for 8this was  no    
every-day writer40    ,in #agda he went 
to ,leyden in pursuit of medical        
knowledge2 and three  years afterwards  
7,may #af1 #agdd7 became ,doctor of     
,physic1 having1  according to the      
custom of the ,dutch ,universities1     
published a thesis or  dissertation4    
,the subject which he chose was 8,the   
,original and ,growth of  the ,human    
,foetus20 in which he is said to have   
departed1 with great  judgment1 from the
 opinion then established1 and to have  
delivered that  which has been since    

confirmed and received4    ,akenside was
 a young man1 warm with every notion    
that by nature or  accident had been    
connected with the sound of liberty1    
and1 by an  eccentricity which such     
dispositions do not easily avoid1 a     
lover of  contradiction1 and no friend  
to anything established4  ,he adopted   
,shaftesbury's foolish assertion of the 
efficacy of ridicule for the  discovery 
of truth4  ,for this he was attacked by 
,warburton1 and defended  by ,dyson2    
,warburton afterwards reprinted his     
remarks at the end of his  dedication to
 the ,freethinkers4  ,the result of all 
the arguments which  have been produced 
in a long and eager discussion of this  
idle question  may easily be collected4 
,if ridicule be applied to any position 
as the  test of truth it will then      
become a question whether such ridicule 
be  just2 and this can only be decided  
by the application of truth1 as the     
test of ridicule4  ,two men fearing1 one
 a real1 and the other a fancied        

danger1 will be for a while equally     
exposed to the inevitable  consequences 
of cowardice1 contemptuous censure1 and 
ludicrous  representation2 and the true 
state of both cases must be known before
 it  can be decided whose terror is     
rational and whose is ridiculous2 who is
  to be pitied1 and who to be despised4 
,both are for a while equally  exposed  
to laughter1 but both are not therefore 
equally contemptible4  ,in  the revisal 
of his poem1 though he died before he   
had finished it1 he  omitted the lines  
which had given occasion to ,warburton's
 objections4  ,he  published1 soon after
 his return from ,leyden 7#agde71 his   
first collection  of odes2 and was      
impelled by his rage of patriotism to   
write a very  acrimonious epistle to    
,pulteney1 whom he stigmatises1 under   
the name of  ,curio1 as the betrayer of 
his country4  ,being now to live by his 
profession1 he first commenced physician
 at ,northampton1 where ,dr4            
,stonehouse then practised1 with such   

reputation and success1 that a  stranger
 was not likely to gain ground upon him4
  ,akenside tried the  contest a while2 
and1 having deafened the place with     
clamours for  liberty1 removed to       
,hampstead1 where he resided more than  
two years1 and  then fixed himself in   
,london1 the proper place for a man of  
accomplishments like his4  ,at ,london  
he was known as a poet1 but was  still  
to make his way as a physician2 and     
would perhaps have been reduced  to     
great exigencies but that ,mr4 ,dyson1  
with an ardour of friendship that  has  
not many examples1 allowed him three    
hundred pounds a year4  ,thus           
supported1 he advanced gradually in     
medical reputation1 but never  attained 
any great extent of practice or eminence
 of popularity4  ,a  physician in a     
great city seems to be the mere         
plaything of fortune2 his  degree of    
reputation is1 for the most part1       
totally casual--they that  employ him   
know not his excellence2 they that      

reject him know not his  deficience4    
,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 8,fortune of   
,physicians40    ,akenside appears not  
to have been wanting to his own success3
 he placed  himself in view by all the  
common methods2 he became a ,fellow of  
the  ,royal ,society2 he obtained a     
degree at ,cambridge2 and was admitted  
into  the ,college of ,physicians2 he   
wrote little poetry1 but published from 
time to time medical essays and         
observations2 he became physician to    
,st4  ,thomas's ,hospital2 he read the  
,gulstonian ,lectures in ,anatomy2 but  
began  to give1 for the ,croonian       
,lecture1 a history of the revival of   
learning1  from which he soon desisted2 
and in conversation he very eagerly     
forced  himself into notice by an       
ambitious ostentation of elegance and   
literature4  ,his 8,discourse on the    
,dysentery0 7#agfd7 was considered as a 

very conspicuous specimen of ,latinity1 
which entitled him to the same  height  
of place among the scholars as he       
possessed before among the wits2  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 #bc1  #aggj1 in the  
forty-ninth year of his age4            
,akenside is to be considered as a      
didactic and lyric poet4  ,his great    
work is the 8,pleasures of              
,imagination10 a performance which1     
published as  it was at the age of      
twenty-three1 raised expectations that  
were not  amply satisfied4  ,it has     
undoubtedly a just claim to very        
particular  notice as an example of     
great felicity of genius1 and uncommon  
aptitude  of acquisitions1 of a young   
mind stored with images1 and much       
exercised  in combining and comparing   
them4  ,with the philosophical or       
religious  tenets of the author ,i have 
nothing to do2 my business is with his  

poetry4  ,the subject is well chosen1 as
 it includes all images that can  strike
 or please1 and thus comprises every    
species of poetical delight4  ,the only 
difficulty is in the choice of examples 
and illustrations2 and  it is not easy  
in such exuberance of matter to find the
 middle point  between penury and       
satiety4  ,the parts seem artificially  
disposed1 with  sufficient coherence1 so
 as that they cannot change their places
 without  injury to the general design4 
,his images are displayed with such     
luxuriance of expression that they are  
hidden1 like ,butler's ,moon1 by a      
8,veil of ,light20 they are forms       
fantastically lost under superfluity of 
dress4  ,pars minima est ipsa puella    
sui4  ,the words are multiplied till    
the sense is hardly perceived2 attention
 deserts the mind1 and settles in  the  
ear4  ,the reader wanders through the   
gay diffusion1 sometimes amazed1  and   
sometimes delighted2 but1 after many    
turnings in the flowery  labyrinth1     

comes out as he went in4  ,he remarked  
little1 and laid hold on  nothing4  ,to 
his versification justice requires that 
praise should not be  denied4  ,in the  
general fabrication of his lines he is  
perhaps superior  to any other writer of
 blank verse2 his flow is smooth1 and   
his pauses  are musical2 but the        
concatenation of his verses is commonly 
too long  continued1 and the full close 
does not occur with sufficient          
frequency4  ,the sense is carried on    
through a long intertexture of          
complicated  clauses1 and1 as nothing is
 distinguished1 nothing is remembered4  
,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 image1 ornament upon ornament1  and
 are not easily persuaded to close the  
sense at all4  ,blank verse will        
therefore1 ,i fear1 be too often found  
in description exuberant1 in  argument  

loquacious1 and in narration tiresome4  
,his diction is certainly  poetical1 as 
it is not prosaic2 and elegant1 as it is
 not vulgar4  ,he is  to be commended as
 having fewer artifices of disgust than 
most of his  brethren of the blank song4
  ,he rarely either recalls old phrases1
 or  twists his metre into harsh        
inversions4  ,the sense1 however1 of his
 words  is strained when 8he views the  
,ganges from ,alpine heights0--that is1 
from  mountains like the ,alps4  ,and   
the pedant surely intrudes 7but when was
  blank verse without pedantry87 when he
 tells how 8,planets absolve the  stated
 round of ,time40    ,it is generally   
known to the readers of poetry that he  
intended to revise  and augment this    
work1 but died before he had completed  
his design4  ,the  reformed work as he  
left it1 and the additions which he had 
made1 are  very properly retained in the
 late collection4  ,he seems to have    
somewhat  contracted his diffusion2 but 
,i know not whether he has gained in    

closeness what he has lost in splendour4
  ,in the additional book the  8,tale of
 ,solon0 is too long4  ,one great defect
 of this poem is very  properly censured
 by ,mr4 ,walker1 unless it may be said 
in his defence  that what he has omitted
 was not properly in his plan4  8,his   
picture of  man is grand and beautiful1 
but unfinished4  ,the immortality of the
 soul1  which is the natural consequence
 of the appetites and powers she is     
invested with1 is scarcely once hinted  
throughout the poem4  ,this  deficiency 
is amply supplied by the masterly pencil
 of ,dr4 ,young1 who1  like a good      
philosopher1 has invincibly proved the  
immortality of man  from the grandeur of
 his conceptions and the meanness and   
misery of his  state2 for this reason a 
few passages are selected from the      
#8,night  ,thoughts1' which1 with those 
from ,akenside1 seem to form a complete 
view  of the powers1 situation1 and end 
of man40--8,exercises for ,improvement  
in  ,elocution10 p4 #ff4    ,his other  

poems are now to be considered2 but a   
short consideration will  despatch them4
  ,it is not easy to guess why he       
addicted himself so  diligently to lyric
 poetry1 having neither the ease and    
airiness of the  lighter1 nor the       
vehemence and elevation of the grander  
ode4  ,when he  lays his ill-fated hand 
upon his harp his former powers seem to 
desert  him2 he has no longer his       
luxuriance of expression or variety of  
images4  ,his thoughts are cold1 and his
 words inelegant4  ,yet such was his    
love of  lyrics that1 having written    
with great vigour and poignancy his     
8,epistle  to ,curio10 he transformed it
 afterwards into an ode disgraceful only
 to  its author4    ,of his odes nothing
 favourable can be said2 the sentiments 
commonly want  force1 nature1 or        
novelty2 the diction is sometimes harsh 
and uncouth1  the stanzas               
ill-constructed and unpleasant1 and the 
rhymes dissonant or  unskilfully        
disposed1 too distant from each other1  

or arranged with too  little regard to  
established use1 and therefore          
perplexing to the ear1  which in a short
 composition has not time to grow       
familiar with an  innovation4  ,to      
examine such compositions singly cannot 
be required2 they  have doubtless       
brighter and darker parts2 but1 when    
they are once found  to be generally    
dull1 all further labour may be spared1 
for to what use  can the work be        
criticised that will not be read8       
,,gray4      ,,thomas ,,gray1 the son of
 ,mr4 ,philip ,gray1 a scrivener of     
,london1 was born  in ,cornhill1        
,november #bf1 #agaf4  ,his grammatical 
education he received at  ,eton1 under  
the care of ,mr4 ,antrobus1 his mother's
 brother1 then  assistant to ,dr4       
,george1 and when he left school1 in    
#agcd1 entered a  pensioner at          
,peterhouse1 in ,cambridge4  ,the       
transition from the school to  the      
college is1 to most young scholars1 the 
time from which they date  their years  

of manhood1 liberty1 and happiness2 but 
,gray seems to have  been very little   
delighted with academical               
gratifications2 he liked at  ,cambridge 
neither the mode of life nor the fashion
 of study1 and lived  sullenly on to the
 time when his attendance on lectures   
was no longer  required4  ,as he        
intended to profess the common law1 he  
took no degree4  ,when he had been at   
,cambridge about five years1 ,mr4       
,horace ,walpole1 whose  friendship he  
had gained at ,eton1 invited him to     
travel with him as his  companion4      
,they wandered through ,france into     
,italy2 and ,gray's 8,letters0  contain 
a very pleasing account of many parts of
 their journey4  ,but  unequal          
friendships are easily dissolved2 at    
,florence they quarrelled and  parted2  
and ,mr4 ,walpole is now content to have
 it told that it was by his  fault4  ,if
 we look1 however1 without prejudice on 
the world1 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
  jealousy1 and in the fervour of       
independence to exact that attention    
which they refuse to pay4  ,part they   
did1 whatever was the quarrel2 and  the 
rest of their travels was doubtless more
 unpleasant to them both4  ,gray        
continued his journey in a manner       
suitable to his own little  fortune1    
with only an occasional servant4  ,he   
returned to ,england in  ,september1    
#agda1 and in about two months          
afterwards buried his father1  who had1 
by an injudicious waste of money upon a 
new house1 so much  lessened his fortune
 that ,gray thought himself too poor to 
study the law4  ,he therefore retired to
 ,cambridge1 where he soon after became 
,bachelor of  ,civil ,law1 and where1   
without liking the place or its         
inhabitants1 or  professing to like     
them1 he passed1 except a short         

residence at ,london1  the rest of his  
life4  ,about this time he was deprived 
of ,mr4 ,west1 the  son of a chancellor 
of ,ireland1 a friend on whom he appears
 to have set a  high value1 and who     
deserved his esteem by the powers which 
he shows in  his 8,letters0 and in the  
8,ode to ,may10 which ,mr4 ,mason has   
preserved1 as  well as by the sincerity 
with which1 when ,gray sent him part of 
,agrippina1 a tragedy that he had just  
begun1 he gave an opinion which         
probably intercepted the progress of the
 work1 and which the judgment of  every 
reader will confirm4  ,it was certainly 
no loss to the ,english stage  that     
,agrippina was never finished4  ,in this
 year 7#agdb7 ,gray seems to  have      
applied himself seriously to poetry2 for
 in this year were produced  the 8,ode  
to ,spring10 his 8,prospect of ,eton10  
and his 8,ode to ,adversity40  ,he began
 likewise a ,latin poem1 8,de           
,principiis ,cogitandi40    ,it may be  
collected from the narrative of ,mr4    

,mason that his first  ambition was to  
have excelled in ,latin poetry2 perhaps 
it were reasonable  to wish that he had 
prosecuted his design2 for though there 
is at present  some embarrassment in his
 phrase1 and some harshness in his lyric
  numbers1 his copiousness of language  
is such as very few possess2 and his    
lines1 even when imperfect1 discover a  
writer whom practice would have  made   
skilful4  ,he now lived on at           
,peterhouse1 very little solicitous what
  others did or thought1 and cultivated 
his mind and enlarged his views  without
 any other purpose than of improving and
 amusing himself1 when ,mr4  ,mason1    
being elected ,fellow of ,pembroke      
,hall1 brought him a companion who  was 
afterwards to be his editor1 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 critic4  ,in this         
retirement he wrote 7#agdg7 an ode on   

the 8,death of ,mr4 ,walpole's ,cat20   
and the year afterwards attempted a poem
 of more importance1 on  8,government   
and ,education10 of which the fragments 
which remain have many  excellent lines4
  ,his next production 7#agej7 was his  
far-famed 8,elegy in  the ,churchyard10 
which1 finding its way into a magazine1 
first1 ,i  believe1 made him known to   
the public4    ,an invitation from ,lady
 ,cobham about this time gave occasion  
to an odd  composition called 8,a ,long 
,story10 which adds little to ,gray's   
character4  ,several of his pieces were 
published 7#agec7 with designs by ,mr4  
,bentley2  and1 that they might in some 
form or other make a book1 only one side
 of  each leaf was printed4  ,i believe 
the poems and the plates recommended    
each other so well that the whole       
impression was soon bought4  ,this year 
he lost his mother4  ,some time         
afterwards 7#agef7 some young men of the
  college1 whose chambers were near his1
 diverted themselves with  disturbing   

him by frequent and troublesome noises1 
and1 as is said1 by  pranks yet more    
offensive and contemptuous4  ,this      
insolence1 having  endured it awhile1 he
 represented to the governors of the    
society1 among  whom perhaps he had no  
friends2 and finding his complaint      
little  regarded1 removed himself to    
,pembroke ,hall4    ,in #agei he        
published 8,the ,progress of ,poetry0   
and 8,the ,bard10 two  compositions at  
which the readers of poetry were at     
first content to gaze  in mute          
amazement4  ,some that tried them       
confessed their inability to  understand
 them1 though ,warburton said that they 
were understood as well  as the works of
 ,milton and ,shakespeare1 which it is  
the fashion to  admire4  ,garrick wrote 
a few lines in their praise4  ,some     
hardy champions  undertook to rescue    
them from neglect2 and in a short time  
many were  content to be shown beauties 
which they could not see4    ,gray's    
reputation was now so high that1 after  

the death of ,cibber1 he had  the honour
 of refusing the laurel1 which was then 
bestowed on ,mr4  ,whitehead4  ,his     
curiosity1 not long after1 drew him away
 from ,cambridge  to a lodging near the 
,museum1 where he resided near three    
years1 reading  and transcribing1 and1  
so far as can be discovered1 very little
 affected  by two odes on 8,oblivion0   
and 8,obscurity10 in which his lyric    
performances were ridiculed with much   
contempt and much ingenuity4  ,when  the
 ,professor of ,modern ,history at      
,cambridge died1 he was1 as he says1    
8cockered and spirited up10 till he     
asked it of ,lord ,bute1 who sent him a 
civil refusal2 and the place was given  
to ,mr4 ,brocket1 the tutor of ,sir     
,james ,lowther4  ,his constitution was 
weak1 and1 believing that his health    
was promoted by exercise and change of  
place1 he undertook 7#agfe7 a  journey  
into ,scotland1 of which his account1 so
 far as it extends1 is  very curious and
 elegant2 for1 as his comprehension was 

ample1 his  curiosity extended to all   
the works of art1 all the appearances of
  nature1 and all the monuments of past 
events4  ,he naturally contracted a     
friendship with ,dr4 ,beattie1 whom he  
found a poet1 a philosopher1 and a  good
 man4  ,the ,mareschal ,college at      
,aberdeen offered him a degree of       
,doctor of ,laws1 which1 having omitted 
to take it at ,cambridge1 he thought  it
 decent to refuse4  ,what he had        
formerly solicited in vain was at last  
given him without solicitation4  ,the   
,professorship of ,history became  again
 vacant1 and he received 7#agfh7 an     
offer of it from the ,duke of  ,grafton4
  ,he accepted1 and retained1 it to his 
death2 always designing  lectures1 but  
never reading them2 uneasy at his       
neglect of duty1 and  appeasing his     
uneasiness with designs of reformation1 
and with a  resolution which he believed
 himself to have made of resigning the  
office  if he found himself unable to   
discharge it4  ,ill-health made another 

journey necessary1 and he visited       
7#agfi7 ,westmoreland and ,cumberland4  
,he  that reads his epistolary narration
 wishes that1 to travel1 and to tell    
his travels1 had been more of his       
employment2 but it is by studying at    
home that we must obtain the ability of 
travelling with intelligence and        
improvement4  ,his travels and his      
studies were now near their end4  ,the  
gout1 of which he had sustained many    
weak attacks1 fell upon his stomach1    
and1 yielding to no medicines1 produced 
strong convulsions1 which 7,july  #cj1  
#agga7 terminated in death4  ,his       
character ,i am willing to adopt1 as    
,mr4 ,mason has done1 from a letter     
written to my friend ,mr4 ,boswell by   
the  ,rev4 ,mr4 ,temple1 rector of ,st4 
,gluvias in ,cornwall2 and am as willing
 as  his warmest well-wisher to believe 
it true3--        8,perhaps he was the  
most learned man in ,europe4  ,he was   
equally      acquainted with the elegant
 and profound parts of science1 and that

      not superficially1 but thoroughly4
  ,he knew every branch of history1     
both natural and civil2 had read all the
 original historians of      ,england1  
,france1 and ,italy2 and was a great    
antiquarian4  ,criticism1               
metaphysics1 morals1 politics1 made a   
principal part of his study2            
voyages and travels of all sorts were   
his favourite amusements2 and      he   
had a fine taste in painting1 prints1   
architecture1 and gardening4      ,with 
such a fund of knowledge1 his           
conversation must have been      equally
 instructing and entertaining2 but he   
was also a good man1 a      man of      
virtue and humanity4  ,there is no      
character without some      speck1 some 
imperfection2 and ,i think the greatest 
defect in his was      an affectation in
 delicacy1 or rather effeminacy1 and a  
visible      fastidiousness1 or contempt
 and disdain of his inferiors in        
science4      ,he also had1 in some     
degree1 that weakness which disgusted   

,voltaire      so much in ,mr4          
,congreve3 though he seemed to value    
others chiefly      according to the    
progress they had made in knowledge1 yet
 he could      not bear to be considered
 merely as a man of letters2 and1 though
      without birth or fortune or       
station1 his desire was to be looked    
upon      as a private independent      
gentleman1 who read for his amusement4  
,perhaps it may be said1 ,what signifies
 so much knowledge1 when it             
produced so little8  ,is it worth taking
 so much pains to leave no      memorial
 but a few poems8  ,but let it be       
considered that ,mr4 ,gray was      to  
others at least innocently employed2 to 
himself certainly      beneficially4    
,his time passed agreeably2 he was every
 day making      some new acquisition in
 science2 his mind was enlarged1 his    
heart      softened1 his virtue         
strengthened2 the world and mankind were
 shown      to him without a mask2 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
 us40    ,to this character ,mr4 ,mason 
has added a more particular account of  
,gray's  skill in zoology4  ,he has     
remarked that ,gray's effeminacy was    
affected  most 8before those whom he did
 not wish to please20 and that he is    
unjustly charged with making knowledge  
his sole reason of preference1 as  he   
paid his esteem to none whom he did not 
likewise believe to be good4    ,what   
has occurred to me from the slight      
inspection of his letters in  which my  
undertaking has engaged me is1 that his 
mind had a large grasp2  that his       
curiosity was unlimited1 and his        
judgment cultivated2 that he  was a man 
likely to love much where he loved at   
all2 but that he was  fastidious and    
hard to please4  ,his contempt1 however1
 is often employed1  where ,i hope it   
will be approved1 upon scepticism and   

infidelity4  ,his  short account of     
,shaftesbury 7author of the             
8,characteristics07 ,i will  insert3--  
8,you say you cannot conceive how ,lord 
,shaftesbury came to be a               
philosopher in vogue2 ,i will tell you3 
first1 he was a lord2      secondly1 he 
was as vain as any of his readers2      
thirdly1 men are very      prone to     
believe what they do not understand2    
fourthly1 they will      believe        
anything at all1 provided they are under
 no obligation to      believe it2      
fifthly1 they love to take a new road1  
even when that      road leads nowhere2 
sixthly1 he was reckoned a fine writer1 
and seems      always to mean more than 
he said4  ,would you have any more      
reasons8      ,an interval of about     
forty years has pretty well destroyed   
the charm4      ,a dead lord ranks with 
commoners2 vanity is no longer          
interested in      the matter1 for a new
 road has become an old one40    ,mr4   
,mason has added1 from his own          

knowledge1 that though ,gray was poor he
  was not eager of money1 and that out  
of the little that he had he was  very  
willing to help the necessitous4  ,as a 
writer1 he had this  peculiarity--that  
he did not write his pieces first       
rudely1 and then  correct them1 but     
laboured every line as it arose in the  
train of  composition2 and he had a     
notion1 not very peculiar1 that he could
 not  write but at certain times1 or at 
happy moments--a fantastic foppery to   
which my kindness for a man of learning 
and virtue wishes him to have  been     
superior4    ,gray's poetry is now to be
 considered2 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 ,life4  ,his ode
 8,on ,spring0 has something poetical1  
both  in the language and the thought2  
but the language is too luxuriant1 and  
the thoughts have nothing new4  ,there  
has of late arisen a practice of  giving
 to adjectives derived from substantives

 the termination of  participles2 such  
as the cultured plain1 the daisied bank2
 but ,i was  sorry to see1 in the lines 
of a scholar like ,gray1 the honied     
,spring4  ,the morality is natural1 but 
too stale2 the conclusion is pretty4    
,the poem 8,on the ,cat0 was doubtless  
by its author considered as a trifle1   
but it is not a happy trifle4  ,in the  
first stanza1 8the azure flowers  that  
blow0 show resolutely a rhyme is        
sometimes made when it cannot  easily be
 found4  ,selima1 the cat1 is called a  
nymph1 with some violence  both to      
language and sense2 but there is no good
 use made of it when it  is done2 for of
 the two lines        8,what female     
heart can gold despise8      ,what cat's
 averse to fish80    the first relates  
merely to the nymph1 and the second only
 to the cat4  ,the sixth stanza contains
 a melancholy truth1 that 8a favourite  
has no  friend20 but the last ends in a 
pointed sentence of no relation to the  
purpose4  ,if what glistered had been   

gold1 the cat would not have  gone into 
the water2 and if she had1 would not    
less have been drowned4    8,the        
,prospect of ,eton ,college0 suggests   
nothing to ,gray which every  beholder  
does not equally think and feel4  ,his  
supplication to ,father  ,thames to tell
 him who drives the hoop or tosses the  
ball is useless and  puerile4  ,father  
,thames has no better means of knowing  
than himself4  ,his  epithet 8buxom     
health0 is not elegant2 he seems not to 
understand the  word4  ,gray thought his
 language more poetical as it was more  
remote from  common use4  ,finding in   
,dryden 8honey redolent of spring10 an  
expression  that reaches the utmost     
limits of our language1 ,gray drove it a
 little  more beyond common apprehension
 by making 8gales0 to be 8redolent of   
joy  and youth40    ,of the 8,ode on    
,adversity10 the hint was at first taken
 from 8,o ,diva1  gratum qu regis       
,antium20 but ,gray has excelled his    
original by the  variety of his         

sentiments1 and by their moral          
application4  ,of this  piece1 at once  
poetical and rational1 ,i will not by   
slight objections  violate the dignity4 
,my process has now brought me to the   
wonderful 8,wonder of ,wonders10 the    
two ,sister ,odes1 by which1 though     
either vulgar ignorance or common sense 
at first universally rejected them1 many
 have been since persuaded to  think    
themselves delighted4  ,i am one of     
those that are willing to be  pleased1  
and therefore would gladly find the     
meaning of the first stanza  of the     
8,progress of ,poetry40  ,gray seems in 
his rapture to confound the  images of  
spreading sound and running water4  ,a  
8stream of music0 may be  allowed2 but  
where does 8music10 however 8smooth and 
strong10 after  having visited the      
8verdant vales1 roll down the steep     
amain10 so as that  8rocks and nodding  
groves rebellow to the roar08  ,if this 
be said of  music1 it is nonsense2 if it
 be said of water1 it is nothing to the 

purpose4  ,the second stanza1 exhibiting
 ,mars' car and ,jove's eagle1 is       
unworthy of further notice4  ,criticism 
disdains to chase a schoolboy to  his   
common-places4  ,to the third it may    
likewise be objected that it is  drawn  
from mythology1 though such as may be   
more easily assimilated to  real life4  
,idalia's 8velvet green0 has something  
of cant4  ,an epithet or  metaphor drawn
 from ,nature ennobles ,art2 an epithet 
or metaphor drawn  from ,art degrades   
,nature4  ,gray is too fond of words    
arbitrarily  compounded4                
8,many-twinkling0 was formerly censured 
as not analogical2 we  may say          
8many-spotted10 but scarcely            
8many-spotting40  ,this stanza1         
however1 has something pleasing4  ,of   
the second ternary of stanzas1 the      
first endeavours to tell something1 and 
would have told it1 had it not  been    
crossed by ,hyperion2 the second        
describes well enough the universal     
prevalence of poetry2 but ,i am afraid  

that the conclusion will not rise  from 
the premises4  ,the caverns of the      
,north and the plains of ,chili are  not
 the residences of 8glory and generous  
shame40  ,but that poetry and  virtue go
 always together is an opinion so       
pleasing that ,i can forgive  him who   
resolves to think it true4  ,the third  
stanza sounds big with  8,delphi10 and  
8gean10 and 8,ilissus10 and 8,meander10 
and 8hallowed  fountains10 and 8solemn  
sound20 but in all ,gray's odes there is
 a kind of  cumbrous splendour which we 
wish away4  ,his position is at last    
false4  ,in the time of ,dante and      
,petrarch1 from whom we derive our first
 school  of poetry1 ,italy was overrun  
by 8tyrant power0 and 8coward vice20 nor
 was  our state much better when we     
first borrowed the ,italian arts4  ,of  
the  third ternary1 the first gives a   
mythological birth of ,shakespeare4     
,what  is said of that mighty genius is 
true1 but it is not said happily2 the   
real effects of this poetical power are 

put out of sight by the pomp of         
machinery4  ,where truth is sufficient  
to fill the mind1 fiction is worse  than
 useless2 the counterfeit debases the   
genuine4  ,his account of  ,milton's    
blindness1 if we suppose it caused by   
study in the formation of  his poem 7a  
supposition surely allowable71 is       
poetically true1 and  happily imagined4 
,but the car of ,dryden1 with his two   
coursers1 has  nothing in it peculiar2  
it is a car in which any other rider may
 be  placed4    8,the ,bard0 appears1 at
 the first view1 to be1 as ,algarotti   
and others  have remarked1 an imitation 
of the prophecy of ,nereus4  ,algarotti 
thinks  it superior to its original2    
and1 if preference depends only on the  
imagery and animation of the two poems1 
his judgment is right4  ,there is  in   
8,the ,bard0 more force1 more thought1  
and more variety4  ,but to copy is  less
 than to invent1 and the copy has been  
unhappily produced at a wrong  time4    
,the fiction of ,horace was to the      

,romans credible2 but its revival       
disgusts us with apparent and           
unconquerable falsehood4  ,incredulus   
odi4  ,to select a singular event1 and  
swell it to a giant's bulk by fabulous  
appendages of spectres and predictions1 
has little difficulty2 for he  that     
forsakes the probable may always find   
the marvellous4  ,and it has  little    
use2 we are affected only as we believe2
 we are improved only as  we find       
something to be imitated or declined4   
,i do not see that 8,the  ,bard0        
promotes any truth1 moral or political4 
,his stanzas are too long1  especially  
his epodes2 the ode is finished before  
the ear has learned its  measures1 and  
consequently before it can receive      
pleasure from their  consonance and     
recurrence4  ,of the first stanza the   
abrupt beginning has  been celebrated2  
but technical beauties can give praise  
only to the  inventor4  ,it is in the   
power of any man to rush abruptly upon  
his  subject that has read the ballad of

 8,johnny ,armstrong10                  
8,is there ever a man in all            
,scotland--80    ,the initial           
resemblances or alliterations1 8ruin1   
ruthless10 8helm or  hauberk10 are below
 the grandeur of a poem that endeavours 
at sublimity4  ,in the second stanza the
 ,bard is well described1 but in the    
third we have  the puerilities of       
obsolete mythology4  ,when we are told  
that 8,cadwallo  hushed the stormy      
main10 and that 8,modred made huge      
,plinlimmon bow his  cloud-topped head10
 attention recoils from the repetition  
of a tale that1  even when it was first 
heard1 was heard with scorn4  ,the      
weaving of the  winding-sheet he        
borrowed1 as he owns1 from the ,northern
 ,bards1 but  their texture1 however1   
was very properly the work of female    
powers1 as  the act of spinning the     
thread of life in another mythology4    
,theft is  always dangerous2 ,gray has  
made weavers of slaughtered bards by a  
fiction  outrageous and incongruous4    

,they are then called upon to 8,weave   
the warp  and weave the woof10 perhaps  
with no great propriety1 for it is by   
crossing the woof with the warp that men
 weave the web or piece1  and the first 
line was dearly bought by the admission 
of its wretched  correspondent1 8,give  
ample room and verge enough40  ,he has1 
however1 no  other line as bad4  ,the   
third stanza of the second ternary is   
commended1  ,i think1 beyond its merit4 
,the personification is indistinct4     
,thirst  and hunger are not alike1 and  
their features1 to make the imagery     
perfect1 should have been discriminated4
  ,we are told in the same stanza  how  
8towers are fed40  ,but ,i will no      
longer look for particular faults2  yet 
let it be observed that the ode might   
have been concluded with an  action of  
better example1 but suicide is always to
 be had without expense  of thought4    
,these odes are marked by glittering    
accumulations of ungraceful  ornaments1 
they strike rather than please2 the     

images are magnified by  affectation2   
the language is laboured into harshness4
  ,the mind of the  writer seems to work
 with unnatural violence4  8,double1    
double1 toil and  trouble40  ,he has a  
kind of strutting dignity1 and is tall  
by walking on  tiptoe4  ,his art and his
 struggle are too visible1 and there is 
too  little appearance of ease and      
nature4  ,to say that he has no beauties
  would be unjust2 a man like him1 of   
great learning and great industry1      
could not but produce something         
valuable4  ,when he pleases least1 it   
can  only be said that a good design was
 ill directed4  ,his translations of    
,northern and ,welsh poetry deserve     
praise2 the imagery is preserved1       
perhaps often improved1 but the language
 is unlike the language of other  poets4
  ,in the character of his ,elegy ,i    
rejoice to concur with the common       
reader1 for by the common sense of      
readers uncorrupted with literary       
prejudices1 after all the refinements of

 subtlety and the dogmatism of          
learning1 must be finally decided all   
claim to poetical honours4  ,the        
8,churchyard0 abounds with images which 
find a mirror in every mind1 and  with  
sentiments to which every bosom returns 
an echo4  ,the four stanzas1  beginning 
8,yet even these bones10 are to me      
original2 ,i have never seen  the       
notions in any other place1 yet he that 
reads them here persuades  himself that 
he has always felt them4  ,had ,gray    
written often thus1 it  had been vain to
 blame and useless to praise him4       
,,lyttelton4      ,,george ,,lyttelton1 
the son of ,sir ,thomas ,lyttelton1 of  
,hagley1 in  ,worcestershire1 was born  
in #agji4  ,he was educated at ,eton1   
where he was  so much distinguished that
 his exercises were recommended as      
models to  his schoolfellows4  ,from    
,eton he went to ,christchurch1 where he
 retained  the same reputation of       
superiority1 and displayed his abilities
 to the  public in a poem on            

8,blenheim40  ,he was a very early      
writer both in verse  and prose4  ,his  
8,progress of ,love0 and his 8,persian  
,letters0 were both  written when he was
 very young1 and1 indeed1 the character 
of a young man  is very visible in both4
  ,the verses cant of shepherds and     
flocks1 and  crooks dressed with        
flowers2 and the letters have something 
of that  indistinct and headstrong      
ardour for liberty which a man of genius
 always  catches when he enters the     
world1 and always suffers to cool as he 
passes  forward4  ,he stayed not long in
 ,oxford1 for in #agbh he began his     
travels1  and saw ,france and ,italy4   
,when he returned he obtained a seat in 
,parliament1 and soon distinguished     
himself among the most eager opponents  
of ,sir ,robert ,walpole1 though his    
father1 who was ,commissioner of the    
,admiralty1 always voted with the       
,court4  ,for many years the name of    
,george ,lyttelton was seen in every    
account of every debate in the ,house   

of ,commons4  ,he opposed the standing  
army2 he opposed the excise2 he         
supported the motion for petitioning the
 king to remove ,walpole4  ,his  zeal   
was considered by the courtiers not only
 as violent but as  acrimonious and     
malignant1 and when ,walpole was at last
 hunted from his  places1 every effort  
was made by his friends1 and many       
friends he had1 to  exclude ,lyttelton  
from the secret committee4    ,the      
,prince of ,wales1 being 7#agcg7 driven 
from ,st4 ,james's1 kept a  separate    
court1 and opened his arms to the       
opponents of the ,ministry4  ,mr4       
,lyttelton became his ,secretary1 and   
was supposed to have great  influence in
 the direction of his conduct4  ,he     
persuaded his master1  whose business it
 was now to be popular1 that he would   
advance his  character by patronage4    
,mallet was made ,under ,secretary1 with
 #bjj1 and  ,thomson had a pension of   
#ajj a year4  ,for ,thomson1 ,lyttelton 
always  retained his kindness1 and was  

able at last to place him at ease4      
,moore  courted his favour by an        
apologetical poem called the 8,trial of 
,selim10  for which he was paid with    
kind words1 which1 as is common1 raised 
great  hopes1 that were at last         
disappointed4    ,lyttelton now stood in
 the first rank of ,opposition1 and     
,pope1 who was  incited1 it is not easy 
to say how1 to increase the clamour     
against the  ,ministry1 commended him   
among the other patriots4  ,this drew   
upon him the  reproaches of ,fox1 who in
 the ,house imputed to him as a crime   
his  intimacy with a lampooner so unjust
 and licentious4  ,lyttelton supported  
his friend2 and replied that he thought 
it an honour to be received into  the   
familiarity of so great a poet4  ,while 
he was thus conspicuous he  married     
7#agda7 ,miss ,lucy ,fortescue1 of      
,devonshire1 by whom he had a son1  the 
late ,lord ,lyttelton1 and two          
daughters1 and with whom he appears to  
have lived in the highest degree of     

connubial felicity2 but human  pleasures
 are short2 she died in childbed about  
five years afterwards1  and he solaced  
his grief by writing a long poem to her 
memory4  ,he did  not1 however1 condemn 
himself to perpetual solitude and       
sorrow1 for after  a while he was       
content to seek happiness again by a    
second marriage with  the daughter of   
,sir ,robert ,rich1 but the experiment  
was unsuccessful4  ,at  length1 after a 
long struggle1 ,walpole gave way1 and   
honour and profit  were distributed     
among his conquerors4  ,lyttelton was   
made 7#agdd7 one of  the ,lords of the  
,treasury1 and from that time was       
engaged in supporting  the schemes of   
the ,ministry4    ,politics did not1    
however1 so much engage him as to       
withhold his thoughts  from things of   
more importance4  ,he had1 in the pride 
of juvenile  confidence1 with the help  
of corrupt conversation1 entertained    
doubts of  the truth of ,christianity2  
but he thought the time now come when it

 was  no longer fit to doubt or believe 
by chance1 and applied himself          
seriously to the great question4  ,his  
studies1 being honest1 ended in         
conviction4  ,he found that religion was
 true1 and what he had learned he       
endeavoured to teach 7#agdg7 by         
8,observations on the ,conversion of    
,st4  ,paul10 a treatise to which       
infidelity has never been able to       
fabricate a  specious answer4  ,this    
book his father had the happiness of    
seeing1 and  expressed his pleasure in a
 letter which deserves to be inserted3--
        8,i have read your religious    
treatise with infinite pleasure and     
satisfaction4  ,the style is fine and   
clear1 the arguments close1      cogent1
 and irresistible4  ,may the ,king of   
,kings1 whose glorious      cause you   
have so well defended1 reward your pious
 labours1 and grant      that ,i may be 
found worthy1 through the merits of     
,jesus ,christ1 to be      an           
eye-witness of that happiness which ,i  

don't doubt he will      bountifully    
bestow upon you4  ,in the meantime ,i   
shall never cease      glorifying ,god  
for having endowed you with such useful 
talents1 and      giving me so good a   
son4                              8,your
 affectionate father1                   
8,,thomas ,,lyttelton40    ,a few years 
afterwards 7#agea71 by the death of his 
father1 he inherited a  baronet's title1
 with a large estate1 which1 though     
perhaps he did not  augment1 he was     
careful to adorn by a house of great    
elegance and  expense1 and by much      
attention to the decoration of his park4
  ,as he  continued his activity in     
,parliament1 he was gradually advancing 
his  claim to profit and preferment2 and
 accordingly was made in time 7#aged7   
,cofferer and ,privy ,councillor3 this  
place he exchanged next year for the    
great office of ,chancellor of the      
,exchequer--an office1 however1 that    
required some qualifications which he   
soon perceived himself to want4  ,the   

year after1 his curiosity led him into  
,wales2 of which he has given  an       
account1 perhaps rather with too much   
affectation of delight1 to  ,archibald  
,bower1 a man of whom he has conceived  
an opinion more  favourable than he     
seems to have deserved1 and whom1 having
 once espoused  his interest and fame he
 was never persuaded to disown4  ,bower1
 whatever  was his moral character1 did 
not want abilities4  ,attacked as he was
 by a  universal outcry1 and that       
outcry1 as it seems1 the echo of truth1 
he  kept his ground2 at last1 when his  
defences began to fail him1 he sallied  
out upon his adversaries1 and his       
adversaries retreated4    ,about this   
time ,lyttelton published his           
8,dialogues of the ,dead10 which  were  
very eagerly read1 though the production
 rather1 as it seems1 of  leisure than  
of study--rather effusions than         
compositions4  ,the names of  his       
persons too often enable the reader to  
anticipate their conversation2  and when

 they have met1 they too often part     
without any conclusion4  ,he  has copied
 ,fenelon more than ,fontenelle4  ,when 
they were first published  they were    
kindly commended by the 8,critical      
,reviewers20 and poor  ,lyttelton1 with 
humble gratitude1 returned1 in a note   
which ,i have read1  acknowledgments    
which can never be proper1 since they   
must be paid either  for flattery or for
 justice4    ,when1 in the latter part  
of the last reign1 the inauspicious     
commencement  of the war made the       
dissolution of the ,ministry            
unavoidable1 ,sir ,george  ,lyttelton1  
losing with the rest his employment1 was
 recompensed with a  peerage2 and rested
 from political turbulence in the ,house
 of ,lords4    ,his last literary       
production was his 8,history of ,henry  
the ,second10  elaborated by the        
searches and deliberations of twenty    
years1 and  published with such anxiety 
as only vanity can dictate4  ,the story 
of  this publication is remarkable4     

,the whole work was printed twice over1 
a  great part of it three times1 and    
many sheets four or five times4  ,the   
booksellers paid for the first          
impression2 but the changes and repeated
  operations of the press were at the   
expense of the author1 whose  ambitious 
accuracy is known to have cost him at   
least a thousand pounds4  ,he began to  
print in #agee4  ,three volumes appeared
 in #agfd1 a second  edition of them in 
#agfg1 a third edition in #agfh1 and the
 conclusion in  #agga4    ,andrew ,reid1
 a man not without considerable         
abilities and not  unacquainted with    
letters or with life1 undertook to      
persuade ,lyttelton1  as he had         
persuaded himself1 that he was master of
 the secret of  punctuation2 and1 as    
fear begets credulity1 he was employed1 
,i know not  at what price1 to point the
 pages of 8,henry the ,second40  ,the   
book was at  last pointed and printed1  
and sent into the world4  ,lyttelton    
took money  for his copy1 of which1 when

 he had paid the pointer1 he probably   
gave  the rest away2 for he was very    
liberal to the indigent4  ,when time    
brought the ,history to a third edition1
 ,reid was either dead or  discarded2   
and the superintendence of typography   
and punctuation was  committed to a man 
originally a comb-maker1 but then known 
by the style  of ,doctor4  ,something   
uncommon was probably expected1 and     
something  uncommon was at last done2   
for to the ,doctor's edition is         
appended1 what  the world had hardly    
seen before1 a list of errors in        
nineteen pages4    ,but to politics and 
literature there must be an end4  ,lord 
,lyttelton had  never the appearance of 
a strong or of a healthy man2 he had a  
slender1  uncompacted frame1 and a      
meagre face2 he lasted1 however1 sixty  
years1  and was then seized with his    
last illness4  ,of his death a very     
affecting  and instructive account has  
been given by his physician1 which will 
spare  me the task of his moral         

character3--        8,on ,sunday evening
 the symptoms of his lordship's         
disorder1 which for      a week past had
 alarmed us1 put on a fatal appearance1 
and his      lordship believed himself  
to be a dying man4  ,from this time he  
suffered from restlessness rather than  
pain2 though his nerves were            
apparently much fluttered1 his mental   
faculties never seemed      stronger1   
when he was thoroughly awake4  ,his     
lordship's bilious and      hepatic     
complaints seemed alone not equal to the
 expected mournful      event2 his long 
want of sleep1 whether the consequence  
of the      irritation in the bowels1   
or1 which is more probable1 of causes of
 a      different kind1 accounts for his
 loss of strength1 and for his death1   
very sufficiently4  ,though his lordship
 wished his approaching      dissolution
 not to be lingering1 he waited for it  
with resignation4      ,he said1 #8,it  
is a folly1 a keeping me in misery1 now 
to attempt to      prolong life2' yet he

 was easily persuaded1 for the          
satisfaction of      others1 to do or   
take anything thought proper for him4   
,on ,saturday      he had been          
remarkably better1 and we were not      
without some hopes of      his recovery4
        8,on ,sunday1 about eleven in   
the forenoon1 his lordship sent for me1 
and said he felt a great hurry1 and     
wished to have a little                 
conversation with me1 in order to divert
 it4  ,he then proceeded to      open   
the fountain of that heart1 from whence 
goodness had so long      flowed1 as    
from a copious spring4  #8,doctor1' said
 he1 #8you shall be      my confessor3  
when ,i first set out in the world ,i   
had friends who      endeavoured to     
shake my belief in the ,christian       
religion4  ,i saw      difficulties     
which staggered me1 but ,i kept my mind 
open to      conviction4  ,the evidences
 and doctrines of ,christianity1 studied
      with attention1 made me a most    
firm and persuaded believer of the      

,christian religion4  ,i have made it   
the rule of my life1 and it is      the 
ground of my future hopes4  ,i have     
erred and sinned2 but have              
repented1 and never indulged any vicious
 habit4  ,in politics and      public   
life ,i have made public good the rule  
of my conduct4  ,i never      gave      
counsels which ,i did not at the time   
think the best4  ,i have      seen that 
,i was sometimes in the wrong1 but ,i   
did not err designedly4      ,i have    
endeavoured in private life to do all   
the good in my power1      and never for
 a moment could indulge malicious or    
unjust designs upon      any person     
whatsoever4'    8,at another time he    
said1 #8,i must leave my soul in the    
same state it was  in before this       
illness2 ,i find this a very            
inconvenient time for  solicitude about 
anything4'        8,on the evening1 when
 the symptoms of death came on1 he said1
 #8,i      shall die2 but it will not be
 your fault4'  ,when ,lord and ,lady    

,valentia came to see his lordship1 he  
gave them his solemn      benediction1  
and said1 #8,be good1 be virtuous1 my   
lord2 you must come      to this4'      
,thus he continued giving his dying     
benediction to all      around him4  ,on
 ,monday morning a lucid interval gave  
some small      hopes1 but these        
vanished in the evening2 and he         
continued dying1 but      with very     
little uneasiness1 till ,tuesday        
morning1 ,august #bb1 when1      between
 seven and eight o'clock1 he expired1   
almost without a groan40    ,his        
lordship was buried at ,hagley1 and the 
following inscription is cut  on the    
side of his lady's monument3--          
8,this unadorned stone was placed here  
by the particular              desire   
and express directions of the ,right    
,honourable                             
,,george ,,lord ,,lyttelton1            
who died ,august #bb1 #aggc1 aged #fd40 
,lord ,lyttelton's ,poems are the works 
of a man of literature and judgment1    

devoting part of his time to            
versification4  ,they have nothing to be
  despised1 and little to be admired4   
,of his 8,progress of ,love10 it is     
sufficient blame to say that it is      
pastoral4  ,his blank verse in          
8,blenheim0 has neither much force nor  
much elegance4  ,his little             
performances1 whether songs or epigrams1
 are sometimes sprightly1 and  sometimes
 insipid4  ,his epistolary pieces have a
 smooth equability1 which  cannot much  
tire1 because they are short1 but which 
seldom elevates or  surprises4  ,but    
from this censure ought to be excepted  
his 8,advice to  ,belinda10 which1      
though for the most part written when he
 was very young1  contains much truth   
and much prudence1 very elegantly and   
vigorously  expressed1 and shows a mind 
attentive to life1 and a power of poetry
  which cultivation might have raised to
 excellence4