^ \ ^
 
 KJifvru'itlf puur 
 
 J O S E PH WARTON , B . 
 
 ji».<- 4.-"oej
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV? JOSEPH WARTON, D.D. 
 
 MASTER OF ST. MARY WINTON COLLEGE ; 
 
 PREBEVDARY OF WINCHKSTER CATHEDRAL ; AND RECTOR OP 
 
 THE PARISHES OF WICKHAM AND UPHAM, HANTS: 
 
 TO WHICH ABE ADDED, 
 
 A SELECTION FROM HIS WORKS; 
 
 AND A LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN EMINENT PERSONS, 
 RESERVED BY HIM FOR PUBLICATION. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN WOOLL, A.M. 
 
 LATE FELLOW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD; 
 
 RECTOR OF BLACKFORD, SOMERSET; AND MASTER OF THE 
 fKEE GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF MIDHUHST, SUSSEX. 
 
 Ingenium cui sit, cui mens divinior, atque os 
 
 Magna sonaturum, dea nominis hujus honorem. IIor. 
 
 Non Austeritas ejna tristis, non dissoluta sit comitas, In laudandis discipulorum diclionibus nee 
 inalignus nee effususj In emendando, qua corrigenda erunt, non acerbus, minimeque contu- 
 meliosus. ^ 
 
 yuiNCTILIAN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by Luke Hansard, near Lincoln's. Inn Fields, 
 
 FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. 
 1806.
 
 y i 
 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 GEORGE ISAAC LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER, 
 
 AND 
 
 WARDEN OF St. MARY WINTON COLLEGE 
 
 KEAR WINCHESTER. 
 
 ^ MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 ^ I CANNOT more consistently unite the claims 
 
 of public propriety with those of private friend- 
 ship, than by requesting your notice and patron- 
 
 > age of the following work. 
 
 f^^ That Wykeham's Sons were taught by War- 
 
 ton, we recollect with an equal degree of exult- 
 ation ; our sentiments of the high pre-eminence 
 on which he stood as a Poet, a Critic, and a 
 Master, are perfectly congenial : no tribute of 
 respect therefore can I pay to his memory, 
 unfelt or unacknowledged by you. 
 
 To 

 
 To the WykeLamical body permit me to record 
 a second source of triumph, by reminding them, 
 that the Man who successfully dedicated the 
 prime of an active and studious life to Winchester 
 School is now its Governor; and that his virtues, 
 highly cultivated talents, and relative duties (so 
 liberally fulfilled) have, by raising him to the 
 highest professional rank, not only reflected a 
 dignified respectability on himself, but the 
 Society over which he presides. 
 
 That the life of such a man may be long and 
 prosperous, is the heartfelt wish of, 
 
 MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 Your much obliged and 
 
 respectfully affectionate Friend, 
 
 John Woolt. 
 
 Midburst School, 
 June i8o6.
 
 C V ] 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 -A PERIOD of more than six years having elapsed since 
 the death of Dr. Warton, and no pen yet employed in 
 rescuing from olDlivion the exfiellence of his moral and 
 intellectual attainments ; the Editor feels himself acquitted 
 of presumption in attempting what many others might 
 have more successfully accomplished : of these, some have 
 probably been deterred by a dread of committing their 
 own fame in the endeavour to perpetuate that of their 
 Author: and this fear should perhaps have weighed with 
 the present Writer. But if he has succeeded in accurately 
 displaying the extensive and highly endowed mind ; if he 
 has given to the world an ampler knowledge and juster 
 ideas of the lively imagination, the classical taste, the 
 didactic qualifications so peculiarly calculated to foster the 
 dawning of juvenile talent ; and the thousand warm and 
 benevolent traits of disposition which eminently charac- 
 terized his revered friend and master; he will rest con- 
 tented with having performed a duty, though he may not 
 have entitled himself to a reward : in a word, if l>e has not 
 tarnished the reputation or lowered the name of Warton, 
 he wiU quietly submit to the imputation of not having 
 exalted his own. 
 
 The
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 The motives Avhicli have induced him to print only a 
 selection of Dr. Warton's poetical works are too evident, he 
 trusts, to need an elaborate justification. It is not a necessary 
 consequence that the productions of a youthful poet, how- 
 ever valued at that time by himself or favourably received 
 by the world, should bear the deliberate test of experience, 
 or be sanctioned by the mellow judgement of nmturer 
 years : and certain it is, that some pieces, though perfectly 
 congenial with the glow of fancy and spirited force of poe- 
 tical imagery which so strongly marked all the efforts of his 
 mind, were consigned by the wishes of Dr. W. himself to 
 oblivion ! To revive such in a posthumous publication 
 ■would be the height of cruelty. 
 
 From considerations of a similar nature, man}' letters on 
 family topics, whose contents Avould do the highest honour 
 to the heart of the writer, are suppressed ; as not only 
 foreign to the intent of a Avork which delineates him as a 
 Poet, a Critic, and an Instructor, but as including in their 
 publication the unpardonable breach of a most sacred con- 
 fidence. " I cannot forbear to think (says an ingenious 
 Conuiientator * on Shakespear) that such posthumous publi- 
 cations are injurious to society ; a man conscious of literary 
 reputation will grow in time afraid to write with tenderness 
 to his sister, or with fondness to his child; or to remit on 
 the slightest occasion or most pressing exigence the rigour 
 of critical choice or grammatical severity. That esteem 
 * See Mr. Steevens's Advertisement to Johnson and Steevens's Shakespear. 
 
 which
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 which preserves his letters, will at last produce his disgrace, 
 when that which he wrote only to his friend, or his daugh- 
 ter, shall be laid before the public." 
 
 The reader will be disappointed also, should he expect a 
 detail of those peculiarities and trifling incidents which are 
 by some indiscriminately termed strokes of character. It 
 surely cannot be the province of Biography to perpetuate a 
 singularity of gait, or casual indulgence of attitude ; or to 
 raise a laugh 
 
 _ _ - . ------- quod 
 
 Rusticiiis tonso toga defluit, et malb laxus 
 In pede calceus haeret. 
 Much less to hand down to posterity those trivial weaknesses 
 too often inseparable from the most cultivated minds, or to 
 provoke unfeeling ridicule under the mask of professed 
 and unequivocal attachment An impartial comment on 
 the character in which a person is specifically represented, 
 the public has a right to claim— fulsome and unqualified 
 panegyric is a satire on biography— but an irrelative display 
 of childish circumstances, and an unnecessary exposure of 
 private and particular habits, unconnected with those specific 
 characters, convey neither instruction or rational amusement; 
 and constitute (it may be presumed) a custom more 
 honoured in the breach than the observance. 
 
 This opinion, in the present instance, is most sensibly 
 strengthened by the flattering encouragement and assistance 
 experienced from the family; and the kind approbation 
 
 they
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 they have uniformly expressed of the person to whose zeal 
 and exertions the fame of such a Husband, Father, and 
 Brother has been entrusted. Should no feelings of regret or 
 repentance arise to them from a review of the publication, 
 the Editor will derive a consolation capable of blunting in 
 some degree the shafts of criticism, and of compensating 
 the incidental deprivation of literary fame, by the con- 
 sciousness of fidelity and affection. 
 
 Amongst many acknowledgements due to the assistance 
 and attention of others, the Editor has to offer his hearty 
 and respectful gratitude to Lord IMalmesbury ; whose kind 
 and condescending zeal has been highly flattering, and truly 
 indicative of the affectionate interest he feels in the fame and 
 memory of Warton. He takes the liberty also of adding his 
 thanks to Lord Sidmouth, for his polite and ready notice of 
 his application ; and to Drs. Sandby, Sturges, and Lawrence, 
 for their obliging communications. The anxious exertions 
 of his friends, Mr. Hayley and I\L-. Charles Powlett, can 
 never be forgotten. Nor must he omit the voluntary and 
 handsome present of the pedigree from Mr. Dallaway ; or 
 the numerous kindnesses he has experienced, during the pro- 
 secution of the work, from the friend and companion of 
 Dr. V/akton's retirement*, who, in addition to a thousand 
 amiable and pleasant qualities, obtained from the Doctor this 
 characteristic distinction, " Mr. Gamier is the most scholar- 
 like country gentleman I ever encountered." 
 
 ♦ G. Gamier, Esq; of Wickham, HanU.
 
 [ ix ] 
 
 PEDIGREE.
 
 PEDIGREE OF WARTOX op BEVERLEY, C. EBOR. 
 
 Vifitnticn i6r2, MSS. Coll. Arm. 
 C. 13; & 1666. C. 40. 
 
 LAWRENCE WARTOX, 
 of Beverley C". Ebor. 
 
 ANN, Daughter of 
 
 RoJley, of Vaibury, 
 
 C°. Lincoln. 
 
 MICHAEL W A R T O N, 
 Son and Heir. 
 
 JANE, Daughter of John Portington, 
 of Portington, C°. Ebor. 
 
 Sir M 1 C H A E L W A R T O N, 
 of Beverley Park. 
 
 MICHAEL WARTON. 
 
 
 >Et. 19, 1612. 
 
 Died in his Father's lifetime, being (layne by a Cannon 
 
 Ihot at Scarborough Caftle, in the time of the Civill 
 
 Wars, being then a Garrifon for the King. 
 
 ELIZABETH, 
 Third Daughter and 
 Coheir of 
 Hanlby, 
 
 of Beverley. 
 
 CATHERINE, 
 Daughter and Heir 
 of Chriftopher Maltby, 
 of Maltby, C. Ebor, 
 
 MICHAEL WARTON, 
 of Beverley, 
 j^t. 42. 1666. 
 
 SUSANNA, 
 Daughter of John Lord Paulf 
 of Hinton St George, 
 C°. Somerfet. 
 
 MICHAEL WARTON, 
 JE.^ 15. 1666. 
 
 CHARLES, 
 
 RALPH, 
 
 ELIZABETH 
 
 yEt. %. 
 
 JE. 10. 
 
 SL'SAN 
 
 ob. 
 
 1666. 
 
 MARY.
 
 THE preceding isan Extraft Trom the Booksofthe College of Arms, according toRefererxe. 
 with which it is prefumed a Conneilion from a collateral Branch may be thus made. 
 
 W ARTON, 
 
 of Beverley. 
 
 ICHAEL WARTON, 
 of Beverley, 
 
 ANTHONY W A R T O N, LL. B. 
 
 Vicar of Breanier, Hants, 
 and Godalming, Surrey, 
 
 1673. 
 
 THOMAS WARTON, . 
 
 Fellow of Magd. Coll. Oxon. Poetry Profefl'o 
 Vicar of Bafingftoke, Hants, and 
 Chobham, Surrey. 
 
 ELIZABETH, 
 ughter of Jofeph Richardfon, 
 Reftor of Dunsfold. 
 
 JOSEPH WARTOM, 
 D. D. 
 
 THOMAS WARTO> 
 B. D. &c. ob, S. P. 
 
 JANE WARTON, 
 op. Cffil. 
 
 JOSEPH, THOMAS, JOHN WARTON. 
 ob. S.P. ob. S. P. 
 
 MARY, Wife of 
 Colonel Morgan. 
 
 CHARLOTTE ELIZABETI 
 
 Wife of M r. Jacob Holleft. 
 
 In the books of the Herald's College, there is no entry of Warton, of Warton 
 Hall, C. Lancall.; and thofe of Beverley were fo impoverilhed, by the confifca- 
 tion alluded to in p. 2, that they no longer could maintain the rank of gentry in 
 Yorkdiire. 
 
 The Arms of Warton are, " Or, on a Cheveron azure, a Martlet between 
 two Pheons of the Field." Mr. Daliaway well remembers to have feen them 
 fo engraved on Mr, T. Warton' s Seal.
 
 ( xiii ) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Biographical memoirs . - - - - i 
 
 SELECTION FROM DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS: 
 
 Sappho's Advice ----------------107 
 
 Beauty and Innocence --------------- 109 
 
 Sonnet - HO 
 
 The Enthusiast, or the Lover of Nature -- m 
 
 Verses on a Butterfly ---------------124 
 
 Ode to Fancy 125 
 
 Ode to Health i3» 
 
 Ode to a Gentleman on his Travels »---------- 133 
 
 Ode against Despair --------------- 13" 
 
 Ode to Evening --139 
 
 Ode to Content ----' 14° 
 
 Ode to the Nightingale --- - 142 
 
 Ode to a Lady on the Spring - ----- 143 
 
 Ode to a Lady who hates the Country -----145 
 
 Ode to Solitude M7 
 
 Ode to Mr. West, on his Translation of Pindar 148 
 
 Stanzas on taking the Air after a long Illness -------- 1 53 
 
 Verses written at Montauban, in France, 1750 - - - . - - - i55 
 
 The
 
 xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Pag« 
 
 The Dying Indian ----------------156 
 
 Revenge of America -_-_----------- 158 
 
 Epistle from Thomas Hearne, Antiquary to llie Author of the Companion 
 
 to the Oxford Guide ----159 
 
 From Shakespear's Twelfth Night ----------.160 
 
 Ode to Music ------ 161 
 
 Lines written extempore on seeing some Soldiers at Wickham, who 
 were going to form a Settlement near Senegambia ----- 162 
 
 Verses on Dr. Burton's Death ------------ 163 
 
 Verses (by Dr. Warton) spoken to the King by Lord Shaftesbury - - ibid. 
 To Mr. Seward, on his Verses to Lady Young --------164 
 
 Answer, by W. F. Esq. to Dr. Warton ----------165 
 
 On not being able to write Verses to Delia -__--_- 166 
 
 Ode to Sleep ----- - 167 
 
 Verses written on passing through Hackwood Park, Aug. 1779 - - 168 
 Ode on the Death of the Rev. T. Warton, Vicar of Basingstoke ; by his 
 
 Daughter ---------_------_ jg^ 
 
 Ode on the same Occasion; by Dr. Warton ---_..-- 172 
 
 Ranelagh House : a Satire in Prose, in the Manner of Mons. Le Sage - 174 
 
 In Obitum Viri Reverendi Josephi Warton, S. T. P. &c. by W. S. 
 
 Goddard ------------------ 191 
 
 Elegy written and spoken by Mr. Lipscomb, Fellow of New College, 
 
 then a Praepostor of Winchester School -------- 196 
 
 LETTERS OF EMINENT PERSONS: 
 
 left by Dr. Wartun for publication. 
 
 Letter 
 
 I. From Mr. Fenton to Mr. Warton, Professor of Poetry 
 at Magdalen College, Oxford --------203 
 
 II. Dean
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Letter Page 
 
 11. Dean Swift to ■- __-. 204 
 
 II [. Mr. Harris to Mr. Upton 206 
 
 IV. Fiom the same to the same ---------210 
 
 V. From Mr. Warton to his Son Joseph - - - - -- 212 
 
 VI. From Dr. Warton to his Brother - 214 
 
 VII. Chancellor Hoiidly to Dr. Warton 216 
 
 VIII. From Dr. Warton to his Brother 217 
 
 IX. Dr. Young to Dr. Warton -- 218 
 
 X. From Dr. Johnson to Dr. Warton -------219 
 
 XI. From Dr. Warton to his Brother ------- 220 
 
 XII. From the same to the same --------- 221 
 
 XIII. Mr. Dodsleylo Dr. Warton 224 
 
 XIV. Mr. Spence to Mr. Warton - -------- 226 
 
 XV. From Mr. Dodsley to Dr. Warton ------227 
 
 XVI. Dr. Wise to Mr. Wharton 228 
 
 XVII. Dr. Johnson to Dr. Warton ---------229 
 
 XVIII. Mr. Warton to his Brother 230 
 
 XIX. Dr. Warton to his Brother 233 
 
 XX. Dr. Willis to Mr. Warton ---------235 
 
 XXI. Dr. Young to Dr. Warton 236 
 
 XXII. Mr. Dodsley to Dr. Warton 237 
 
 XXIII. Dr. Johnson to Dr. Warton 238 
 
 XXIV. M r. Garrick to Dr. Warton --------- 240 
 
 XXV. Mr. Campbell to Mr. Warton 241 
 
 XXVI. Lord Lyltleton to Dr. Warton -242 
 
 XXVII. From Dr. Warton to his Brother 243 
 
 XXVIIl. Mr Bedingfieid to Mr.Warton 244 
 
 XXIX. Chancellor Hoadly to Dr. Warton - 246 
 
 XXX. Dr. Low Ih 10 Mr. Warton 249 
 
 XXXI. From Dr. Murdoch to Mr. Millar - 252 
 
 XXXII. Mr. Coleman to Mr. Warton - - - 258 
 
 3 XXXIII. Dr»
 
 ivi CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter Pag 
 
 XXXIII. Dr. Blackstone to Dr. Wartoti ?59 
 
 XXXIV. Mr. Harris to Mr. Wartoii sfio 
 
 XXXV. Dr. Louth to Dr. Warton 201 
 
 XXXVI. Dr. Kin- to Dr.Warton 262 
 
 XXXV 11. Mr. Campbell to Mr. Warton 263 
 
 XXXVIU. Chancellor Hoadiy to Dr. Warton 265 
 
 XXXIX. Mr. Harris to Mr. V,' arton 267 
 
 XL.. Mr. Bonnel Thornton to Mr. Warton 268 
 
 XLI. Mr.CobdentoMr.Wartou 269 
 
 XLII. Dr. Birch to ^Ir. Warton 270 
 
 X LI I L Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton 272 
 
 XLIV. Dr. Lowth to Mr. Warton 274 
 
 XLV. Mr. Wheeler to Mr. Warton 275 
 
 XLVL The same to the same ----------276 
 
 XLVIL Dr. Warton to his Brother ---278 
 
 XLVIII. The same to the same ---------- 279 
 
 XLIX. Hon. Horace Walpole to Mr. Warton _ - . _ - 281 
 L. Extract of a Letter from Bishop Warburton to Dr. Balguy, 
 
 Prebendary of Winchester --------- 283 
 
 LI. Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton ---.-----284 
 
 LII. Dr. Balguy to Dr. Warton 2S6 
 
 LIU. Dr, Warton to his Brother 2Js8 
 
 LIV. The same to the same ...--.----- 289 
 LV. The same to the same ----------- 290 
 
 LVI. Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton ---- 201 
 
 LVn. Mr. Warton to his Brother --------- 293 
 
 LVHL Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton 293 
 
 LIX. Horace Walpole to Mr. Warton --._.-- 205 
 LX. From Mr. Spence to Dr. Warton ------- 296 
 
 LXI. Mr. Ceiard Hamilton to Dr. Warton 298 
 
 LXII. Mr. H. Walpole to Dr. Warton soo 
 
 LXin. :Mr.
 
 CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 LXIII. Mr. Gerard Hninilum toDr. Wiivton 302 
 
 L\IV. From Dr. Walton to his I5i-.)lhcr 308 
 
 LXV. Dr Johnsjii o Dr.Wartoi 309 
 
 L-WI. Mr. M-riicktc Dr.Warton 31° 
 
 LXVII. Dr. Walton to his Bro'lier ---312 
 
 LXVllI. Dr.Farmer toDr.Warton S'S 
 
 LXIX. Mr. Ilarristo Dr.Warton --------- 316 
 
 LXX. Mr. Toup to Mr.Warton - - 318 
 
 LXXl. The same tothe same -- S'S 
 
 LXII. Lord Lyttleton to Dr. Warton --321 
 
 LXXIII. Mr. Harris to Dr.Warton 3'^3 
 
 LXXIV. HoraceWalpoletoMr.Warton - 325 
 
 LXXV Mr Merrick to Mr. Warton 326 
 
 LXXVI. Dr. Murell to Dr. Warton ----- ----- 328 
 
 LXXVII. Dr. Hatvkesworlh to Dr. Warton ------- 33° 
 
 LX XV II I. Dr. Barnard to Mr. Warton - - - - 33i 
 
 LXXI.X. Mr Phelps to Dr. Warton 332 
 
 LX XX. Horace Walpole to Mr. Warton 335 
 
 LXXXL Duke of Grafton to Mr. Warton 337 
 
 LXXXn. Duke of Grafton to Bishop Warburton - - - - -ihid. 
 
 LXXXI I r. Bishop Warburton to Mr. Warton - - 338 
 
 LXXXIV Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton 339 
 
 LXXXV. Mr. Harris to Chancellor Hoadly ------- 341 
 
 LXXXVI. Dr. Balguy to Dr. Warton - - - - 343 
 
 LXXXVIL Mr. GarricktoMr. Walton - - 340 
 
 LXXXVIH. Dr. Warton tohisBrotlier 347 
 
 LXXXIX. Dr. Hurd toMr.Warton - - 348 
 
 XC. Mr. Garrick to Dr.Warton 35° 
 
 XCl. Bishop Warburton to the Archbishop of Canterbury - ibid, 
 
 XCn. Bishop Lovvth to Mr. Warton 35^ 
 
 XCUL Bishop Warburton to Mr. Warton - 353 
 
 XCIV. Bishop
 
 xvia CONTENTS, 
 
 ^'«" P»ge 
 
 XCIV. Bishop Lowth to Mr. Warton 354 
 
 XCV. Dr. Balguy to Dr. Warton 355 
 
 XCVL Dr. Balguy to Mr. Warton 357 
 
 XCVII. Dr. Farmer to Mr. Warton -----.-., 058 
 
 XCVIII. Bishop Warhurton to Mr. Warton ---.... org 
 
 XCIX. The same to the same -------_,.. oQq 
 
 C. Dr. Barnard to Mr. Warton -----....301 
 
 CI. Bishop Warhurton to Mr. Warton ------- 353 
 
 CII. Bishop Lowth to Mr. Warton 364 
 
 cm. Mr. Tonp to Mr. Warton - ibid. 
 
 CIV. Mr. Granger to Mr. Warton --- 355 
 
 CV. Bishop Low til to Mr. Warton 368 
 
 CVI. Bishop Tiiomas to Mr. Warton - - - - . . . 36a 
 
 CVII. Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton 370 
 
 CVIil. Mr. Colman to Mr. Warton 371 
 
 CIX. Dr. Balguy to Dr. Warton - - ibid. 
 
 ex. Bishop Warhurton to Mr. Warton -----., ^j^ 
 
 CXI. Mr. Harris to Dr. Warton 
 
 375 
 
 CXII. Mr. Toup to Mr. Warton 377 
 
 CXIII. Mr. Garrick to Mr. Warton - - , - . - . 37S 
 
 CXIV. Mr. Mickle to Mr Warton 379 
 
 CXV. Mr. Garrick to Mr. Warton 380 
 
 CXVI. Dr. Burney to Dr. Warton 382 
 
 CXVII. Bishop Lowtli to Dr. Warton - 3S5 
 
 CXVIII. Dr. Musgraveto Mr. Warton _ - . 387 
 
 CXIX. Mr. Garrick to Di. Warton 388 
 
 CXX. Dr. Joliiison to Dr. Warton --------- 3Q0 
 
 CXXI. Mr. Gibbon to Dr. Warton 301 
 
 CXX II. Mr. Burke to Dr. Warton - - - 392 
 
 CXAIII. Mrs. Montagu to Dr. Warton 393 
 
 CXXIV. Mr. Steevens to Mr. Warton 398 
 
 CXXV. Mr.
 
 CONTENTS, six 
 
 Letter Page 
 
 CXXV. Mr. Bowie to Mr. Walton _ . . . gg^ 
 
 CXXVl. The same to the same ----------- 402 
 
 CXXVII. Dr.Warton toMr.Hayley 403 
 
 CXXVIII. The same to the same -- 405 
 
 Concluding NOTE by Editok --------.-- 407 
 
 ERRATA 
 
 ?»ge 
 
 2 line ^,for Cobham read Chobham. 
 
 25 In note (rj line 4, for ri toi read rnot. 
 
 37 line y,for on read at. 
 
 47 7, ^br ab horrentibus read abhorrentibus. 
 
 48 3d line from bottom,ybr exannalibus read ex annalibus. 
 55 line 4, for Chorley read Thorley. 
 
 83 In note (kj 4tli line from bottom, after vo\mne insert there, 
 
 87 In the two last liues,yb/- opu-saleae read opus aleae. 
 
 90 In 11th line of nute,yb;' ex politus 7'ea^ expolitus. 
 
 98 line 4, dele comma after miseratione, and insert it at constant. 
 
 109 In note, 3d line from bottom, for least read last.
 
 Directions to the Buokbinder. 
 
 rORTRAlT of Dr. Wauton- to face the Title Page. 
 SKETCH of his Moxument in Winchester Cathedral p. 89- 
 FAC-SiMILE of his Handwriting - to face p. 202.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. 
 
 THE learned and amiable Subject of the following 
 Memoirs, whose exalted imagination and literary 
 knowledge were only equalled by the warmth and benevo- 
 lence of his heart, was born in the house of his maternal 
 grandfather, the Rev. Joseph Richardson, rector of 
 Dunsfold in the county of Surrey ; and baptized in the 
 church of that parish on the 2 2d of April, in the year 
 1722. (a) His father, a man of considerable scholarship 
 
 fa) The Rev. T.Warton, vicar of Basingstoke, died in 1745; and soon 
 after his decease, a volume of his poems was published by subscription, 
 under the direction of his eldest son, Joseph. At the close of the pub- 
 lication are two elegies on his death, which that son thus criticised to the 
 editor of these Memoirs : " When my father died, my sister and I wrote on 
 the occasion, and by the way her poem was the best of the two." They are 
 inserted in this work, and the reader will determine whether fraternal affec- 
 tion or unbiassed judgment guided so amiable a decision. Amongst other 
 poetical pieces contained in this volume, are translations of Greek epigrams ; 
 to which is prefixed an advertisement so truly indicative of the Doctor's taste 
 and opinions, that it must not be passed over:—" The following Pieces are a 
 pattern of the simplicity so much admired in the Grecian writings, so foreign 
 to the present prevailing taste, to the love of modern witticifm and Italian 
 conceit." 
 
 ]3 and
 
 2 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 and sound orthodoxy, had been Professor of Poetrj' in the 
 University of Oxford ; in which place he had not only, by 
 his talents and opinions, but by his intimacy with Dr. King, 
 and other celebrated Tories of that day, rendered himself so 
 conspicuous as to become a very prominent character in the 
 " Terrae filius" of Amherst. He was afterwards presented, 
 b}' his college, to the vicarage of Basingstoke in Hamp- 
 shire, and held with it Cobliam in Surrey ; to the former 
 of which benefices he retired, and dedicated his time to 
 the instruction of private pupils. The sketch of this ancient 
 and loyal family, to be found in Mr. Mant's valuable 
 edition of the late Laureat's works, would have rendered 
 any farther record unnecessary, had not a misrepresentation 
 of one of the brightest ornaments of the pedigree inadver- 
 tently f 6^ crept into his account. We there read of a Sir 
 Michael Warton, baronet, of "Warton Hall, in the 
 county of Lancaster, who in fact was knighted only in the 
 civil wars (as will be discovered by the annexed extract 
 from the Heralds' College), and was both the proprietor and 
 inhabitant of Beverley Park, in the county of York. If 
 the deprivation of paternal happiness, added to the op- 
 pressive horrors of confiscation, could challenge gratitude, 
 
 (b) Mr. John Warton, on whose authority Mr. Mant naturally relied, kindly 
 informed me that he certainly had imparted such particulars to Mr. M., 
 but that he was not correct, as to regular descent, beyond Mr. A. \\'arton, 
 rector of Breamore, in the New Forest, and author of " Refine ment on Zion," <i w 
 an inimitable satire on the Antinomians. It is to the voluntary and valuable 
 exertions of the ingenious Mr. Dailaway, secretary to the Earl Marshal, that 
 I owe the accuracy of my information. 
 
 3 and
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 3 
 
 and lay claim to reward, his distinction of knighthood was 
 richly earned. His eldest son, a blooming youth of nineteen, 
 fell in the defence of his sovereign ; for his whole property 
 he was necessitated to compound by a grievous tax with 
 the commissioners of parliament ; and at no great distance 
 of time, his grandson, yet a minor, experienced, by the 
 total ruin of his fortune, the unrelenting severity of fanatic 
 intolerance and republican revenge. From the period of 
 this shock to the prosperity and consequence of the family, 
 " Res fluere et retro sublapsa referri 
 Spes." 
 
 If, then, the late Mr. Warton's Strictures on Milton 
 anil the levelling party be tinged with a faint colourino- 
 of spleen ; if sometimes in the language of unqualified re- 
 proof (cj he laments that the vigorous portion of that 
 man's life, Avhose epic fame could alone challenge the su- 
 periority of Greece and Rome, was unworthily and unpro- 
 fitably wasted, in the defence of innovation and anarchy ; 
 and that, smit with the deplorable polemics of puritanism, 
 he had suddenly ceased " to gaze on such sights as youthful 
 poets dream;" we must in candour reflect on these melanr- 
 choly distinctions, probably handed down as an heir-loom, 
 in the family, and acknowledge that they were calculated 
 to make on the strong mind of Mr. Warton an indelible 
 impression. 
 
 From the earliest period of his boyish days, till he entered 
 
 (cj See Warton's Preface to his Milton. 
 
 B 2 into
 
 4 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 into his fourteenth 3-ear, Dr. Warton was chicly fd) in- 
 debted to his excellent father for knowledge and instructies. 
 On the 2d of August 1736, he was admitted on the founda- 
 tion of Winchester College ; (c) and, whilst under the tuition 
 and dicipline of that school, 
 
 " Where Bigg presided, and where Burton taught," 
 exhibited 'the most evident marks of strong intellectual 
 powers. During his Wykehamical education, he, in con- 
 junction with his friend Collins and another boy, sent to 
 the Gentleman's Magazine three poetical pieces of such 
 sterling value as called forth a most flattering critique from 
 Johnson ; and I have seen, though in too imperfect a state 
 to warrant insertion, a genuinely humorous poem penned 
 by him when a Praepositor, and spoken by one of his pupils 
 from the rostrum, then usually introduced into the school. 
 Nor can I pass over in silence the following letter, from a 
 boy not fifteen, to his sister; a pleasant and playful speci- 
 men, it must be alloMcd, of good-humoured raillery and 
 lively imagination : 
 
 " Dear Sister, 
 
 " Since my amusements by day would not be greatly 
 relished by a young lady, if I could give an account of 
 
 (d) He was for a short time at New College School. 
 
 fej He was at first placed under the care of the present venerable Chan- 
 cellor of Norwich, Dr. Sandby, then at the head of the school. It is rather 
 singular, that both the tutor and pupil became editors of Virgil. 
 
 them,
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 5 
 
 them, I shall tell you in the following medley an imaginary 
 entertainment by night. 
 
 " Methought I was conducted by my good genius (a 
 constant attendant on all such occasions) through a per- 
 fumed grove to the palace of the Goddess of Vanity. It 
 would be endless to describe the superfluous ornaments 
 which decked the outside of the building, or the glittering 
 furniture within. This I obferved, that it was all very 
 shewy, yet nothing was truly noble. While I was surveying 
 the glare of this palace, and wishing to see the mistress of 
 so extraordinary a seat, my ears were suddenly grated by 
 the sound of hinges, on Avhich a large pair of folding doors 
 opened, and discovered, seated on a most magnificent and 
 radiant throne, the Goddess herself! She was attended by 
 great numbers, who surrounded her on all sides, the majority 
 of which 1 observed were of the female sex, and most of 
 them French ladies ; though it M^as with no fmall concern 
 that I observed several English also, who seemed highly 
 delighted with the favour of being 7naids of honour to the 
 goddess. It will be too tedious to particularize every piece 
 of furniture of this state room; I must just however take 
 notice, that amongst her votaries I could distinguish Mrs. 
 and Mifs — — — , and Mrs. Vanett with the pattern of the 
 new-fashioned steel machine of the hoop ff) petticoat in 
 her hand. After the goddess had granted several of the 
 
 (f) A most ridiculous fashioa at that time in vogue. 
 
 petitioners'
 
 6 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 petitioners' suits, on a sudden, at the sound of a trumpet, 
 a great concourse ap])roached, who cried. Hail ! thrice, in a 
 loud shout to a lady, who, by the picture I had before 
 seen, and by the whispers of the company, I found to be 
 this same Mrs. Vanctt, holding in her hand what had the 
 appearance of a mathematical instrument of steel, as above 
 mentioned, and the use of which, to a lady, I could not 
 conceive : it had indeed the appearance of a mystery. At 
 length the goddess descended from her throne, and desired 
 her votaries to prefer their prayers ; which they did, de- 
 siring they might be favoured with new decorations for their 
 persons. She, without the least hesitation, smiled a pleasing 
 assent, and distributed an amazing quantity of ribands, 
 gauzes, feathers, rouge, and tinsel frippery in abundance. 
 I had almost discovered myself (for I Avas all the time 
 incog.) by a loud laugh, to see what ridiculous figures the 
 goddess had made of her votaries ; as, old hags with painted 
 faces, and young girls patched and powdered and enclosed 
 in their vast steel machines ; and fell soon after into a long 
 contemplation how that sex Avhom Nature has so lavishly 
 indulged with all her graces, could thus, by disguising their 
 persons with false ornaments, instead of beautifying them- 
 selves (as they think), entirely destroy their greatest beau- 
 ties : for, be assured, the studied fopperies of art can impart 
 no real elegance. In the midst of these contemplations, 
 amongst the other fiivourers of the goddess, I caught sight 
 of you. Moved with indignation, I was, in the heat of 
 
 anger.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. r 
 
 anger, going to reprove you, and tear off your false orna- 
 ments ; when the six o'clock peal awoke me, and changed 
 the scene from glittering palaces, tinsel frippery, feathere, 
 rouge, flounces and furbelows, to black gowns, dirty ju- 
 niors, and a lonely college (g) . 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 Jos. Warton." 
 
 The style of wit and humour, however, was not always 
 that in which he addressed his sister. His goodness of 
 heart and quickness of understanding discovered themselves 
 in the most anxious enquiries and affectionate advice — 
 " Tell me," says one of his letters, " of your improvements, 
 what you are learning, and that you are acquiring every 
 useful and elegant accomplishment (you will, I particularly 
 hope, excel in music). Remember you are now laying a 
 foundation for all the comforts and pleasures of your life ; 
 remember this is worthy your good parents — worthy you — 
 and the hearty desire of your affectionate brother." 
 
 In the month of September, 1740, being superannu- 
 ated, he was removed from Winchester ; and, as few vacan- 
 cies occurred, in the course of the current year, at New 
 
 (g) This letter may peiliaps by some be deemed foreiga to the intent of 
 the work, as expiessed in the preface; but, wlien I reflected on the period at 
 which it was written, and the amiable anxiety that Mrs. Jane Warton, at 
 the age of eighty-two, has expressed, lest any proof of her dear brother's 
 affection for her should be suppressed, I could not deny myself the pleasure 
 of inserting it. 
 
 College,
 
 8 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 College, Oxford, it was the involuntary misfortune of that 
 society not to reckon amongst its fellows the editor of 
 Virgil and commentator on Pope: he, therefore, about 
 this time commenced his residence at Oriel College, of 
 which he had been admitted a commoner in the preceding 
 January, and very soon gave ample proofs that he had 
 not neglected the blessing of a mind so highly gifted. — I 
 can form no idea of the " laudis arrecta cupido," fostered by 
 the sacred ardour of gratitude and filial piety, exhibiting 
 a more highly finished portrait than in the following letter : 
 
 • " Hon. Sir, 
 
 " I hop'd to have found a thousand kindl}^ severe criti- 
 cisms on Wintonia, when 1 opened your's ; but, alas, am 
 quite deceived ! I believe " Bellositum Wintoniense" (h) 
 may be a more proper name, and even more suitable to the 
 verses already made. Let me only observe one thing, that 
 I have purposely avoided saying more of the college, 
 because it is so trite and common a subject : but perhaps 
 I have said too little — this your judgment will determine. 
 But have I not kept too near home, and not sought over 
 the country for seats, antiquities, and such like ? This is 
 oM-ing to my ignorance on these points. If you would 
 have had me mention these, perhaps even Abbotstone, 
 Stratton, Lord Peterborough's, cScc. might claim a place. 
 The Bellositum Oxoniense has taken in Whitcham, Islip (as 
 
 (h) No correct copy of the Bellositum Wintoniense remains. 
 
 you
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 9 
 
 you know) and others ; but these are move remarkable than 
 those I mentioned. As to the time, if I receive it again 
 (as the present situation of affairs are, and nothing unusual 
 happen) by the 20th or 21st of May, it is soon enough.- 
 I have appUed to several of my friends for Themes, and 
 cannot by any means get any from them, so that I am 
 obliged still to send you my own stuff; but from them 
 perhaps you may perceive the manner of others, whici^ 
 consist of short turns and such affected puerilities as I am 
 afraid you by no means approve of. This I can affirm, 
 that the old way of composing them by explanation, ex- 
 ample, simile, inference, conclusion, &c. is, nor has been 
 (as far as I can learn) ever made use of here. — To help me 
 in some parts of my last collections from Longinus, I have 
 read a good part of Dyonisius Halicarnassus : so that I 
 think by this time I ought fully to understand the struc- 
 ture and disposition of words and sentences. I shall read 
 Longinus as long as I live : it is impossible not to catch 
 fire and raptures from his glowing style. The noble causes 
 he gives (at the conclusion) for the decay of the subfime 
 amongst men, to wit — the love of pleasure, riches, and idle- 
 ness, would almost make one look down upon the world 
 with contempt, and rejoice in, and Avish for toils, poverty, 
 and dangers, to combat with. For me, it only still serves 
 to give me a greater distaste, contempt, and hatred of the 
 profanum vulgus, and to tread under foot this dyewBg-ccjov 
 •sTuSog, as thoroughly below and unworthy of man. It is the 
 C freedom
 
 10 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 freedom you give me of unburdening my soul to you, that 
 has troubled you so long : but so it is, that the next plea- 
 sant thing to conversing with 3'ou, and hearing from you, 
 is writing to you : I promise myself a more exalted degree 
 of pleasure next vacation, by being in some measure better 
 skilled to converse with you than formerly. Happy shall I 
 be if I am not only found 
 ♦ A '1 lOth ^ dutiful and affectionate, 
 
 Tuesday. ^"^ ^ diligent son too. 
 
 J. Warton." 
 
 " A great many thanks for the token." 
 
 During his residence in Oxford he composed the Enthu- 
 siast, or Lover of Nature ; a poem replete with the happiest 
 eflforts of imagination, and truly worthy of 
 (i) That bard who rapture found 
 In ev'ry rural sight, or sound ; 
 Whose genius warm, and rapture chaste 
 No genuine charm of nature past. 
 His inimitably characteristic piece entitled the D3'ing 
 Indian, and the elegant satire of Ranelagh House, after 
 the manner of Le Sage, made their appearance also about 
 this time. Nor were his vacations passed in indolence 
 and dissipation. Did no other proof exist of his genu- 
 inely poetical mind, of his capacity as a maker and inventor^ 
 the following sketch, laid out by him as a subject for verse, 
 (i) See Mr. Walton's seventh Ode. 
 
 at
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. ii 
 
 at eighteen (the year in which he left Winchester school), 
 and dated from his father's house, would be sufficient to 
 establish his reputation. 
 
 " The Subjects of Reason having lately rebelled against 
 him, he summons them to his court, that they may pay 
 their obedience to him ; whilst he sits on his throne, at- 
 tended by the Virtues, his handmaids. The first who made 
 her appearance was Fear, with Superstition, a pale-faced, 
 trembhng virgin, who came from Gallia, and was ever 
 present at earthquakes, fires, sieges, storms, and shuddered 
 at every thing she saw. Not so Anger, whose harbinger 
 was Cruelty, with dishevelled hair; and whose charioteer. 
 Revenge, drove wheels reeking with blood. He himself 
 stood upright, brandishing a sword, and bearing a shield 
 on which Avas engraven Achilles dragging the carcass of 
 Hector, with Priam and Andromache lamenting on the 
 Avails; round his girdle he tied the head of an enemy just 
 slaughtered, and his chariot Avas draAvn by tigers. Next 
 came Joij, chanting a song, croAvned Avith vine leaves, 
 Avaving a rod in his hand, at Avhose touch every thing 
 smiled ; he Avas attended by Mirth and Pleasure, tAVO 
 nymphs more light than Napaeans : he AA'as the institutor 
 of feasts and dances amongst shepherds, at a vintage, 
 at marriages and triumphs. Then came Sorrow, with a 
 dead babe in her arms : — she was often seen in charnels 
 and by graA'es, hstening to knells, or Avalking in the dead 
 of night, and lamenting aloud ; nor Avas she absent from 
 c 2 dungeons
 
 12 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 dungeons and galley slaves. , After her Courage, a young 
 man riding a lion, that chafed with indignation, yet was 
 forced to submit — not a fiercer roars in iEgypt whilst the 
 pyramids reecho to his voice : naked, like an Englishman, 
 blowing an horn, he was seen to attend Regulus to Car- 
 thage, Henry the Fifth to Agincourt, Moluc, Charles of 
 Sweden, Kouli Khan, &c. He led Couanlice chained, 
 who shuddered violently whenever he heard the horn, and 
 would fain run away — so the beasts run Avhen they hear 
 the rattle-snake. Next came JEmulation, with harp and 
 sword : he followed a phantom of Fame, that he might 
 snatch the crown she wore : he was accompanied by a 
 beautiful Amazon, called Hope, who with one hand 
 pointed to the heavens, and in the other held an optic 
 which beautified and magnified every object to which it 
 was directed. Tity led her old father Despair, who tore 
 his grey locks, and could scarce move along for extreme 
 misery ; she nursed him Avitli her own milk, and sup- 
 ported his steps, whilst bats and owls flew round his head. 
 She frequents fields of battle, protects the slain, and 
 stanches their wounds with her veil and hair. Next 
 came Love, supported on each side by Friendship and 
 Truth, but not Wind, as the poets feign. Behind came 
 his enemies. Jealousy, who nursed a vulture to feed on 
 his own heart. Hatred also, and Doubt shaking a dart 
 behind Love, who, on his turning round, immediately 
 vanish'd. Honour, twin'd round about with a snake, like 
 
 Laocoon.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 13 
 
 Laocoon. Tlien Ambition in a chariot of gold, and white 
 horses, whose trappings were adorned with jewels, led 
 by Esteem and Flattery. Envy viewed him passing, and 
 repined like a pard with a dart in his side. Contempt, 
 too, like a satyr, beheld, and pointed with his finger ; but 
 he too often reviled Heaven, whence plagues, pestilences, 
 wars, and famines. When these were all met, Reason 
 (sitting grander than Solomon), on whom the man Justice, 
 and the Avoman Temperance^ attended, thus addressed 
 them." 
 
 Were (k) the passions ever more happily personified ? of 
 the vivida vis animi more unquestionably portrayed in a 
 boy of eighteen ? On taking his (IJ Bachelor's degree, for 
 which he determined in Lent 1744, he was ordained on 
 his father's curacy, and ofliciated in that church till Febru- 
 ary 1746; at which period he removed to the duty of 
 Chelsea, and within three months caught the small pox. 
 Tenderly nursed by the mother he idolized, he soon reco- 
 vered, and went to Chobham, for change of air. A return 
 to his last curacy being rendered unpleasant, by disagree- 
 able altercations in the parish, and the want of that sup- 
 
 (k) When the intimacy between Collins and Warton is recollected, it "s 
 no improbable surmise that tue above sketch furnished the former with the 
 idea of writing an Ode on the Passions. 
 
 (I) The editor is uware that in strict propriety he should not have used the 
 term Dr. Warton before that degree was conferred ; but as in the course of 
 the work he may have frequent occasions to mention the brothers together, 
 he has at once adopted the distinction, to prevent the possibility of confusion, 
 
 port
 
 14 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 port from his rector which his situation claimed, he, after 
 a few mouths spent in discharging the ministerial duties of 
 Chawton and Droxford, returned to Basingstoke ; and in the 
 year 1747-8 was presented by the Duke of Bolton to the 
 rectory of Wynslade, when he immediately mamed J\Iiss 
 Daman of that neighbourhood, to whom he had for some 
 time been mostenthusiasticall}^ attached. At the close of the 
 former year he had published a volume of exquisite Odes ; 
 to which he prefixed the following characteristic preface : 
 " The public has been so nmch accustomed of late to 
 didactic poetry alone, and essays on moral subjects, that 
 any work, where the imagination is much indulged, will per- 
 haps not be relished or regarded. The autlior therefore of 
 these pieces is in some pain, lest certain austere critics 
 should think them too fanciful and descriptive. But as he 
 is convinced that the fashion of moralizing in verse has 
 been carried too far, and as he looks upon invention and 
 imagination to be the chief faculties of a poet, so he will 
 be happy if the following Odes may be looked upon as an 
 attempt to bring back poetry into its right channel." (m) 
 
 Such 
 
 (m) Thefe Odes, or a part of them, I conjecture to have been hkcwise pub- 
 lished together with some pieces of Collins and his brother ; but the volume, 
 after a diligent search, I have not been able, to discover. This idea is suggested 
 by the following letter : 
 " Dear Tom, 
 
 " You will wonder to see my name in an advertisement next week, so I 
 
 thought I would apprize you of it. The case was this. Collins met me in 
 
 Surrey, at Guildford Races, when I wrote out for him my Odes, aud he like- 
 
 3 wise
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTOK 15 
 
 Such of these Odes as I am incHned to think he in a more 
 advanced stage of hfe reflected on Avith pride and perused 
 with satisfaction, I have selected as a part of this work. 
 
 In the year 1751, he was called from the indulgence of 
 connubial happiness, and the luxury of literary retirement, 
 to attend his patron to the south of France ; for which in- 
 vitation the Duke had two motives, the society of a man of 
 learning and taste, and the accommodation of a Protestant 
 clergyman, who, immediately on the death of his Dutchess, 
 then in a confirmed dropsy, could marry him to the lady 
 with whom he lived, and who was universally known and 
 distinguished by the name of Polly Peachum. 
 
 wise communicated some of his to me : and being both in very high spirits we 
 took courage, resolved to join our forces, and to publish them immediately. 
 I flatter myself that I shall lose no honour by this publication, because I believe 
 these Odes, as they now stand, are infinitely the best things I ever wrote. You 
 will see a very pretty one of CoUins's, on the death of Colonel Ross before 
 Tournay. It is addressed to a lady who was Ross's intimate acquaintance, 
 and who by the way is Miss Bett Goddiird. Collins is not to publish the Odes 
 unless he gets ten guineas for them. ' " 
 
 " I returned from Milford last night, where I left Collins with my mother 
 and sister, and he sets out to-day for London. I must now tell you that I have 
 sent him your imitation of Horace's Blandusian Fountain, to be printed 
 amongst ours, and which you shall own or not as you think proper. I 
 would not have dune this without your consent, but because I think it very 
 poetically and correctly done, and will get you honour. 
 
 " You will let me know what the Oxford critics say. 
 Adieu, dear Tom. 
 
 I am your most affectionate brother, 
 
 J. Wakton." 
 Without a date of time or place. 
 
 The
 
 16 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 The opportunity of visiting the Continent, and the intro- 
 duction to every species of acquirement and information 
 brought within his reach by the rank and connections of his 
 patron, must have offered to a mind hke Dr. Warton's the 
 most refined and pleasurable sensations ; but the brightness 
 of the prospect was clouded by circumstances attendant on 
 the expedition, not the most eligible in a professional view, 
 but which are unnecessary to point out to my reader, and 
 by a heart-wounding separation from the wife of his un- 
 abating tenderness, an infant family, and a mother to 
 whom he was most piously attached, and who was then in 
 the College of Clergymen's Widows at Winchester, bending 
 under the weight of age and infirmities. Strong was the 
 conflict of opposing principles. The laudable wish how- 
 ever of improving the condition of those who by every tie 
 divine and human were the objects of his most anxious 
 love, at length prevailed ; and with a view to rescue them, 
 at no very distant period, from the struggles and depriva- 
 tions of a straitened income, he acceded to the plan. 
 He embarked at Greenwich on the 26th of April, in one 
 of the king's yachts ; and after a tedious and storaiy pas- 
 sage, landed at Calais on the 8 th of May. To those 
 who have enjoyed the rich and varied treasures of his con- 
 versation, who have been dazzled by the brilliancy of his 
 wit, and instructed by the acuteness of his observations, I 
 need not suggest how truly enviable was the journey which 
 his fellow-travellers accomplished through the French pro- 
 vinces
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. n 
 
 vinces to IMontauban ; at Avliich place it was their intention 
 to take up their residence. As the Duke travelled with his 
 own horses, and consequently by short and easy stages, the 
 Doctor had sufficient leisure to visit churches, convents, 
 and every other public building worthy the notice of an , 
 inquisitive traveller. But as in those days the knowledge ' 
 of modern languages seldom or ever formed a part of scho- 
 lastic education or collegiate reading, his total ignorance of 
 the French tongue Mas pregnant with continual obstacles; 
 to overcome which he had recourse to Latin; yet, alas! 
 the bald, unclassical, and monkish style in which a few, 
 and very {q\y Irish friars in the convents were enabled to 
 converse, imparted but at best disjointed information, and 
 i'urnished a very broken and imperfect correspondence. In 
 a letter written early in August from La Mole near ]\Iont- 
 auban to his brother, is the following paragraph : " I am 
 very sorry to tell you I greatly fear Mr. Powlett (n) and I 
 shall never visit Italy, which will be a sad mortification." 
 This disappointment arising from some private causes, united 
 to his impatience of being restored to his family, induced 
 him to wave every consideration of intellectual improve- 
 ment and additional preferment, and to quit his situation. 
 During the month of September he set out for Bourdeaux 
 in a courier's cart, such as is used for the conveyance of 
 the mail; but found the machine so rough and incon- 
 venient, that within five or six leagues he was obhged to quit 
 (ii) Rev. Charles Powlett, mentioned in the prclace. 
 
 D i(
 
 18 BlOGRArlllCAL MEMOIRS 
 
 it, and submit to a day's rest ere he proceeded. Not impeded 
 in resolution by this obstacle, he joined himself to some 
 carriers who were travelling in Brittany, and with them 
 reached St. Malo's ; from whence he obtained a passage by 
 Guernsey to Southampton. Thus ended his tour ; and the 
 month subsequent to his arrival presented one of the 
 great objects for which it was undertaken. The Dutchess 
 of Bolton died. Upon this event he immediately wrote to 
 the Duke, and asked his permission to return to him. ]Mr. 
 Devisme, however, chaplain to the embassy at Turin, had 
 been sent for to perform the marriage ceremony, and was 
 already on his route to Aix in Provence, to Avhich place the 
 parties had removed. 
 
 He now dedicated his Avhole attention to the accom-- 
 plishment of a work he had for some time been engaged 
 in, and to the success of which he fondly looked forward, 
 not only Avith a view of compensating his recent disap- 
 pointment, but with the hope also of deservedly claim- 
 ing from the public an advantageous and permanent 
 share of patronage and protection. He edited Virgil in 
 Latin and English, the iEneid translated by Pitt, the 
 Eclogues and Georgics, with notes on the whole by him- 
 self. Into this publication he introduced Warburton's Dis- 
 sertation on the Sixth iEneid, a Commentary on the Cha- 
 racter of lapis by Atterbury, and on the Shield of iEneas 
 by Whitehead ; to which he added, as composed by him- 
 self, three Essays on pastoral, didactic, and epic poetry. 
 
 Unqualified
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 19 
 
 Unqualified as might have been the praises bestowed on 
 ills detached pieces, and gratifying as probably were the 
 fleeting laurels reaped by the casual ebullitions of fancy, or 
 the momentary effusions of poetical genius ; yet nothing he 
 had hitherto given to the world was calculated to establish 
 a lasting reputation, or hand down his name as a critic and 
 scholar to posterity. I'rue it is, that tlie author of the 
 Enthusiast, and Ode to Fancy, would ever have been dear 
 to those who were capable of relishing the unaffected 
 charms and genuine fire of a vivid and highly inspired 
 imagination ; but within the bosoms of such, and such 
 only, would the remembrance have probably existed ; whilst 
 the editor of Virgil, from the very nature of the undertak- 
 ing, and the general utility arising from the varied and 
 combined merits of the work, had solid pretensions to an 
 exalted and permanent rank in the repubUc of letters, and 
 claimed from scholars of every age and description the 
 memorial of grateful admiration. In proportion to the 
 value of success, will ever be, in great and feehng minds, 
 the dread gf failure ; and to such an union of poetry and 
 criticism, to so ample a confession of his creed in point of 
 both taste and scholarship, our author naturally deemed it 
 requisite to apply the whole vigour of his genius, and 
 vigilantly to exercise all his accuracy of judgment : hence 
 was it that he anxiously wrote from Montauban lest 
 Dodsley should set a sheet to the press (though the far 
 greater part was finished, and already in his hands) ere he 
 D 2 returned
 
 £0 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 returned from the Continent (o). Of the " hmec labor et 
 mora," it is evident he knew ihe full value. 
 
 His reason for preferring the translation of Pitt to that of 
 Drj^den, he thus openly in his dedication declares to his 
 friend Sir George Lyttleton : " Give me leave to intrude 
 on your patience a moment longer, to speak of Mr. Pitt's 
 version of the iEneid. I am very well informed, that 
 ]\Ir. Pope, notwithstanding his just affection, and even vene- 
 ration for ]\Ir. Dryden, regarded Mr. Pitt's as an excellent 
 translation. It is lucky for me, that some of Mr. Drj-den's 
 errors, in this part of the work, have been lately pointed out 
 by a very candid writer, and one Avho entertains the highest 
 opinion of his genius, to Avhom, says he, our English poetry 
 is more indebted for its improvements than 'any other 
 Avriter, Mr. Pope only excepted. "What I hint at is one of 
 the chapters on allegorj' in Mr. Spence's Polymetis ; where 
 that gentleman hath endeavoured to shew, how very little 
 our poets have understood the allegories of the ancients, 
 even in their translations of them ; and has chosen to in- 
 stance Mr. Dryden's translation of Virgil's ^neid, as he 
 thought him one of our most celebrated poets. The mis- 
 takes are very numerous, and some of them unaccountably 
 gross : upon this I was desirous to examine Mr. Pitt's trans- 
 lation of the same passages, and was surprized to find, 
 that in near fifty instances which Mr. Spence has given of 
 
 (o) Tlie work was begun in 1748-0, and made its appearance in June 1753. 
 
 Mr.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 21 
 
 Mr. Dryden's mistakes of that kind, Mr. Pitt had not fallen 
 into above three or four." After mentioning (p) the speci- 
 mens, and commenting on them with canftid and judicious 
 accuracy, he adds, " In fine, if my partiality for Mr. Pitt 
 does not mislead me, I should think he has executed his 
 Mork with great spirit ; that lie has a fine flow of harmo- 
 nious versification ; and has rendered his author's sense with 
 faithfulness and perspicuity ; but my testimony can be of 
 little consequence in this case, and there is no reason to 
 doubt but that he will stand by his own intrinsic merit, 
 which the public hath already sufficiently approved." The 
 editor of the Lives of the Poets does not however give 
 Mr. Pitt credit for the great spirit discovered by Dr. 
 Wautox. He asserts that, if the versions were compared, 
 the result would be, that Dryden leads the reader forward 
 by his general vigour and sprightliness, and Pitt often 
 stops him, to contemplate the excellence of a single cou- 
 plet; tiiat Dryden's fliults are forgotten in the hurry of 
 delight, and that Pitt's beauties are neglected in the lan- 
 guor of a cold and listless perusal ; that Pitt pleases the 
 
 C/;; Specimens. 
 
 
 iEn. 4th, Verse 
 
 250 
 
 7th, 
 
 26 
 
 Do. 
 
 5S2 
 
 loLh, 
 
 253 
 
 2cl, 
 
 829 
 
 7th, 
 
 179 
 
 8th, 
 
 228 
 
 Do. 
 
 258 
 
 critics,
 
 22 lilOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 critics, and Dryden the people; that Pitt is quoted, and 
 Drvden read. 
 
 But willi thdi tranelation alone of the Eclogues and 
 Georgics are we at present concerned ; and Avith every 
 degree of veneration and love for the name and writings of 
 Dryden, I feel that passages may be brouglit forward, 
 calculated to prove that there was room for a more correct 
 and simple representation of Virgil, in his pastoral and 
 didactic poems; and that Dr. Wartoj:, without losing 
 sight of the free and manly vigour of poetry, has afforded 
 such a I'cpresentation : and this may be done with no view 
 of depreciating what Pope termed the most noble and 
 spirited translation in any language, but as an apology or 
 rather justification of a subsequent author pursuing the 
 steps and venturing on the ground once trod by so 
 distinguished a character. It is not (q) (as has been well 
 observed) by comparing line ^ith line, that tlic merit of 
 great works is to be estimated ; but by their general effects 
 and ultimate result : a weak line is easily noted, and a more 
 vigorous written in its place. Equally unfair then in a 
 writer, and tedious to a reader, would it he to extract 
 the unsuccessful passages of one transkitor, as the found- 
 ation of a panegyric on the other; it is allowable, however, 
 to state, that in the Eclogues there are (r) gross errors 
 
 committed 
 
 (q) See Johnson's Life of Dryden. 
 
 (r) Of this description are the mistaken sense of " cui non risere Parentes" 
 
 In the fourth; the careless error of putting the speech of one shepherd into 
 
 7 the
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. £3 
 
 comnuttcd by Dryden, which are corrected by Warton : 
 though at the same time it is acknowledged (in the words 
 of the above-mentioned panegyrist, on a similar occasion) 
 that nothing could have made Dryden capable of such 
 mistakes, but extreme haste in writing, which never ought 
 to be imputed as a fault to him, but to those who suftercd 
 so-noble a genius to lie under the necessity of it. 
 
 The incidental narratives and beautiful episodes which 
 diversify and enliven the Georgics of Virgil, could not fail 
 to strike his translators with the same degree of admiration, 
 « He who reads over the pleasures of a country life (says 
 Dryden in his essay on this poem), as they are desciibed: 
 by Vivgil, can scarcely be of Virgil's mind, in preferring 
 even the life of a philosopher to it. There is a wonderful, 
 vigour of spirit in the description of the horse and the 
 chariot race: the force of love is represented in noble 
 instances and sublime expressions: the Scythian winter- 
 piece appears so very cold and bleak to the eye, that a 
 man can scarce look on it Avithout shivering : the murrain 
 at the end has all the expressiveness that woids can give."' 
 No language can be well stronger than this; nor can any 
 critical opinion be in ray ideas more correct or conclusive 
 than what is contained in the following observation of 
 
 the mouth of the other, in the cclebralion of the Apotheosis of Julius Cxsar,. 
 at the beginning of the 5th Eclogue; the loose and unbridled paraphrase (for 
 it is not a translation) of the Pharmaceutria, and part of the 7th Eclogue; 
 with many others of a similar nature, denoting no want of talent, but ot 
 time and attention. 
 
 Dr.
 
 Qi BIOGRAPHICAL ME:vIOIRS 
 
 Dr. VrATxTON : " Sut although the pcet delivers his pre- 
 cepts ill the most artful manner imaginable, and renders 
 them as palatable as possible ; yet the reader will soon be 
 disgusted with a continued series of instruction, if his mind 
 be not relieved at proper interval^ by pleasing digressions 
 of various kinds, naturally arising from thje main subject, 
 and closely connected with it. If Virgil had confined 
 himself merely to agriculture, and had never inserted in 
 his poem the prodigies which attended the death of Julius 
 Caesar, the praises of Italy, the chariot race, the Scythian 
 winter-piece, the happiness of a country life, the loves of 
 the beasts, and the pathetic description of the plague 
 amongst the cattle; his Georgics, though abounding in the 
 most useful rules, delivered with dignity and grace united, 
 would never have been the delight and admiration of his 
 own and all succeeding ages." 
 
 The poet himself having succeeded, by the superior 
 merit of these very passages, in exalting his didactic poem 
 to the height of epic grandeur; and having in such in- 
 stances given it a kindred resemblance of the iEneid ; it 
 was a natural consequence, that those who had undertaken 
 to represent him in a modern language, should be more 
 than commonl}' anxious to do justice to these favorite and 
 acknowledged excellencies. Did I venture to hazard an 
 opinion on their success, it would be, that Dryden par- 
 ticularly shines in recounting the prodigies attcixlant on 
 the death of Caesar, in the praises of Italy, and in the 
 
 delineation
 
 OF Drv. JOSEPH WARTON. 25 
 
 delineation of that happiness which awaits a country life ; 
 but that he is on the whole surpassed by Dr. Warton, in 
 his description of the winter-piece, the pestilence, and the 
 loves of the beasts. In pourtraying the latter. Dr. W. has 
 kept his eye on Thomson's Spring, perhaps the happiest 
 translation of this part of the Georgics. 
 
 The story of the Shepherd Aristaus also, and the epi- 
 sode of Orpheus and Eurydice arising from it, were 
 highly calculated to draw forth the powers of the different 
 translators. There are few happier imitations than the 
 various changes of Proteus, evidently taken from the fourth 
 book of the (r) Odyssey. The descent of Orpheus, and 
 
 (r) Eidothea, when she sends Telemachus to consult her father Proteus, 
 warns him of the transformations of the Seer ; and he relates to Menelaus, 
 that the following attempts to evade his enquiry actually took place : 
 
 Abla^ i'jriila S^axuv, kj wafJa^ij, riTe (»E7«5 ci'f 
 Tlvilo J" ly^ov Joisp, j<} oEi/J^Eov v^iTtirriKo'J' 
 
 'AWi' OTE Sii f aviai' o y^^uv 6'Ko<paia el&(, 
 
 Kai TOTt ?« li iTtuamv aviipo/Mvoi •jr^oaitrntv. 
 The monsters which appear in the enchanted wood of Tasso, bear no small 
 resemblance to these transformations : 
 
 Esce allor de la sclva un suon repente 
 
 Che par rimbombo di terren, che treme: 
 
 E '1 monnorar de gli austii in lui si sente, 
 
 E'l pianto d'onda, che-fra scogli genie. 
 
 Come rugge il leon, fischia il serpente. 
 
 Come urla il lupo, e come I'orso freme, 
 
 Vodi, € v'odi le trombe, e v'odi il tuono : 
 
 Tanti, e si fatti suoni esprime un suono. 
 Certain it is, that the enchanted enclosure of Chlorinda in the pine, and 
 her wound, are taken from the history of Polydorus, in tlie third iEneid. 
 
 E the
 
 26 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 the prospect of the infernal shades, are finely given by 
 Dryden ; but it is rather extraordinary that he has entirely 
 omitted the following characteristic line : 
 
 Nesciaque humanis precibus mansuescere corda. 
 Which Warton thus happily renders 
 
 Obdurate hearts, to whom, unmov'd by woes, 
 
 Pray'rs plead in vain, and sorrow useless flows. 
 It is likewise singular that three contrary ideas have beei> 
 attached to the following effect of the fatal forfeiture : 
 
 — ^Terque fragor stagnis auditus Avernis. 
 Dryden calls it thunder and lightning; other translators 
 have deemed it the shout of ghosts, rejoicing at the return 
 of Eurydice: but is not Warton's a more natural con- 
 struction — 
 
 " A groan thrice echoed o'er Avernus' coast." 
 
 More attention has also been paid by him than by Dryden 
 to this inimitable simile : 
 
 Qualis popule4 moerens Philomela sub umbra 
 Amissos queritur foetus, quos durus Arator 
 Observans nido implumes detraxit; at ilia 
 Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen 
 Integrat, et moestis latt; loca questibus implet. 
 
 Of which perhaps it is not too much to say, that lan- 
 guage cannot alter any one word so as to give additional 
 force or feeling to the lines ; every expression furnishes a 
 1 beauty
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 27 
 
 beauty peculiar to itself, and not to be replaced by 
 another term. 
 
 Trifling however is any merit arising from translation, in 
 comparison with that which is exhibited in other component 
 parts of the work. It is not within my province, as the 
 bioo-rapher of Warton, to comment on the merits of 
 Warburton, Atterbury, or Whitehead ; the three Essays 
 which are the production of the editor give evident proofs 
 of the acute and discriminating talent which so peculiarly 
 marks his every opinion. The division (sj of that on Epic 
 Poetry, as illustrative of the jEneid, is indeed a masterly 
 performance. When to these we add the intrinsic worth of 
 the notes, derived not only from his own abundant store, 
 but enriched by a most judicious selection from that of 
 others (particularly tiie eminent critic Segrais), the edition 
 could not fail to acquire that reputation its superior utility 
 and united advantages had a right to claim. To every 
 
 Cs) Dr. Warton divides his Essay on Epic Poetry into four sections— the 
 Fable, the Characters, the Sentiments, and the Language of the iEneid ; in 
 which is contained a treasure of useful and elegant criticism. In the second 
 section, the superiority of iEneas over Achilles, as the hero of a poem, is finely 
 drawn. It must indeed, J think, have struck every classical reader, that the 
 amiable disposition, the domestic virtues, the undaunted courage, tempered 
 with every milder quality, which mark the character of Hector, render him 
 an object of far higher esteem and admiration than his conqueror: Whilst 
 iEneas, by his religious and filial piety, his unreluctant submission to the will 
 <jf the Gods, and his persevering kbours to fulfil their decrees, upholds him- 
 self uniformly as the first character, and suffers no rival to carry away any 
 share of that esteem and admiration due to his preeminent situation. 
 
 E 2 classical
 
 28 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 classical reader, indeed, Wartox's Virgil (t) will aiford the 
 richest fund of instruction and amusement ; and as a pro- 
 fessional man, 1 hesitate nt)t to declare, that I scarcely 
 know a work, to the upper classes of schools, so pregnant 
 with the most valuable advantages ; as it imparts infor- 
 mation, without the encouragement of idleness ; and crowns- 
 the exertions of necessar}' and laudable industry with the- 
 acquisition of a pure and- unadulterated taste. The Uni- 
 versity of Oxford most handsomely paid their share of the 
 debt due from the republic of letters, by granting, within 
 a very short space of time, the degree of Master of Arts,, 
 by diploma, on the editor of Virgil. 
 
 During this yeai", a most flattering invitation was held 
 out to Dr. War TON to become a party in the Adventurer; 
 a periodical paper then in the full zenith of publication. 
 The highly respectable channel through which this request 
 was made, rendered refusal impossible; nor were the 
 motives of a nature less gratifying. He was told that the 
 proprietors of the paper, having arranged their essays on 
 imagination and descriptions of life, were particularly de- 
 sirous to assign the province of criticism and literature to 
 the commentator on Virgil. Neither the great character 
 who made the request, or the public, who enjoyed the 
 benefit of it, Avere disappointed. Dr. Warton furnished 
 twenty-four papers ; amongst which are two most noble 
 
 (t) Refpectable references are repeatedly made to this edition of Virgil, 
 by Prolessor Heyne. — See his Virgil, London edition, in 1793. 
 
 essays
 
 OF DK. JOSEPH WAPiTON. e^^ 
 
 essays on the superior grandeur and sublimity of the sa- 
 cred over the profane writers; a truly humorous paper 
 on the poverty of poets ; two inimitable criticisms on the 
 Tempest, and three on the Lear of Shakespear ; two pane- 
 gyrics on the Odyssey; some very shrewd and accurate 
 observations on Milton's Paradise Lost ; two very excellent 
 treatises indicative of those branches of literature in whicli 
 the ancients excelled,, or were surpassed by the moderns; 
 and an oriental tale entitled Bozaldab, not exceeded in 
 purity of sentiment or strength of expression by the Ram- 
 bler, or any periodical work. 
 
 Still captivated by tha.t instinctive love of literature in- 
 corporated as it were in his very nature, it was the wish of 
 Dr. Warton to crown this year with an additional exertion, 
 ©f talent and criticism. He planned to unite in a volume, 
 and publish, " Select Epistles of Angelus Politianus, Desi- 
 derius, Erasmus, Hugo Grotius, and others, with notes," on 
 a scale sufficiently extensive to embrace an history of the 
 revival of learning. This design, after some correspond- 
 ence with his brother, Avho was to participate in the under- 
 taking,, was unfortunately laid aside (uj. 
 
 In the course of the next year Dr.WARxoN was instituted 
 to the living of Tunworth, on the presentation of the Jer- 
 
 (u) His friend Collins published proposals also for a History of the Revival 
 of Learning, with a life of Leo the Tenth ; but the work never appeared. See 
 Roscoe's preface to the Life of Leo X., where this plan for publishing 
 an history of ihe revival of letters^ not only in Italy, bul in every country ia 
 Europe^ is alluded to.
 
 30 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 voise family : and during the summer months paid a visit 
 to My. S pence, the author of Poly metis, and of the elegant 
 and classical essay on Pope's Odyssey ; under whose roof 
 was laid the foundation of those critical disquisitions which 
 proved his competency of deciding on the merits of mo- 
 dern, as his "N'irgil had before done on those of ancient 
 poetry. 
 
 In the year 1755 he was, on the resignation of the 
 Rev. Samuel Speed, (v) elected second master of Win- 
 chester school, Avith the management and advantages of a 
 boarding house. It was now his lot to assume in some 
 measure a new character, and turn his ideas principally 
 to a very useful but dry channel of literature. He had 
 engaged in a profession to the highest degree productive of 
 pride and mortification ; and capable of bestowing on a 
 feehng mind the utmost excess of pleasure and of pain ; a 
 profession, the anxious responsibility of which nothing but 
 the consciousness of duty willingly discharged can allc- 
 
 (v) A truly pious, learned, and benevolent man, who retired on the livings 
 of Eling and jNIartyr-Worthy, in the diocese of Winchester, and died, univer- 
 sally beloved and lamented, at the parsonage of the latter rectory, on Novem- 
 ber the 5th, 1775. Dr. Burton, the head master, had been long inclined to 
 resign his situation, couid he have secured it to Mr. Speed ; but parties at 
 that lime ran high in the Wykehamical Society. Speed was a Whig, and 
 would certainly have been nominated to the vacant Wardenship, by the visitor 
 Bidiop Hoadly, in the memorable contest, had Dr. Goiding refused the 
 appointment. The visitor and the society were at variance, and Mr. Speed 
 consequently not verv popular with the latter; Dr. Burton therefore, unable 
 to carry his point, remained; Mr. Speed retired, and was succeeded by 
 Dr. Warton. 
 
 viate ;
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 3i 
 
 viate ; and whose labour is softened only by the success of 
 its exertions, and the almost parental attachments in- 
 separable from an intercourse with youth. Gifted with a 
 disposition to embrace heartily every pursuit, it would have 
 been wonderful had he failed in one of so interesting a ten- 
 dency. He entered on his honourable employment Avith 
 all the energy a mind like his naturally conceived : but his 
 zeal was tempered with judgement, and the eagerness of his 
 expectations chastened by salutary patience. Ardent in 
 provoking emulation, and rewarding excellence, he was at 
 the same time aware that the standard of approved merit 
 must not be placed too high, or the laudable industry which 
 gradually invigorates mediocrity of talent, be crushed by 
 disproportionate demands. He knew that the human mind 
 developed itself progressively, but not always in the same 
 consistent degrees, or at periods uniformly similar. He 
 conjectured therefore that the most probable method of 
 ensuring some valuable improvement to the generality of 
 boys, was not to exact what the generality are incapable of 
 performing. As a remedy for inaccurate construction, aris- 
 ing either from apparent idleness or inability, he highly 
 approved, and sedulously imposed, translation. I\Iodesty, 
 timidity, or many other constitutional impediments, may 
 prevent a boy from displaying before his master, and in the 
 front of his class, those talents, of which privacy, and a 
 relief from these embarrassments will often give proof. If 
 Addison, in the prime of life and possession of the richest 
 
 mental
 
 33 BIOGRAPPIICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 mental endowments, could confess, when speaking of his 
 deficience in convereation, that with respect to intellectual 
 wealth " he could draw a bill for a thousand pounds, though 
 he had not a guinea in his pocket," it may be supposed 
 that boys not really destitute of talent, or incapable of 
 becoming scholars, are sometimes so oppressed by shyness 
 or fear, as not to do themselves justice in the common 
 routine of public construction, and to require a A'aried 
 metiiod of ascertaining their sufficiency of information 
 and intellect. This important end Dr. Warton thought 
 happily answered by translation ; nor did lie deem lightly 
 of its value as a general system. A habit of compostion he 
 imagined to be gradually acquired by it ; and the style 
 ftud sentiments of an author deeply engraven on the me- 
 mory of the scholar. Tliese sentiments were confirmed by 
 that most infallible test, experience ; as he declared (within 
 a few years of his death) that the best scholars he had sent 
 into the world were those whom, whilst second master, 
 he had thus habituated to translation, and given a capacity 
 of comparing and associating the idiom of the dead lan- 
 guages with their own. 
 
 Sir George Lyttletow was, in tlie course of the year 1756, 
 advanced to a peerage ; and one of his first acts was to 
 confer a scarf on Dr. Wartox. To him were submitted his 
 lordfliip's proposed altei'ations of Thomson, and imder his 
 critical eye Avas revised a part of the Life of Henry II. 
 The anxious and fatiguing avocations of a schoolmaster 
 
 did
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTOK 33 
 
 did not hoM'ever put a stop to his own literary career. In 
 the spring of this year he pubhshed the first volume of his 
 Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope, dedicated to 
 one of Wykeham's most illustrious sons, " the Author of 
 the Night Thoughts." As the doctrine contained in this 
 treatise was deemed rather novel, and the rank assigned to 
 Pope in the class of poets, not such as pleased the warm 
 admirers of that writer, the publication naturally gave rise 
 to a variety of opinion : a review under the professed direc- 
 tion of a sound critic and scholar, after particularizing his 
 commentaries on the different poems, concludes with the 
 following general observation : " Upon the whole, this 
 Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope is a most en- 
 tertaining and useful miscellany of literary knowledge and 
 candid criticism; containing censure without acrimony, 
 and praise without flattery ; and abounding with incidents 
 little known relating to celebrated writers, and instructive 
 remarks upon their characters and works." (a) 
 
 This volume is divided into six sections, and treats of 
 the following poems : 
 
 1st. The Pastorals, and the Messiah. 
 
 2d. AVindsor Forest, and Lyric Pieces, 
 
 3d. Essay on Criticism. 
 
 4th. Rape of the Lock. 
 
 fxj The following stamp of merit was likewise aflixed on the Essay by the 
 same illustrious character : " A book which teaches how the brow of criticism 
 may be smoothed, and how she may be enabled, with all her severity, to 
 attract and to delight." 
 
 F 5tll. Esi&v
 
 34 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 5th. Essay on an unfortunate Lady. Prologue to Cato, 
 and Epilogue to Jane Shore. 
 
 6th. Sappho to Phaon, and Eloise to Abelard. 
 
 Our critic, in his dedication to Dr. Young, thus classes 
 the English poets. In the first rank he places Spenser^ 
 Sbakespear, and Milton. In the second, such as possessed 
 the tvue poetical genius in a more moderate degree, but 
 ■who had noble talents for moral, ethical, and panegyrical 
 poesy ; at the head of these he classes Dri/den, Prior, 
 Addison, Cowlei/, Waller^ Garth, Fenton, Gay, Denham,. 
 and Parnell. In the third rank he places men of wit, of 
 elegant taste and lively fancy in describing familiar life, 
 though not the higher scenes of poetry ; such as Butler^ 
 Swiff, Rochester, and others. In the fourth and last class, 
 the mere versifiers ; such as Piti, Sandys, Fairfax, Broome„ 
 Buckingham, and Lansdown. To distinguish the class in 
 which Pope deserves to be placed, he declares to be the 
 intention of his essay. 
 
 It is clearly the prevalent impression on his mind, that 
 Pope was not a poet of imagination and invention, bufe 
 that he excelled in that species of poetry which was within 
 the reach of his talent ; and this species Dr. Warton very 
 openly defines to be " the art of making the most solid 
 observations on human life, expressed with the utmost ele- 
 gance and brevity, and decorated with a correct, smooth, 
 and harmonious vCiSification." This idea he had taken up 
 very early in life. In his satire entitled Ranelagh House, 
 1 one
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 55 
 
 one of the first pieces of information the famihar spirit 
 communicates to Philomides is, that " Mr. Pope had 
 taken his place in the Elysian fields, not amongst the 
 poets, but the philosophers; and that he was more fond 
 of Socrates' company than Homer's." 
 
 This volume produced within a few years, a Life of Pope ^?6j. 
 by Mr. RufFhead, a gentleman at the bar, written expressly 
 to defeat the statements, and correct, as he terms them, 
 the misrepresentations of Dr. War ton: a performance in 
 which, it must be owned, censure becomes harsh, and at 
 times trivially minute ; whilst approbation half withheld, 
 and reluctantly extorted, may be truly said to only 
 " damn with faint praise." Johnson expressed himself 
 very strongly, " RufFhead knows nothing of Pope or of 
 poetry ;" and the following letter from the very able and 
 elegant author of Remarks on the Beauties of Poetry, 
 Painting, and Music, w^ill prove how little the commen- 
 tator on Pope had to fear from his antagonist : 
 *' My dear Sir, 
 
 " I cannot deny myself the pleasure of congratulating 
 you on the feeble attack of the Junto. It was just what 
 I expected, when the Muses were brought to the bar, and 
 Criticism made her appearance in the shape of an ad- 
 vocate. 
 
 '" What a heavy and embarrass'd introduction; then that 
 
 eternal However. What do you think of, " the display of 
 
 genius depends on the power of attention, attention on 
 
 the strength of passion, the passion on certain constitu 
 
 F 2 tional-
 
 i^G BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 tional differences of our minds." Was there ever such 
 btuff! — What a happy transition from the fruits of genius, 
 matur'd by an assiduous culture, to parts producing a 
 momentary blaze ! " The refreshing showers of applause 
 occasionally revived." " True genius, as is well observed 
 by a critic, rarely resides in a cold phlegmatic constitu- 
 tion;" — a notable discovery ! 
 
 " And headlong streams hang list'ning in their fall." 
 I can discover nothing new in this idea but its extrava- 
 gance. It puts me in mind of the fool, who, when his com- 
 panion had made a great leap, took his spring from the 
 place where the other had finished, and swore he had 
 outleapt him ! In the bee of Theocritus, I feel the simpli- 
 city of a shepherd ; the captive bird of Pope is the smart 
 thought of a citizen. What refined criticism on ihe word 
 employ ! " To illustrate the noblest objects in nature by 
 the frugal management of colours." This it is to have a 
 picturesque imagination ! 
 
 " How strangely has he wheel'd in Pompey's theatre ; 
 was there ever such a machine so introduced .'' Then 
 the i^v&og of the story — What a fine thing it is to be 
 learned ! Ah ! che bella cosa d' "epere erudito ! 
 
 " I have done, my good friend ; I can go no farther ; 
 airiosity, friendship^ indignation, are all overpower'd, and 
 I sink under the weight of this parchment criticism. 
 Farewell, and believe me to be 
 Your ever faithful and affectionate humble servant, 
 
 Dan. Webbe."
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 37 
 
 Dr. John Hoadly, a man of shrewd liumour and acute 
 understanding, prided himself not a httle on having marked 
 the very passages ridiculed by Webbe, and in a congratu- 
 latory letter compared Ruffhead's verbosity and dryness 
 to his own Statutes at Large. JMuch is to be allowed to the 
 force of private friendship, and the anger which the writer* 
 of these letters might feel on what they deemed an unwar- 
 rantable attack on Warton. But what shall we say of John- 
 son's condemnation ? who certainly did not thoroughly agree 
 with Warton in his ideas of Pope, and who thought most 
 highly of Warburton, under Avhose immediate patronage 
 Ruffhead's Life was known to be written. Let us bring 
 forward those parts in which the Essayist, as he is there 
 called, is supposed by this gentleman not to have done 
 justice to Pope's genius ; and see how far the facts will bear 
 him out in his censure. 
 
 The two great objections brought against Dr. War- 
 ton's criticism on the Pastorals are, his denial of their 
 claim to novelty, and his preference of Theocritus. 
 The Biographer closes his objections with stating, that 
 if the first charge were true, of there not being a novel 
 image in the Pastorals, it is no more than what the 
 Poet himself premises, with that candour and modesty 
 which is ever attendant on genuine merit; for, in his 
 excellent discourse prefixed to these Pastorals, he con- 
 cludes with the following declaration : " But, after all, if 
 they have any merit, it is tp be attributed to some good old 
 
 authorsj
 
 38 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 authors, whose works, as I had leisure to study, so I hope 
 I have not wanted care to imitate." Why then not fairly 
 acknowledge what all know to be true, that pastoral 
 poetry at this day must be imitative, and that novelty is 
 not to be expected; instead of hunting for peculiar ex- 
 pressions to establish what I own strikes me as the weak 
 foundation of an unstable structure. 
 
 The first instance of new imagery is the line which "Webbe 
 so severe!}'- ridicules : 
 
 " And headlong streams hang list'ning as they fall." 
 Which little deviates from the idea comprized in 
 
 " Et mutata suos requierunt flumina cursus." 
 In the others, 
 
 " The balmy zephyrs, silent since her death, 
 Lament the ceasing of a sweeter breath," 
 and, 
 
 " No more the mounting larks, while Daphnis sings, 
 Shall, list'ning in mid air, suspend their wings," 
 it is not perhaps unjust to say that Mr, Ruffhead has 
 confused a new combination of images, used before, with 
 new imagery ; every idea in these lines is to be found in 
 other pastoral writers, though perhaps not exactly so com- 
 bined, or forming precisely the same picture. 
 
 In prefcmng the SiciUan poet to his host of imitators, 
 Dr. Warton, 1 imagine, has the majority of the literary 
 world with him. The language in which Theocritus wrote 
 has in the first place all the advantages harmony can give. 
 
 The
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 39 
 
 The figs, honey, and clusters of grapes, owing to the faci- 
 lity of procuring them, are deemed by the biographer of 
 Pope an improper reward for the contending shepherds; 
 but, surely, they are most naturally and properly intro- 
 duced in that climate which brings them to perfection, and 
 gives them a value, from superior flavour, unattainable in 
 any other. The prize is not to be estimated by its rarity, 
 but its excellence. The sultry Sirius, properly introduced 
 by the Sicilian, and improperly by the English poet in the 
 opinion of Dr.WARTON, Mr. R. thinks equally beautiful 
 in both, because during the dog-days we have sometimes 
 weather in which a Grecian Avould feel warm: on such 
 an argument the reader will fix his OAvn estimate. — Of the 
 sacred eclogue entitled the IVIessiah, little is said except to 
 hold it up as a proof of the sublimity of Mr. Pope's 
 genius. Dr. Warton gives it an unqualified preference to 
 the fourth Eclogue of Virgil. The subject in fact has the 
 same relative superiority to the Pollio, tlrnt the Paradise 
 Lost possesses over the Iliad and iEneid. But truly great 
 as is the poetical merit which Mr. Pope derives from the 
 composition, we must look for the sublimity in the Book 
 of Isaiah. To have versified that sublimity with success, is. 
 the exclusive palm of the poet. 
 
 The next piece brought on the tapis is the Windsor 
 Forest , where Mr. RufFhead complains, that the Essayist 
 prejudges his author, by asserting " that descriptive poetry 
 was by no means his shining talent," and threatens to prove 
 
 his
 
 40 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 his mistake by his own citations ; but unfortunately the 
 commentators disagree in their definition. Mr. Ruffhead 
 certainly quotes passages beautifull}'^ descriptive, but they 
 by no means contradict Dr.WARXON's statement, according 
 to his own explanation ; Avhich is, that rural beauty and 
 general delineations of landscape scener}^ however excel- 
 lent in themselves, are not sufficient ; miages should be 
 brought forward peculiarly attached to the spot cele- 
 brated, and descriptive of grace inseparable from it ; not 
 those which are equally applicable to any place what- 
 soever (y) . 
 
 In the Lyric Pieces Mr. Ruffhead observes, with respect 
 to the following lines in the Ode on St. Cecilia's Da}-^, 
 " By music minds an equal temper know. 
 Nor swell too high, nor sink too low," 
 that the}"- certainly are flat, but that their flatness is a 
 beauty. For to blame flatness in the beginning of this 
 stanza, would be as if a learner in mathematics should 
 censure the dryness of a theorem, because he does not im- 
 
 (y) The highly ingenious John Scott, in his Critical Essays, thus confirms 
 and approves this opinion : " Windsor Forest, the author's age when it was 
 written considered, is really a good performance ; it has much beautiful de- 
 scription and musical versification, but is not without defects. Dr. Warton 
 has justly observed that it has too little matter peculiar to its subject. The 
 digression on the Norman tyranny, the detail of rural sports, and the speech 
 of Father Thames, employ a considerable portion of the poem ; but they 
 are extraneous parts that might have suited as well in another work." 
 
 See Scott's Essays, with his Life by Hoole. 
 
 mediately
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 41 
 
 mediately perceive that fertility and abundance "vvhicli 
 spring up from it on profound cultivation ! !! (z) 
 
 (z) It is rather remarkable, that Mr. Rufl'liead takes no notice of Dr. 
 Warton's judicious commentary on the choruses written for Buckinirham's 
 tragedy of Brutus, and the happy illustrations of a similar objection made by 
 Aristotle to many choruses in Euripides, as being foreign and adventitious to 
 the subject, and not sufficiently appropriated to the particular plot or action. 
 The examples taken from the Phoenicians, the Troades, and the Iphigenia iu 
 Tauris, are much to the point; but I cannot help wishing that Dr. Wartou 
 had inserted, as a counterpoise, the two choruses in the Medea of the same 
 poet, beginning "Avw •E;o7a//ii;v isjav and "Ejutej ia-i^ ijkv ayar; both of which arc 
 not only possessed of a high degree of abstract merit, but are specifically and 
 strongly applicable to the feelings and situation of the heroine. What can be 
 more pleasing or convincing than his preference of Sophocles .? " On the other 
 hand, the choruses of Sophocles never desert the subjed of each particular 
 drama, and all their sentiments and reflections are drawn from the situation 
 of the principal personage of the fable. Nay, Sophocles hath artfully found a 
 method of making those poetical descriptions, with which the choruses of the 
 ancients abound, carry on the chief design of the piece ; and has by these 
 means accomplished what is a great difficulty in writing tragedy — has united 
 poetry with propriety. In the Philoctetes the chorus takes a natural occasion, 
 at verse 694, to give a minute and moving picture of the solitary hfe of that 
 unfortunate hero ; and when afterwards, at verse 848, pain has totally e.\'- 
 hausted the strength and spirits of Philoctetes, and it is necessary for the 
 plot of the tragedy, that he should fall asleep, it is then that the chorus 
 breaks out into an exquisite ode to sleep— as in the Antigone, with equal 
 beauty and decorum, in an address to the god of love, at verse jg-<. of that play. 
 And thus, lastly, when the birth of Oidipus is doubtful, and his parents un- 
 known, the chorus suddenly exclaims, Tif cte, nKvov, tij o-' iWb juv fnxK^atuvuv, 
 See. From which, O my son, of the immortal gods, didst thou spring? 
 Was it some uymph, a favourite of Pan, that haunts the mountains ; or 
 some daughter of Apollo, for this god loves the remote rocks and caverns, 
 who bore you ? Or was it Mercury who reigns in Cyllene ; or did Bacchus, 
 ©Eo; vaiav i-K ax^oiv o^suv, a god who dwells on the tops of the mountains, 
 beget you, on any of the nymphs that possess Hehcon, with whom he fre- 
 quently sports ?" Warton on Pope, Vol. Ift,. 
 
 G Tlie
 
 42 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 The Essay on Criticism calls forth but one strong ani- 
 madversion on Dr. Warton, which arises from the follow- 
 ing passage : 
 
 " Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take, 
 
 May boldly deviate from the common track ; 
 From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part. 
 And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art ; 
 "Which, without passing through the judgment, gains 
 The heart, and all its ends at once obtains." 
 Here (says Dr. Warton) is evidently a blamable mix- 
 ture of metaphors, where the attributes of the horse and 
 the rider are confounded; the former may justly be said 
 to take a nearer \vay, and to deviate from the track, but 
 how can a horse snatch a grace or gain a heart ? Pegasus 
 (replies Mr. Ruffhead) is here only used as a generic name 
 for poetiy. To this let it be said that the absurdity must 
 exist on one side or the other : Poetry cannot be gallop- 
 ing the nearer way, and, vice versa, the horse cannot snatch 
 
 the grace, &c. (a) 
 
 I can- 
 
 (a) In a review, of June 1773, is the following explanation of this appa- 
 rently absurd passage : "■ Neither Mr. Warton's criticism on that line 
 of Pope, 
 
 " And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art," 
 nor Q.'s vindication of it, bring any censure upon Pope, but only upon 
 Warburton, who first caused that confusion of metaphors reproved by them, 
 through his alteration of the disposition which Pope had originally given 
 to the hnes in question. It is wonderful that Mr. Ruffhead should have 
 never observed this, which would have afibrded him a belter means of justi- 
 fying
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 43 
 
 1 cannot quit this part of the work without alluding to 
 another attack to which Dr. Wartoist was sulijected by his 
 commentary on the Essay on Criticism : he remarks[on the 
 passage 
 
 " One science only will one genius fit," 
 that some nicer virtuosi have observed, that in the serious 
 pieces into which Hogarth has deviated from the natural 
 bias of his genius, there are some strokes of the ridiculous 
 discernible, which suit not with the dignity of his subject. In 
 his Preaching of St. Paul, a dog snarling at a cat, and in 
 his Pharaoh's Daughter, the figure of the infant IVIoses, 
 who expresses rather archness than timidity, are alleged, 
 as instances that this artist, unrivalled in his own walk, 
 could not resist the impulse of his imagination towards 
 drollery. 
 
 With this remark Hogarth was violently and unnecessa- 
 rily offended ; he introduced a publication of Warton's into 
 
 fying Pope, than the equivocation which he employs, unless indeed Ruft'head 
 wrote his account of Pope under the direction of Warburton, of the truth 
 of which this perhaps suggests a proof. I have now in my hands the 
 seventh edition of the Art of Criticism, published by Lintott, before War- 
 burton wrote his notes upon it; and in this, and all others by Pope him- 
 selfj the passage in question is disposed after the following manner : 
 
 Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take. 
 May boldly deviate from the common track; 
 Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend. 
 And rise to faults true critics dare not mend ; 
 From vulgar bounds with brave disorder partj 
 And snatch a grace beyond the rules of art." 
 
 G 2 one
 
 44 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 one of his most ludicrous (b) prints, and vowed an " immor- 
 tale odium;" by the interference however of Dr. Hoadly and 
 Ganick, a reconciliation took place; the Doctor, by softening 
 the observation, made the amende honorable in a subsequent 
 edition of his Avork, and Hogarth apologized and was sa- 
 tisfied. 
 
 The Biographer remarks that the critics have esteemed, 
 and some of them perhaps invidiously^ the Rape of the 
 Lock the piece in which Pope principally appears as a 
 poet: if this idea alludes to Dr. Warton, the subjoined 
 note (cj will shew how far he is mistaken. AVith more 
 justice perhaps, he complains that a claim of originality has 
 not been sufficiently allowed, in the Essay, to the machinery 
 of the Sylphs, which give such beautiful and various graces 
 to this poem. * 
 
 His elaborate panegyric on the following couplet I own 
 strikes me as rather ludicrous : 
 
 " But, speaking of the knave of diamonds, our poet 
 still rises in excellence; and to the utmost elegance of 
 description adds the nicest touches of oblicjue raillery; 
 
 (b) He was very fond of this littleness of revenge. A worthy and serious 
 minded man at Windsor, whose name was Dalton, had by some means 
 offended him. In the Harlot's Progress is to be seen over her bed, a wig-box, 
 with this inscription, " John Dallon, his wig-box." 
 
 (c) I think one may venture to remark, that the reputation of Pope, as a 
 poet, among posterity, will be principally owing to his Windsor Forest, his 
 Rape of the Lock, and his Eloisc to Abelard; whilst the facts and characters 
 alluded to and exposed in his later writings will be forgotten and unknown, 
 and their poignancy and propriety little relished : for wit and satire arc 
 transitory and perishable ; but nature and passion are eternal. 
 
 1 « The
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 45 
 
 *' The knave of diamonds tries his wily arts. 
 And wins (oh I shameful chance) the queen of hearts." 
 Surely this smartness on diamonds and hearts has enlivened 
 every Christmas table of Putt and All-fours from time 
 immemorial. 
 
 It is needless, however, to bring forward every objec- 
 tion raised by a work which never has lowered the 
 reputation of Dr. Warton's classical and entertaining 
 volume, and which I have reason to think he considered 
 " telum imbelle sine ictu." The Epistle of Eloise to 
 Abelard is the production on which the sentiments of the 
 two commentators are most congenial ; they both deem this 
 poem the most highly finished, and most interesting of his 
 pieces ; his " chef-d'oeuvre," as to genuine feeling and pa- 
 thetic composition. Let the reader turn to their several 
 remarks on this poem, and he will soon discover which has 
 the highest relish for poetry, and a judgment best calculated 
 to estimate its merits and degrees. 
 
 The spring of 1766 gave the subject of these Memoirs, on 
 the resignation of Dr. Burton, the literary superintendance 
 of that school to the fame and welfare of which, during the 
 last eleven years, he had sensibly contributed. On the 12th 
 of May he was appointed Head Master, and was succeeded 
 in the ushership by the Rev. Thomas CollinsfdJ, Avho had 
 
 been 
 
 (d) To a noble spirit, and a mind superior to every selfish consideration, 
 Mr. Collins added, in the highest degree. Christian piety and profound 
 erudition. As a man, tlie liberality of his heart was unbounded; and his 
 
 contempt
 
 46 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 been a fellow of New College, and to whose direction the 
 free-school, under the patronage of that society, had been 
 entrusted. 
 
 Dr. Warton's inaugural speech, on taking possession of 
 this situation, in answer to the senior boy's congratulatory 
 address, I have been so fortunate as to procure : 
 
 " Apte et ornate partes, in hoc consessu, tibi demandatas, 
 Juvenis egregie ! peregisti ; mallem tamen, q\i6d in laudibus 
 meis parcior fuisses, nee ninii^ praedicatione, magis certfe 
 ex officio, quam ex veritate, longe mihi majora, quam 
 
 contempt of money, such as to preclude the meanness of avarice, or the 
 servile blandishments of sycophantic dependence. To a superiority of talents 
 and virtue he conscientiously bowed, but, allured not by the corruptions, or 
 terrified by the power of the great, he bowed to these only. As a master, he 
 was sedulously accurate in imparting the first rudiments of classical learning, 
 andin impressing the necessary foundation of grammar, without which, he 
 well knew, no real scholarship could be obtained. He strictly and impartially 
 inflicted those punishments productive only of present pain and degradation; 
 but was feelingly averse to the more serious penalties, by which future pros- 
 pects in life are aflTected. In the year 1784, he resigned this situation; and 
 after many years of accunuilated sorrow and anxiety, originating in the guilt 
 of others, and arising from sources to which he naturally looked forward for 
 comfort and felicity; after surviving three excellent daughters, who in the 
 discharge of their relative duties had proved their descent from such a father, 
 he died in his seventy-fifth year, at Bath ; and with humble and pious fortitude 
 resigned his spirit into the hands of that Saviour on whose merits he relied, 
 and to whose precepts he had ever so laudably adhered. 
 
 Amid the numerous Wykchamical characters that at this day fill respect- 
 able situations in society, many nre there who entirely owe their literary ex- 
 istence to the munificence of Mr. Collins. The Editor of these Memoirs with 
 pride acknowledges, that much, very much is due from him to his noble-minded 
 friend; and he is confident that others who have equal, some perhaps still 
 greater obligations, to his unwearied liberality, will feel, that their reverence 
 for the memory of such a guardian and guide, cannot be too sacred, or their 
 gratitude too exemplary and cheerful. 
 
 mcrui.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 47 
 
 merui, tribuisses. Sentio equidem quam arduum munus et 
 difficultate plenum, cui vires meae parura responsurae sunt, 
 a te custos colendissime ! et a vobis, socii dig.! mihi benig- 
 nissini^ concessum, hodierno die suscepeiim ; quod tamen, 
 licet anxio et soUicito animo certe gratissimo me accipere 
 nou dissimulo ; neque enim ex iis sum, qui omnibus officiis, 
 utcunque a studiis suis, et vitee ratione ab horrent ibus, sese 
 pares putent, et idoneos. Hoc tantum profiteor; si quid in 
 humanioribus literis unquam profecerim, id omne ad banc 
 provinciam, saltem diligent^r, si forsan exilit^r, adminis- 
 trandam, polliceor ac defero. Quod vero sollicitudine ma- 
 jori delegatum munus ineam, efFecit Antecessoris mei Fama: 
 Venerabilis illius Senis, a cujus optimA discipline, Wicca- 
 mici! fere omnes litcrarum elementa hausimus ; quique liuic 
 instituto per tot annos adeo cumulate satisfecit, ut, omnibus 
 post se Venturis, quicquid aut docendi aut ingenia diversa 
 investigandi, aut juveniles impetus cobibendi, laudis sit 
 et glorias, facile prseripuerit. Interea, levari mihi hoc 
 onus baud diffitcor, spesque novas subinde succrescere, 
 cum mecum reputo, qualem in difficillimo hoc regiminis 
 genere, quod nunc ingredior, adjutorem habuerim, Comi- 
 tem, Ducem. Custodem ilium admodum reverendum in- 
 telligo, qui summd humanitate pi'aeditus, rerum usu ac 
 pi-udentia instructissimus, nuU^ non dote perornatus, qufe 
 vel bonum virum vel gnarum rectorem rit^ designare possit, 
 rebus nostris tant^ cum dignitate priest; cujus amabilem 
 suavissimamque indolem, a primd pueritiA, in hoc almo 
 
 domicilio,
 
 48 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 domicilio, Puer ipse unu nutritus jam olini cognovi et dilcxi : 
 cujus denique in hac niea provincia, fide uti, consiliis regi, 
 auctoritate detendi, ut commodo mihi maximo, ita maxiino 
 semper erit lionoii : Quinetiam fortunis meis jam gratu- 
 landum fore puto, quod laboris hujus et Palsestrai Participera 
 mihi hodie suftectum viderim, qui non rudis et hospes ad 
 hoc opus accedit, sed ingenii et industriie laude spectatus, 
 jamdudum quibusdam Wykehami fiUoHs erudiendis operam 
 fehcissim6 navavit. cum quo itaque, ut officii ratione arct6 
 conjungor, arctius utinam amiciti^ conjungar: Ad vos 
 denique, dilectissimi Pueri ! mea se ritb convertit Orati- 
 uncula; supremum hoc in vos imperium me suscipientem, 
 volo, revereamini, potius, quam reformidetis. Amore enim 
 potius quam metu, longe tutius sustinetur Autoritas, longc; 
 certius Obedientia concihatur. In poenis et in jirjiemiis 
 a^quara semper servabo legem. Factiosos, Ari-ogantes, 
 Maleferiatos pra?scrtim notabo : corripiam. Si quibus 
 inest ingenii et virtutis indoles, quam vestrum plurimis in- 
 esse perspexi, incitabo, adjuvabo, fovebo. In Vobis Wicca- 
 micorum sodalitiorum spes omniset futura fama continentur; 
 a Vobis, Alumni florentissimi ! quorum praecipue in gratiam 
 et commoditatem moenia haec construxit, uberrimum atque 
 optimum Munificentiae suee fructum, Fundator vester ex- 
 pectat, qui de republica, de ecclesia, de patria deque 
 humano generc tantum merit us est, ut illius nomcn exan- 
 nalibus nostris nulla unqiiam dclebit Oblivio." 
 
 He likewise, in consequence of this highly honourable 
 
 situation,
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 49 
 
 situation, once more visited Oxford, and proceeded by the 
 regular method to the accumulated degrees of Batchelor, 
 and Doctor in Divinity. 
 
 The fame of the school under such auspices could not be 
 otherwise than great (^ej. Whilst a far larger number of com- 
 moners 
 
 (e) Dr. Warlon bad a decided and well-grounded partiality for public 
 education ; be had given indeed ample proofs, by bis own talents and ex- 
 ertions, to what perfection the system of literature in a great school might be 
 brought. — How animated is the following stricture on a couplet of Pope's 
 Dunciad, ver. 150. [Words we teach alone.] " Here is a gross 'misrepre- 
 sentation of a fact, easily confuted by a great cloud of witnesses. When he 
 made this assertion, our poet must have been very ill-informed of what is 
 constantly taught in our great schools. To read, to interpret, to translate 
 the best poets, orators and historians, of the best ages; that is, those authors 
 ' that supply most axioms of prudence, most principles of moral truth, most 
 examples of virtue and integrity, most materials for conversation;' cannot be 
 called confining youth to words alone, and keeping them out of the way of 
 real knowledge. And as to plying the memory, and loading the brain, as in 
 verse 157, it was the opi«ion of Milton, and is a practice in our great semi- 
 naries, ' that if passages from the heroic poems, orations, and tragedies of 
 the ancients, were solemnly pronounced, with right accent and grace, they 
 would endue the scholars even with the spirit and vigour of Demosthenes or 
 Cicero, Euripides or Sophocles.' The illustrious names of Wyndham, Talbot, 
 Murray, and Pulteney, which our author himself immediately adds, and 
 which catalogue might be much enlarged with the names of many great 
 statesmen, lawyers, and divines, past and present, are a strong confutation of 
 this opprobrious and futile objection. Perhaps he adopted this false opinion 
 from that idle book on education which Locke disgraced himself by writing; 
 who seems never to have read the second chapter of the first book of Quintilian 
 on this subject; and which is as much superior in strength of reasoning, as it 
 is in elegance of style, to the treatise of our great British philosopher." 
 
 It would be an insult to the above conclusive answer, to attempt one word 
 H of
 
 50 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 moners than had been known at any former period filled 
 the boarding houses at Winchester, the University honors, 
 particularly those procured b}' poetical efforts, were suc- 
 cessively borne away by the members of New College. That 
 pure and manly taste Avhich distinguished the Master, could 
 not fail to influence, in a considerable degree, the pro- 
 ductions of the scholars. But, alas! amidst this prospect of 
 worldly prosperity, Avhilst the Doctor fondly indulged that 
 happiness which ever awaits the gratification of laudable 
 ambition ; an event occurred, which was deemed the com- 
 plete wreck of his domestic felicity. The wife whom he 
 still adored with unabating love, whose prudent and useful 
 exertions contributed to the affluence, whilst her unaffected 
 good sense and endearing tenderness secured the bliss and 
 comfort of his life, fell a victim to a rapid and unconquer- 
 
 of additional defence. With such champions as Warton and Vincent, no 
 minor auxiharies are wanted. Independent however of the natural bias 
 arising from my professional pursuits, I have a peculiar pleasure in bringing 
 forward the above note, as it is the fashionable cant of the day to run down 
 that system of instniction to which we have been through many ages in- 
 debted for our brightest luminaries in church and state; and whose con- 
 ductors have been eminently and successively distinguished for sound 
 orthodoxy, and useful learning. Private tuition, like private patronage, is 
 calculated to suit particular situations, and sometimes to serve particular 
 purposes. But surely the established religion of the Church of England 
 can by no means be more successfully secured to the rising generation, 
 than when education is pursued on the open and acknowledged system of 
 great schools, and preferment is in the bands of public and authorized 
 foundations. 
 
 able
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 51 
 
 able disease, and left him the wretched widowed parent of 
 six children ^y^. 
 
 About this time he became a member of the Literary Club ; 
 Avith many of whom (g) individually he had long been 
 intimate ; and was concerned in the famous round robin sent 
 to Johnson, on his inscription for Goldsmith's monument. 
 Mr, Boswell, with whom Dr. Johnson is infallible, and who 
 appears to look on his idolized friend with the same eyes a 
 fond mother views her spoiled child, remarks that Mr. 
 Langton (h), who was one of the company at Sir Joshua's, 
 like a sturdy/ scholar, resolutely refused to sign it. Does he 
 by this expression intend to attach want of scholarship to 
 such men as Wartotst, Burke, Gibbon, Barnard, Colman, 
 Reynolds, and others who did sign it — I should hope not. 
 And with respect to Johnson's allusion to an epitaph on 
 Erasmus in Dutch, it is by no means analogous; Gold- 
 smith's works are entirely in his native tongue; he was never 
 celebrated as a proficient in the dead languages; nor has he 
 sent into the world any composition, translation, or criti- 
 
 (f) She died on October the 5th, 1772. 
 
 (g) Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Burke, Mr. G. Hamilton, Mr. 
 Colman, Sec. 
 
 (h) The Editor is far, very far, from insinuating the least disrespect to- 
 wards Mr. Langton; for whose talents and virtues he had the warmest esteem. 
 Although not personally acquainted with him, he feels that he only fulfilled a 
 duty by a voluntary attendance at Mr. Langton's funeral on ChristriiHs-da}^ 
 1801. How much was he surprised to find, that from a con:i;derable 
 number of scholars, both by pursuit and profession, then resident at Soath- 
 iimpton, not one thought it incumbent on him to pay the la^t tribute of respect 
 to such a man as Beunet Lun2:tou.
 
 52 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 cism connected Avith them. The idea therefore was to 
 commemorate him in Enghsh, as a writer eminently dis- 
 tinguished in that language, and in that only. It will 
 scarcely, I think, be allowed, that the same plea exists for 
 an epitaph in Dutch on Erasmus. If the walls of West- 
 minster Abbey are disgraced by English inscriptions, no 
 less writers than Milton and Pope have contributed to their 
 degradation. 
 
 The duties of a schoolmaster, and the necessity of 
 an intelligent female to superintend a family composed 
 of such various and complicated parts, soon convinced 
 Dr. Wa ETON how incumbent on him it was to soothe his 
 anguish by the admission of new comforts, and curb the 
 violence of unavailing and destructive regret. He indeed 
 paid the truest compliment to the memory of his departed 
 Avife, by taking the steps he then thought most conducive 
 to the welfare of her family, and by forming those con- 
 nexions, from which they Avould probably derive both im- 
 proA'ement and felicity. In December 1773 he married 
 Miss Nicholas, daughter of Robert Nicholas, Esq. and 
 a descendant of Dr. N. formerly Warden of the College. 
 I have the authority of his excellent sister, Mrs. Jane 
 Warton, for asserting that he Avas peculiarly fortunate in 
 his connexions ; both Avives being most amiable and good 
 Avomen. 
 
 During the year 1778, their Majesties, in reviewing the 
 summer encampments, visited AYinchester, and honoured 
 
 the
 
 or DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 53 
 
 the College with their presence. On their entrance into 
 the school, the following elegant Latin address, composed 
 bj Dr. WARTONfij, was delivered by Mr. Chamberlayne, 
 the senior scholar on the foundation : 
 
 " Regum antiquorum, Rex augustissinie, movem revocas, 
 qui literatorum .sodalitiis interesse, oculisque et aspectu 
 doctrinaruin studia comprobare non indignum putabant 
 amplitudine su^. Et profect6 complures regios hospites, 
 Henricos, Edvardos, Carolos, olim excepit vetus hoc incly- 
 tumque Musarum domicilium; nullum, qvii bonas literas, 
 te. Pater illustrissim^, vel magis amaverit, vel auxerit, vol 
 ornaverit. Quin et animum tuum, propensamque in literas 
 voluntatem vel hoc abunde testari possit, qu6d vicina castra, 
 tot tantisque procerum Britannicorum pro patriA, militan- 
 tium praesidiis instructissima, bellicis spectacuhs te non 
 penitus occupatum tenuere, quo minus et togatam juven- 
 tutem respiceres, et ex armorum strepitu remissionem 
 quandani literati hujus otii captares. Ut diu vivas et 
 valeas, in utriusque Minerv?e perennem gloriam, tibi 
 fausta et felicia comprecantur omnia voventque, Wic- 
 camici tui." 
 
 A copy of blank verse was also spoken on this occa- 
 sion by Lord Shaftesbury, then a boarder at Dr. War- 
 ton's. The King, with his accustomed condescension and 
 
 (i) This oration is inserted in M;int's Wartoii as the production of the late 
 laureate. Mr. M.'s authority fully justified the supposition ; hut I have indis- 
 putable evidence that it is the composition of Dr. Warton. 
 
 liberality,
 
 54 BIOGRAPHICAL MEINIOIRS 
 
 liberality, left one hundred guineas to be divided between 
 the three senior scholars (k) . 
 
 It is no less reprehensible than remarkable, that the 
 talents of the poet and critic, and the successful exertions 
 of the instructoi-, had as yet received neither encouragement 
 or remuneration. Nor had one man of power and patron- 
 age, though the sons of many were entrusted to liis care, 
 deemed it incumbent on him to confer either affluence or 
 dignity on their INIaster. It remained for a Prelate most 
 high in theological and classical reputation, for one who 
 knew the value of literary acquirements, and was in his 
 OAvn person a distinguished example of the public benefit 
 to which they may be converted, to do honour to himself 
 and his situation (I) by the preferment of Dr. Warton. 
 
 In 
 
 (k) Dr.Warton's house at this period was filled with men of high and acknow- 
 ledged talents. Amongst whom were Lord Palnierston, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 Messrs. Stanley, Waiton, and Garrick. To the latter a very whimsical acci- 
 dent occurred. The horse which carried him to the review, on his casually 
 alighting, by some means got loose and ran away. In tliis dilemma, assuming 
 the attitude of Richard, he exclainied amidst the astonished soldiers, 
 
 " A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse !" 
 w hich having reached the King's ears, he immediately asserted, " Those must be 
 the tones of Garrick ; see if he is on the ground." Mr. G. was consequently 
 found, and presented to his ^lajesty, who, in addition to many other compli- 
 ments, assured him that his delivery of Shakespcar could never pass un- 
 discovered. 
 
 (I) \Ahen this passage is read, it will scarcely be credited that the sons 
 of a prime minister were in his boarding-house whilst he was Second, and the 
 heir-apparent of a secretary of state, whilst he was First Master of Win- 
 <hi f ter College. During the education of the latter, a prebend of Rochester 
 was much talked of^ but the hopes of possession weie never realized : and in 
 
 the
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 55 
 
 In the year 1782, the eminently learned and pious Dr. 
 Lowth, then Bishop of London, bestowed on him a prebend 
 of St. Paul's, and within the year added the living of 
 Chorley in Hertfordshire, which, after some arrangements, 
 the Doctor exchanged for Wickhj^m. 
 
 This year gave also to the world the long expected sequel 
 of the Essay on Pope ; a great part of which volume had 
 for some time been printed, and the completion of which 
 was retarded from motives of a most delicate and laudable 
 nature. This work is divided into eight sections : 
 
 The First treats of the celebrated vision entitled. The 
 Temple of Fame. 
 
 The Second contains remarks on the story of January and 
 May, and the Wife of Bath, with the translations of Sta- 
 tins, and Ovid. 
 
 The Third— The Essay on Man. 
 
 Fourth — Moral Essays, in five Epistles. 
 Fifth— Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. 
 Sixth — Satires and Epistles of Horace imitated. Sa- 
 tires of Donne versified, Avith an Epilogue 
 to the Satires, 
 
 the cause of the former pupils, the school and its masters were exposed to the 
 satirical lash of Churchill, and the virulent opposition of Wilkes. When a friend 
 expressed his surprize to Dr. Warton, that none of the gentlemen concerned 
 in the education of Lord B — te's children had been provided for in a manner 
 adequate to their fair expectations, he replied — In fact, my dear Sir, the 
 Premier's ideas reach not beyond Scotland ; his mind therefore naturally places 
 us on a footing with the clergy of that kingdom ; and to no higher affluence 
 does he think we have a claim. 
 
 The
 
 56 BIOGRAPPIICAL JNIEMOIRS 
 
 The Seventh— The Dunciad. 
 
 Eighth and last — Some imitations of Horace — Mis- 
 cellanies, Epitaphs, and Prose Works. 
 
 The Temple of Fame is confessedly taken from Chaucer's 
 " House of Fame," and Dr. Wartox omits not the oppor- 
 tunity of paying a just tribute to the merit of that great 
 author, particularly in rectifying the mistake, that his chief 
 excellence lay, in his manner of treating light and ridicu- 
 lous subjects (??i) ; though he at the same time gives a most 
 entertaining and interesting account of the bards of Pro- 
 vence, and the Italians, particularly Boccace and Petrarch, 
 to Avhom Chaucer perpetually owns his obligations, and 
 which in some degree detract from his originality. 
 
 Amongst many judicious and apposite remarks on this 
 poem, the first which deservedly challenges the attention 
 of the reader, is the commentator's astonishment at Pope's 
 omission of the Greek tragedians. This criticism is so 
 replete both with truth and taste, that it would be injustice 
 not to give it in his own words : " It is observable, that our 
 author has omitted the great dramatic poets of Greece. 
 Sophocles and Euripides deserved certainly an honourable 
 niche in the Temple of Fame, in preference to Pindar and 
 Horace. But the truth is, it was not fashionable in Pope's 
 time, nor among his acquaintance, attentively to study 
 
 (m) Whoever (says Dr. Warton) will attentively consider the noble poem 
 of Palamon and Arcite, will be convinced that Cliauccr equally excels in the 
 pathetic and the sublime. 
 
 these
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 37 
 
 these poets (n). By a strange fatality the\' have not in 
 this kingdom obtained the rank they deserve amongst 
 classic writers. We have numberless tieatises on Horace 
 and Virgil, for instance, who in their different kinds do 
 not surpass the authors in question ; whilst hardly a critic 
 among us, has professedly pointed out their excellencies. 
 Even real scholars think it sufficient to be acquainted and 
 touched with the beauties of Homer, Hesiod and Callima^ 
 chus, without proceeding to encjuire, 
 
 What the lofty grave tragedians taught. 
 
 In chorus or iambic, teachers best 
 Of moral prudence, with delight receiv'd 
 In brief sententious precepts (0). 
 " I own, I have some particular reasons for thinking that 
 our author Avas not very conversant in this sort of compo- 
 sition, having no inclination to the drama. In a note on 
 the third book of his Homer, where Helen points out to 
 Priam the names and characters of the Grecian leaders, 
 from the walls of Troy, he observes, that several great 
 poets have been engaged by the beauty of this passage, to 
 an imitation of it. But who are the poets he enumerates 
 on this occasion.'' Only Statins and Tasso; the former of 
 Avhon), in his seventh book, and the latter in his third, 
 shews the forces and the commanders that invested the 
 
 (n) Professor Porson was at that lime not known. 
 (0) Paradise Regained, Book IV. vrr. 264. 
 
 I cities
 
 58 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 cities of Thebes and Jerusalem (p). Not a syllable is men- 
 tioned of that capital scene in the Phoenissffi of Euripides, 
 from the hundred and twentieth, to the two hundredth line, 
 where the old man, standing with Antigone on the walls of 
 Thebes, marks out to her the various figures, habits, ar- 
 mour and qualifications of each different warrior, in the 
 most lively and picturesque manner, as they appear in the 
 camp beneath them (q)" 
 
 (p) " In the dedicalion to the Miscellanies he so much studied and admired, 
 lie had read the following strange words of his master, Dryden, addressed to 
 Lord Kadclifte. ' Though you have read the best authors in their own lan- 
 guages, and perfectly distinguish of their several merits, and in general prefer 
 them to the moderns, yet I know you judge for the Englifli tragedies against 
 the Greek and Latin, as well as against the French, Italian, and Spanish of 
 these latter ages. Indeed there is a vast difference between arguing like Perault- 
 in behalf of the French poets against Homer and Virgil, and betwixt giving 
 the English poets their nndoubted due of excelling Eschylus, Euripides, and 
 Sophocles.' Miscel!. 3d part. Lond. 1693." Warton on Pope. 
 
 (q) "Among the rest, Euripides makes Antigone enquire, which among the 
 warriors is her brother Polynices ; this is one of those delicate and tender 
 strokes of nature, for which this feeling tragedian is so justly admired. When 
 she discovers him, she breaks out thus : 
 
 lT^c<;r, I. 
 
 ITctriv iia.vij(Taiiu Ji' aiispoi 
 
 Uso; IfMV 0/iC7Ey£TEJ!«. 
 
 Ilff ( 5* a^£V«; Stfa ^iMotrx 
 
 She slops a little, gazes earnestly upon him, and exclaims with admiration 
 at the splendor of iiis arms : 
 
 Euati Ofio:a (T^syfSav 
 
 Bo.'ici; aEXis." Vcr. 166. 
 
 Warton ou Pope. 
 Tiie
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 59 
 
 The nice and discriminating character given of Pindar 
 by Dr. War TON merits pecuhar notice. Tlie following lines 
 are doubtless indicative of that poet in a general sense: 
 but they do not include the whole merit due to such a 
 poet: 
 
 " Four swans sustain a car of silver bright, 
 With heads advanc'd, and pinions stretch'd for flio-ht; 
 Here, like some furious prophet, Pindar rode 
 And seem'd to labour with th' inspiring God. 
 Across the harp a careless hand he flings, 
 And boldly sinks into the sounding strings. 
 The figur'd games of Greece the column grace, 
 Neptune and Jove survey the rapid race. 
 The youths hang o'er their chariots as they run ; 
 The fiery steeds seem starting from the stone; 
 The champions in distorted postures threat ; 
 And all appear'd irregularly great," 
 Dr. Wahton complains that the character of Pindar as 
 commonly taken seems not to be well understood. We Iiear 
 of nothing (says this elegant critic) but the impetuosity 
 and the sublimity of his manner ; wliereas he abounds in 
 strokes of domestic tenderness. We are perpetually told of 
 the boldness and violence of his transitions ; whereas on a 
 close inspection they appear easy and natural, and are 
 intimately connected with, and arise appositely from 
 the subject. Even his st3de has been represented as swel- 
 ling and bombast, but, carefully 'examined, it will appear 
 T C i>urc
 
 60 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 pure and perspicuous; not abounding with those harsh 
 
 metaphors and that profusion of tlorid epithets which some 
 
 of his imitators affect to use. He then pays a just tribute 
 
 to Mr. Gray on his pindaric ode entitled the Progress of 
 
 Poes}'^, and quotes likewise a very beautiful passage from an 
 
 author (r) to whom he was always much attached, and of 
 
 whose talents he thought most highly. 
 
 The remarks on Horace are highly interesting. No man 
 
 could enter more thoroughly into the spirit of that author, 
 
 or enjoy his beauties with more genuine taste, than the 
 
 commentator on Pope. The Editor of these jMemoirs well 
 
 remembers a judicious division of the (s) odes, copied by 
 
 him, 
 
 frj See Akenside's Hymn to the Naiads. How are we to account for the 
 very harsh and unjust commentary on the above author in the celebrated 
 fedition of the Lives of the Poets. Akenside had certainly an unfortunate 
 tendency to Whiggism, and that one prepossession was sufficient, in the 
 eyes of Dr. Johnson, to obscure every perfection. Gray likewise has been tho- 
 roughly mistaken by him. But perhaps it may be said that Dr. J. could not 
 justly appreciate or fairly decide on the merits of that style of poetry for 
 which he had not the smallest taste. 
 
 (s) LibcrPrimm. 
 
 OD.Ti SUBLIMES, ET POETIC.E. 
 
 3d. Pic te Diva polcns Cypii. 
 
 6th. Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium. 
 12th. Quern virum, aut heroa, lyr& vel acrl. 
 i4th. O navis, referent in mare te novi. 
 i5tli. Pastor ciim traheret per freta navibus. 
 35th. O Diva, gratam qua; regis Antium. 
 37th. Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero. 
 Liber Scciimlus. — Eicdem OJa. 
 
 1st. MoUun ex Metollo consule clvicuia. 
 
 ]3lh.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 6i 
 
 hiin, when a school-boy, under the direction of Dr. Wau- 
 TON, and which he subjoins in the classes under which they 
 Avere arranged. But on the dramatic turn of Horace, a 
 faculty hitherto neglected by all his commentators, the 
 
 chief 
 
 131I1. Ille et nefasto te posuit die. 
 
 iptli. Bacchum in remotis carmina lupibus. 
 Lider Tertius. — Odce. eadem. 
 
 3(1. Justum et tenacem propositi virum. 
 
 4th. Descende coelo, et die age tibia. 
 
 5th. CogIo tonantem credidimus Jovem. 
 
 6th. Delicta m;ijorum immeritus lues. 
 
 11th. Mercuii, nam te docilis magistro* 
 
 25tli. Quo me, Bacclie, rapis tui. 
 
 27th. Impios pairae recinentis omen. 
 
 Liber Quartus. — Oda emdem, 
 
 2d. Pindarum quisquis studet annulaii. 
 
 3d. Quem tu, Melpomene, semel. 
 
 4th. Qualem ministrum t'ulminis alitem. 
 
 6th. Dive, quem proles Niobaea magnae. 
 
 9th. Ne forte credas interitura, quse. 
 
 14th. Quae cura patrum, quaeve Quiritium. 
 
 OD^ ELEGANTLORES, 
 
 Liber Primus. 
 
 jth. Quis multfi gracilis te puer in ros&. 
 
 8th. Lydia, die per omnes. 
 loth. Mercuri facunde, nepos Atlantis. 
 21st. Dianam teneree dicite virgines. 
 30th. O Venus, regina Cnidi Paphique. 
 
 Liher Securtdus. — His caret Odis, 
 
 Liber Tertius. — Eadem Odce, 
 13th. O fons Biandusias splendidior vitro. 
 18th. Faune Nympharum fugientum amator. 
 22d. Montium cuftos nemorumque virgo. 
 
 Liber
 
 61 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 chief stress is laid, and his excellence in this vicu' is inimi- 
 labl}- exemplified in the prophecy of Nereiis, the histories 
 of Regulus, Europa, and the daughters of Danaus, and 
 still more inipressively in the exquisite delineation of the 
 incantations, and charms of Canidia, as related in the fifth 
 
 Liber Quartus. — Oda eadcm. 
 
 5th. Divis orte bonis, optime Romulas. 
 7th. Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis. 
 12th. Jain veris coinites, qua; mare temperant. 
 
 OD^ MOKALES, AC SERIffl. 
 
 Liber Primus, 
 aii. Integer vite, sceleiisque purus. 
 24lh. Quis tiesiderio sit pudor, aut modus. 
 34th. Parcus Deorum cultor et infrequens. 
 
 Liber Secuiidus. — Oda: etEdem. 
 
 2d. Nullus argento color est avaris. 
 
 3d. ^quam memento rebus in arduis. 
 
 Qtb- Non semper imbres nubibus hispidos. 
 
 lotli. Rectiiis vivesj Liciui, nequealtum. 
 
 14th. Elicu, t'ugaces, Postluime, Poslliume. 
 
 15th. Jam pauca aiatro jugera regiae. 
 
 16th. Otium Divos rogat in patenti. 
 
 jjtli. Cur me querelis exanimas tuis ? 
 
 18th. Kon cbur, neque aureum. 
 
 Liber Tertius, — Odcc eccdem. 
 
 1st. Odi profanum vulgus, et arceo. 
 
 2d. Angus'.am, amici, paupcriem pati. 
 ■l6tb. Inclusam Danai-n turris ahciica. 
 24th. Intactis opuLentior. 
 .29th. Tyrrbena Regum progenies, libi. 
 
 Liber Quarlus. — His omtdno cant Odis. 
 
 cpode.
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 65 
 
 ppode (t). " I cannot forbear adding, that, of this kind, 
 likewise, is the whole of the fifth epode, upon which I beg 
 leave to be a little particular, as I do not remember to have 
 seen it considered as it ought to be. It suddenly breaks 
 out with a beautiful and forcible abruptness : 
 At, 6 Deorum, quicquid in coelo regit 
 
 Terras et humanum genus, 
 Quid iste fert tumultus ? Aut quid omnium 
 Vultus in unum me truces .'' 
 " It is a boy utters these words, who beholds himself sur- 
 rounded by an horrible band of witches, with Canidia at 
 their head, who instantly seize and strip him, in order to 
 make a love-potion of his body. He proceeds to deprecate 
 their undeserved rage by moving supplications, and such as 
 are adapted to his age and situation : 
 
 Per liberos te, si vocata partubus 
 
 Lucina veris affuit ; 
 Per hoc inane purpuree decus precor, 
 
 Per improbaturum haec Jovem, 
 Quid ut noverca me intueris, aut utl 
 Petita ferro bellua? 
 " The poet goes on to enumerate, with due solemnity, tlie 
 ingredients of the charm. Those which Shakespear in his 
 
 (t) Twining in his Aristotle notices this criticism, and pays some very just 
 compliments to Dr. Warton, on his genuine relish for the beauties of Horace, 
 Coleman also dedicated his translation of the Art of Poetry to the " Par nobile 
 Fralrum." 
 
 Macbeth
 
 6i BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 iMacbetli lias described, as being thrown into the magical 
 cauldron, have a near resemblance with these of Horace, 
 but he has added others well calculated to impress the 
 deepest terror, from his own imagination. Canidia having 
 placed the victim in a pit where he was gradually to be 
 starved to death, begins to speak in the following awful 
 and striking manner : 
 
 — ... O rebus meis 
 
 Non infideles arbitral, 
 Nox, et Diana, qua; silentium regis. 
 
 Arcana cum fiunt sacra; 
 Nunc, nunc adeste, nunc in hostiles domos 
 Iram atque numen vcrtite &c. 
 " But she suddenly stops, surprized to see the incantation 
 fail: 
 
 Quid accidit ? — cur dira barbaraj minus 
 Yenena Medeae valent? 
 " In a few lines more she discovers the reason that her 
 chanus are inefficacious : 
 
 Ah, ah, solutus ambulat venificffi <Scc. 
 She therefore resolves to double them, 
 
 Majus parabo, majus infundam tibi 
 Fastidienti poculum. 
 And concludes with this spirited threat : 
 
 Pridsque caelum sidct inferius mari, 
 Tellure poiTCcta super, 
 
 Quam
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 65 
 
 Qiiam non amore sic meo flagres, uti 
 Bitumen atris ignibus. 
 
 " The bo}^, on hearing his fate thus cruelly determined, 
 no longer endeavours to sue for mercy, but breaks out into 
 those bitter and natural execrations, mixed with a tender 
 mention of his parents, which reach to the end of the ode. 
 If we consider how naturally the fear of the boy is ex- 
 pressed in the first speech, and how the dreadful character 
 of Canidia is supported in the second, and the various 
 turns of passion with which she is agitated ; and if we add 
 to these the concluding im})recations — we must own that 
 this ode affords a noble specimen of the dramatic powers 
 of Horace." 
 
 The introduction of familiar images and strokes of 
 humour on private life is justly reprobated as unsuited to 
 the grave and majestic character of the poem hitherto pre- 
 served (u). It is as unnatural and out of place (says Dr. 
 Warton) as one of the burlesque scenes of Heemskirk in 
 a solemn landscape of Poussin : and when I see such a 
 line as, 
 
 " And at each blast a lady's honour dies," 
 in the Temple of Fame, I lament as much to find it placed 
 
 CttJ This and a similar remark on the Essay on Man remind me of the be- 
 forementioned quarrel with Hogarth. In his observations on the inconsistent 
 and improper introduction of levity into a serious and solemn picture, Dr. 
 Warton surely manifested a most correct judgment. In. his apologies for 
 having done so, he at least displayed his good humour. 
 
 K there,
 
 66 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 there, as to see shops and sheds and cottages erected 
 amongst the ruins of Dioclesian's Baths. 
 
 The Avant of distinction between rumour and fame, and 
 the superiority of Pope over Chaucer, in the conclusion of 
 the poem, are given Avith great judgment and impartiaUty, 
 and close the first section of the second volume. 
 
 The most striking observations in the next chapter, are 
 the impropriety of the measure for the tale of January 
 and May, the objections in point of decency to the Wife 
 of Bath, and the admirable digression on Drv'den, to whose 
 fables Dr. Warton affords that justice which is denied 
 them by the celebrated biographer of the poets. It i& 
 surely strange in how cursory and negligent a manner they 
 are passed over. Few passages in English poetry can be 
 found to surpass the beauties of Palamon and Arcitc, or 
 Sigismunda and Guiscardo. To the Ode for St. Cecilia's 
 Day a just tribute of applause is lil<ewise given. In the fol- 
 lowing remarks on the translation of Statins, or rather on 
 the choice of the subject, we discover all that pure and 
 unalloyed taste which so decisively characterized the mind 
 of the Commentator. " It Avas in childhood only that he 
 could make use of so injudicious a Avriter. It were to be 
 Avished, that no youth of genius Averc suffered ever to look 
 into Statins, Lucan, Claudian, or Seneca the tragedian; 
 authors Avho by their forced conceits, by their violent me- 
 taphors, by their swelling epithets, by their Avant of just 
 decorum, have a strong tendency to dazzle and to mislead 
 10 inexperienced
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 67 
 
 inexperienced minds, and tastes unformed, from the true 
 relish of possibility, propriety, simplicity, and nature." 
 Dr. W. next enumerates the eight Roman poets whom 
 he deems unexceptionably excellent, namely, Terence, 
 Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, 
 Phaedrus. " These (adds he) can alone be called legitimate 
 models of just thinking and writing." If the rectitude of 
 this decision be- allowed (and I am inclined to think that it 
 will not be disputed) the merit of the instructor is not less 
 confirmed than that of the critic ; for, be it recollected, the 
 practice of Dr.WARTON in the former character, was uni- 
 formly consistent with his precepts in the latter. 
 
 The objections to the Essay on Man, as having several 
 passages expressed in terms favourable to fatalism and 
 necessity, are made in a manly but candid manner : the 
 poem is acknowledged to be as close a piece of argument, 
 admitting its principles, as could be found in verse; the 
 style is panegyrized as concise and figurative, forcible, and 
 elegant. The finest (x) parts are selected with a generous 
 
 and 
 
 (x) Oftliese, the simply poetical desciiplion in the lines beginning, 
 " Lo, the poor Indian, whose untutor'd mind," 
 and the following exalted description of the omnipresence of the Deit\-, must 
 claim the first place : 
 
 " All are but purls of one stupendous whole. 
 Whose body nature is, and God, the soul ; 
 That chang'd thro' all, and yet in all the same. 
 Great in the earth, as in th' ethereal frame. 
 Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze. 
 Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees ; 
 
 Lives 
 K2
 
 68 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 becoming warmth, though many lines are with justice con- 
 demned as plain and prosaic. The obligations of Pope to 
 the Theodiccc of Leibnitz, to King's Origin of Evil, and 
 the Moralists of Lord Shaftesbury, are confessed : and the 
 commentator has introduced with great propriety the sen- 
 timents and wishes of the very learned and ingenious friend 
 to whom the first volume was dedicated (y) . 
 
 To the reputation of Montaigne, Charron, Rochfoucault, 
 La Bruyere, and Pafcal, Dr. Warton" opposes Hobbes, 
 Bacon, Prior, and Pope, the author of the five moral 
 essays ; as writers supposed to have penetrated deeply 
 into the most secret recesses of the human heart, and to 
 have discovered the various vices and vanities lurking in it. 
 
 Lives tlirough all life, extends througli all extent,, 
 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent; 
 
 Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, 
 
 As full, as perfect in a hair, as heart ; 
 
 As full, as perfect in vile man, that mourns. 
 
 As the rapt seraph that adores and burns: 
 
 To him, no high, no low, no great, no small ; 
 
 He fills, he bounds, connects and equals all. 
 {y) Mr. Walter Harte assured me that he had seen the presiing letter 
 which Dr. Young wrote to Mr. Pope, urging him to write something on the 
 side of Revelation, in order to take off' the impressions of those doctrines 
 which the Essay on Man were supposed to convey. He alluded to this in the 
 conclusion of his first Night Thought: 
 
 O had he press'd his theme, pursu'd the track 
 
 Wliich opens out of darkness into day ! 
 
 O had he mounted on his wing of fire, 
 
 Soar'd where I sink, and sung immortal man. 
 
 See Notes to Warton's- Essay on Pope, Vol. H. 
 
 'i he
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 69 
 
 The observation on the following line is truly worthy of 
 notice : 
 
 " Un thought of frailties cheat us' in the wise." 
 " For who could imagine that Locke was fond of romances; 
 that Newton once studied astrology; that Dr. Clarke 
 valued himself for his agility, and frequently amused him- 
 self in a private room of his house in leaping over the 
 tables and chairs; and that our author himself was a 
 great epicure ? When he spent a sunnner with a certain 
 nobleman, he was accustomed to lie whole days in bed 
 on account of his head-achs, but would at any time rise 
 with alacrity, Avhen his servant informed him there were 
 stewed lampreys for dinner. 
 
 " On the evening of an important battle, the Duke of 
 Marlborough Avas heard chiding his servant for having been 
 so extravagant as to light four candles in his tent, when 
 Prince Eugene came to confer with him. Elizabeth was a 
 coquette ; and Bacon received a bribe. Dr. Busby had a 
 violent passion for the stage ; it was excited in him by tlie 
 applauses he received in acting the Royal Slave before 
 the king at Christ Church; and he declared, that if the 
 rebellion had not broke out, he had certainly engaged him- 
 self as an actor, Luther was so immoderately passionate, 
 that he sometimes boxed Melancthon's ears ; and Melancthon 
 himself was a believer in judicial astrology, and an inter- 
 preter of dreams. Richlieu and Mazarin were so super- 
 stitious as to employ and pension Morin, a pretender to 
 
 astrology,
 
 70 BIOGRAPHICAL IMEMOIRS 
 
 astrology, who cast the nativities of these two able poh- 
 ticians. Nor Avas Tacitus himself, who generally appears 
 superior to superstition, untainted with this folly, as may 
 appear from the twenty-second chapter of the sixth book 
 of his Annals. Men of great genius have been somewhere 
 compared to the pillar of fire that conducted the Israelites, 
 ■which frequently turned a cloudy side towards the spec- 
 tator." 
 
 The additions of the usurer and Malherbe to the ruling 
 passion are likewise inimitable (z), 
 
 With respect to the Epistle on the Characters of Women, 
 Dr. Young in point of urbanity and delicate satire has evi- 
 dently the advantage ; nay, even the hostile biographer, 
 whom it was my fate so often to quote in passing through 
 the first volume of this work, hesitates not to acknowledge 
 the preference. Of the supposed ingratitude towards the 
 Duke of Chandos, a most liberal and candid account is 
 given. Indeed the most suspicious observation is to be 
 met with in Rutfhead's Life, where he sedulously studies 
 
 (z) " Shall I venture to insert another example or two ? An old usurer lying 
 in his last agonies was presented by the priest with the crucifix. He opened 
 his e^es a moment before he expired, attentively gazed on it, and cried out, 
 ' These jewels are counterfeit, I cannot lend more than ten pistoles upon so 
 wretched a pledge.' — To reform the language of his country was the ruling 
 passion of Malherbe. The priest who attended him in his last moments, 
 asked him if he was not affected with the description he gave him of the joys 
 of Heaven ? * By no means,' answered the incorrigible bard ; ' I desire to 
 hear no more of them, if you cannot describe them in a purer style. Both 
 these stories would have shone under the hands of Pope." 
 
 to
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 7i 
 
 to prove the Duke a man of greater magnificence than 
 taste. Is this necessary, if Pope did not allude to him in 
 his satire ? 
 
 The Prologue to the Satires, in an Epistle to Dr. Arbuth- 
 not, furnishes our commentator, not only Avith opportu- 
 nities of paying a just tribute to that excellent character, 
 but of correcting some peculiar prejudices of the author, 
 particularly with respect to Bentley and Theobald, the 
 latter of whom had irrevocably offended Pope, for he had 
 detected the numerous blunders in his edition of Shake- 
 spear ; and such a reproof, from a man on whose talents 
 he looked down with sovereign contempt, was not to be for- 
 given. But the celebrity of this epistle rests chiefly on the 
 memorable character of Addison ; a satire excusable in the 
 moment of anger, but which, it is to be lamented, in his 
 cooler moments our author did not expunge. The follow- 
 ing-conclusion of a most exquisite fa; chain of argument 
 by the great Sir William Blackstone, I, from every regard 
 for his memory, and from intimate friendship with some of 
 his descendants, feel the most heartfelt pleasure in recapi- 
 tulating : " Upon the whole, however Mr. Pope may be 
 excusable for penning such a character of his friend, in the 
 first transports r 6; of poetical indignation, it reflects no great 
 honour on his feelings, to have kept it in petto for six 
 
 (a) See Kippls's Bingiaphia Biitannica. 
 
 (h) " It was the opinion of Dr. Young, Lord Batliurst, Air. Harte, and Lord 
 Lyltleton, that Addison himself translated the fir.t Book of Homer. Proofs, 
 however, to the contrary have lately been discovered." Warton on Pope, 2d vol. 
 
 years >
 
 72 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 3'ears, till after the death of Mr. Addison, and then to permit 
 it^ publication (whether by recital or copy makes no material 
 difference,) and at length, at the distance of eighteen years, 
 hand it down to posterity, ingrafted into one of his capital 
 productions. Nothing sureh' could justify so long and so 
 deep a resentment, unless the story be true of the com- 
 merce between Addison and Gildon ; which will require to be 
 very fully proved, before it can be believed of a gentleman 
 who was so amiable in his moral character, and who (in 
 his own case) had two years before expressly disaproved of 
 a personal abuse upon Mr. Dennis. The person, indeed, 
 from whom Mr. Pope is said to have received this anec- 
 dote about the time of his writing the character (viz. about 
 July 1715) was no other than the Earl of Warwick, son-in- 
 law to I\Ir. Addison himself; and the something about 
 Wycherley (in which the story supposes that Addison hired 
 Gildon to abuse Pope and his family) is explained, by a 
 note on the Dunciad, vol. i. p. £96, to mean a pamphlet 
 containing Mr. Wycherley 's life. Now it happens, that in 
 July 1715, the Earl of Warwick (who died at the age of 
 twenty-three, in August 1721) was only a boy of seventeen, 
 and not likely to be entrusted with such a secret, by a 
 statesman between forty and fifty, with whom it does not 
 appear he was any way connected or acquainted. For Mr. 
 Addison was not niarried to his mother, the Countess of 
 "Warwick, till the following year, 1716; nor could Gildon 
 have been employed in July 1715 to write ]\Ir. AYycher- 
 
 ley's,
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 73 
 
 ley's Life, who lived till the December following. As 
 therefore so many inconsistencies are evident in the story 
 itself, which never found its way into print till near sixty 
 years after it is said to have happened, it will be no breach 
 of charity to suppose, that the whole of it was founded ou 
 some misapprehension in either Mr. Pope or the Earl ; and 
 unless better proof can be given, we shall readily acquit 
 Mr. Addison of this most odious part of the charge." 
 
 To the Dunciad, the unbridled violence of its satire 
 makes the chief objection. The peculiar beauties, as they 
 affix a specific meaning to individuals, are pointed out ; and 
 the profane expressions in more than one passage are pro- 
 perly and characteristically reproved. 
 
 In the critique on the remaining works, is displayed 
 the same shrewd and discriminating knoAvledge, which 
 indeed pervades the whole. Of the productions in prose 
 little is said ; sufiicient however to betray that the com- 
 mentator's opinion of Pope's epistolary talent is not very 
 favourable. It now remains to answer the original ques- 
 tion — In what class of poets, and how high in that class 
 did Dr. Warton intend to rank Pope? What is his own 
 reply — " Not, assuredly, in the same rank with Spenser, 
 Shakespeare, and Milton, however justly we may applaud 
 the Eloise and Rape of the Lock ; but, considering the 
 correctness, elegance, and utility of his works, the weight 
 of sentiment, and the knowledge of man they contain, 
 we may venture to assign him a place next to Milton, and 
 L just
 
 74 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 just above Diydeu: yet, to bring our minds steadil}' to 
 make this decision, we must forget for a moment the di- 
 vine Music Ode of Dryden ; and may perhaps then be 
 compelled to confess, that though Dryden l^e the greater 
 genius, yet Pope is the better artist." But yet, notwith- 
 standing my lo\e and levercnce for his memory, my well- 
 o-rovmded admiration for his ingenious and entertaining cri- 
 ticism, for that natural and unaftected display of taste and 
 learning contained in his work, and notwithstanding the 
 excess of pleasure I have often experienced, when, in reading 
 the Essay on Pope, I have imagined that I heard every word 
 at that moment drop from the lips of my beloved instruc- 
 tor, I must presume to hazard an opinion, that he has 
 either placed Pope too high, or in his separate sections 
 has not done him justice. I venture not to say on which 
 side the mistake lies ; but, if Pope is just above Dryden, 
 he had more genius than Dr. Warton alloMs liim ; and, 
 vice versA, if he has not more genius than is attributed to 
 him ; if he is more the poet of reason than of fancy, that 
 situation is surely above his pretensions. 
 
 During the spring of 1786, Dr. Warton was visited by 
 a most heavy domestic affliction. His second son(c), a 
 man of high talents and supeiior information, but who had 
 
 (c) Rev. Thomas Warton, Fellow of New College, Oxford, and author of 
 several beautiful productions whilst a boy at Windiester School, particularly 
 an English poem on " The Pyramids of /Egypt," and some exquisitely clas- 
 sical Latin Hexameters, which gained the annual gold medal, oa " Rex flu- 
 viorum Thamesis." 
 
 long
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 70 
 
 long laboured under a lingering and obstinate disease, died 
 whilst sitting in his chair after dinner, and was found in 
 that situation by his father on his return from college 
 prayers. This stroke the Doctor severely felt ; and within 
 four years, ere the painful remembrance had vanished from 
 his mind, and his spirits had regained their former tone, he 
 lost that brother, to whom from his childhood he had been 
 invariably attached, and for whose genius and fame he had 
 ever felt the most pure and liberal admiration. It is 
 indeed but justice to the memory of both to declare that 
 they never for a moment knew the narrow passions of 
 jealousy and envy ; on the contrary, their most anxious 
 efforts were used to distinguish each other, and it was their 
 truest happiness to find those efforts successful. To their 
 several publications the most active and ready assistance 
 had been mutually afforded. Mr. Warton was sedulously 
 employed in the edition of Virgil, and his brother in re- 
 turn furnished many valuable materials for the History of 
 English Poetry : no means Avere at any time left untried by 
 either party to bring forward and place in a prominent 
 view the merit of the other. Severe therefore to the sur- 
 vivor must have been the separation. It was indeed the 
 loss of a second self. 
 
 Through the interest of Lord Shannon {^r/^, the prebend 
 
 of 
 
 (d) The Editor nndcr.-itands tlint the merit of procuring this preferment 
 
 has been cJaimcd by oth( rs ; to such assertions he has only to reply, that the 
 
 I. 3 correspondence
 
 76 BIOGRx\PHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 of Winchester Cathedral, vacated in 1788 by the then 
 Bishop of Oxford's translation to Hereford, was bestowed 
 by the Premier on Dr. Warton. Related to Mrs. WartoD, 
 and firmlj' attached to the Doctor, not only on account of 
 his literary reputation and amiable qualifications, but for 
 the care and improvement experienced by Lord Boyle, 
 whilst a commoner at the school, the noble Earl did honour 
 to both his heart and head, by procuring for such a 
 man that preferment to which his services as a pubhc 
 character had for a long period entitled him ; and this 
 meritorious exertion was at no great distance of time fol- 
 lowed up by another dignified character ('ej , who had 
 himself experienced the advantages of Dr. Wakton's 
 tuition, and of whose unabating regard and reverence for 
 his master this was only one of many liberal proofs. 
 Induced by such an application, the Bishop of Winchester 
 conferred on him the rectory of Easton, and permitted 
 him within the year to exchange it for Upham. 
 
 It will perhaps be remarked, that the two livings above 
 mentioned, with the prebends of Winchester and St. Paul's, 
 comprised, Avith respect to both rank and affluence, a dig- 
 nified and sufficient preferment ; the age however of Dr. 
 Warton Avhen these events took place must necessarily 
 
 correspondence between Earl Shannon and Mi: Pitt on the subject is j-et in 
 existence. Dr. Warton, it is true, had other powerful friends, dirough whose 
 kind influence (but for an interference not to be resisted) he would certainly 
 have enjoyed the Mastership of St. Cross. 
 (e) The present Earl of Mahnesbury. 
 
 be
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 77 
 
 be considered. Sixty summers had passed over his head 
 ere the first benefice (if we except the small living of Wyn- 
 slade) came into his possession ; and he had approached far 
 nearer to seventy years of age ere he enjoyed the remainder. 
 Late indeed then must we cicknowledge his reward to have 
 been for a life so useful and so ornamental to society. 
 
 The fatigues arising from the management and instruc- 
 tion of a public school, demanded those exertions to which 
 the Doctor's advanced time of life now became incompe- 
 tent. After many irresolute fluctuations of opinion, after 
 strong combats between propriety and inclination, the 
 spring of 1793 witnessed the annunciation of his departure 
 from the mastership at the ensuing election : in conse- 
 quence of Avhich notice (f), on July the 23d, he retired to 
 
 his 
 (f) Form of resignation— of which the following is an exact copy : 
 
 Ego Josephiis Warton, S. T. P. 
 
 Collegii Beatce Marice prope JVinton 
 
 Informator, Officium meum Scholares 
 
 informandi, quod in eodem Collegio 
 
 habui, in mantis Rev. G. I. Himtingfordy 
 
 S. T. P. ejusdem Collegii Custodis,. 
 
 .. '''''S"'' 22.DieMensis 
 
 Julii. 1793. ' 
 
 The Electors of the year sent to Dr. Warton, on his resignation, the follow- 
 ing handsome testimony of the obligations he had conferred on the Society : — 
 
 " Wintoji College Election Cliamber, July igth 1793. 
 " We the undersigned Electors, do in the name of the two Saint Mary Winton 
 Colleges, return thanks to the Rev. Dr. Joseph Warton, for the encouragement 
 
 he
 
 78 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 his rectory of Wickham, carrying with him the \ove, admi- 
 ration, and esteem, of the Avholc Wykehamical Society. 
 
 That 
 
 he lias given to Genius and Industry ; for the attention he has paid to the 
 introduction of correct taste in composition and classical learning ; and for the 
 many and various services which he has conferred-on the Wiccamical Societies, 
 through the long course of years in which he has filled the places of Second 
 and Head Master in Winchester School. 
 
 'John Oglander, D. D. Warden of New College. 
 
 George Isaac Hunt ingford, D.D. Warden of\Ainchester College. 
 
 James YaldeNj A.M. Senior Poser. 
 ^' 1 Chahles Reynell, LL. B. Junior Poser. 
 
 Charles Blackstone, A.M. Sub Warden." 
 
 To which the following was the reply: 
 
 " To the Rev. Dr. Oglander, gcc. 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " The approbation you are pleased to express of my conduct in that diffi- 
 cult situation in which I have spent the greatest part of my life, and to which 
 I have endeavoured to devote all my time and thoughts, has made so deep an 
 impression on my mind, that 1 cannot easily find words to express my feel- 
 ings on so interesting an occasion, and will therefore only add my wannest 
 wishes for the welfare, credit, and prosperity of the two St.}*Iary Winton 
 Colleges. I am. Gentlemen, 
 
 with true regard, your very 
 
 faithful and obliged humble servant, 
 
 Joseph Warton.'' 
 He was likewise presented by his Scholars with a most beautiful piece of 
 plate, on which was engraven tlie following inscription : 
 Opt. ae dcsiderat. 
 J. AVarton 
 Hoc munus utcunque 
 
 Levc ac parvum 
 
 Non levi tamen amorc 
 
 Ac ejus IMansuetudinis 
 
 Observantia. 
 
 D.T3. 
 
 Wiccamici sui. 
 
 Titat
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 79 
 
 That ardent mind which had so eminently distinguished 
 the exercise of his pubhc duties, did not desert him in the 
 hours of leisure and retirement ; for inactivity was foreign 
 to his nature. His parsonage, his farm, his garden, were 
 cultivated and adorned with the eagerness and taste of 
 undiminished youth ; whilst the beauties of the surrounding 
 forest scenery, and the interesting grandeur of the neigh- 
 bouring shore, were enjoyed by him with an enthusiasm 
 innate in his very being. His lively sallies of playful wit, 
 his rich store of literary anecdote, and the polished and 
 habitual ease with which he imperceptibly entered into the 
 various ideas and pursuits of men in different situations, and 
 endowed with educations totally opposite, rendered him an 
 acquaintance both profitable and amusing; whilst his un- 
 affected piety and unbounded charity stamped him a pas- 
 tor adored by his parishioners. Difficult indeed would it 
 be to decide, Avhether he shone in a degree less in this 
 social character than in the closet of criticism or the chair 
 of instruction. 
 
 The habits however of literary occu})ation were not to be 
 shaken off, or the love of critical discussion extinguished ('g-j. 
 In the course of the year 1797 he edited, in nine volumes 
 
 octavo, 
 (g) The situation of Dr. Warton at tliis period fully reminds me of the fol- 
 lowing beautiful idea of the virtuous and learned man in retirement which he 
 has sojustly panegyrised in his Essay : 
 
 " Happy the man who to these shades retires ; 
 But doubly happy, if the Muse inspires ; 
 Blest whorafthe sweets of homefelt quiet please. 
 But far more blest, who study joins with ease." 
 
 Pope's Windsor Forest, ist edition.
 
 80 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 octavo, prefaced by the following advertisement, the works 
 of that poet on whose genius and writings he had before 
 so successfully commented : " The public is here presented 
 with a complete edition of the Works of Pope, both in 
 verse and prose ; accompanied with various notes and illus- 
 trations. The reason for undertaking it, ^vas the universal 
 complaint that Dr.Warburton had disfigured and disgraced 
 his edition with many forced and far-sought interpretations, 
 totally unsupported by the passages which they were 
 brought to elucidate. If this Avas only my single opinion, 
 nothing could have induced me to have delivered it with 
 so much freedom -; nor to have undertaken this work after 
 it had passed through the hands of Dr.Warburton. IVIany, 
 however, of his notes, that do not fall under this descrip- 
 tion, are here adopted. To this edition are now added, 
 several poems undoubtedlj- of our author's hand ; and in 
 prose, many letters to different coiTespondents, which, from 
 tlie circumstances of literary history which they contain, 
 it was thought might be entertaining ; together with his 
 Thoughts on various Subjects; his Account of the Mad- 
 ness of Dennis ; the Poisoning of Edmund Curl ; the Essay 
 on the Origin of Sciences ; the Key to the Rape of the 
 Lock; and that piece of inimitable humour, the Four- 
 teenth Chapter of Scriblerus, on the Double INIistress ; 
 all of which were inserted in his own edition in quarto, 
 1741. And to these is added, also, one of the best of his 
 compositions, his Postscript to the Odyssey. 
 
 13 "If
 
 OF DPx. JOSEPH WARTON. si 
 
 " If I have sometimes ventured, in the following remarks, 
 to point out any seeming blemishes and imperfections in 
 the works of this excellent poet, I beg it may be imputed, 
 not to the ' dull, malignant delight' of seeking to find out 
 trivial faults, but merely to guard the reader from being 
 misled, by the example of a writer, in general, so uniformly 
 elegant and correct." 
 
 The peculiar circumstances which, owing to the Doctor's 
 prior publication, were inseparable from this edition, ren- 
 dered plagiarism (if the stealing from himself merits the 
 title) inevitable. Many of the notes were unavoidably 
 transferred from the Essay, though be it recollected a con- 
 siderable portion of new matter was introduced. In addi- 
 tion to the criticisms of the reviews, which generally on 
 literary works decide with fairness and impartiality, and of 
 Avhose judgment few who attack neither religion or morality, 
 or insidiously dabble in political quackeries, have cause to 
 complain ; an harsh and unjustifiable attack was made on 
 my valuable and learned friend, in a satire (h) to Avhich 
 the attention of the public had been peculiarly awakened. 
 That objections might fairly be made to the edition of 
 Pope, it is far from my purpose to deny; but when we 
 read the unfeeling and inapplicable reproach contained in 
 the following lines, 
 
 " Better to disappoint the public hope. 
 
 Like Warton, driv'Iing on the page of Pope — 
 (h) Pursuits of Liteiatiue. 
 
 M « Whilst
 
 82 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 " Whilst o'er the ground that Warburton once trod 
 The Winton pedant shakes his Uttle rod — " 
 We can only say, that it commences with an unmanly 
 insult on old age, and closes with a total ignorance of cha- 
 racter. All who have been acquainted with Dr. Warton 
 will I believe acknowledge that pedantry and AVarton 
 knew not each other. This vague and indiscriminate cen- 
 sure surely falls to the ground by its own unmeaning and 
 general abuse, and is I suppose properly suited to the 
 peg on which the notes were to hang ; as we find in them 
 a more distinct, and I must confess in some degree a bet- 
 ter grounded attack. Indeed, had this unknown and sa- 
 gacious critic, to whom, when we consider the peculiarity 
 of the times in which he wrote, every friend of religion and 
 good government must feel himself in no small measure 
 obliged, been more temperate and rational in his oljjections, 
 he would perhaps to a certain point have affected the fame 
 of Dr. Warton: but the uncharitable and unchristianlike 
 severity in which his philippic is couched has rendered 
 many unwilling even to allow faults otherwise too clear. 
 The introduction of the Double Mistress, and the Second 
 Satire from Horace, it is by no means my wish to defend : 
 every principle arising from the situation of a clergyman 
 and schoolmaster, every regard for the memory of my de- 
 parted friend, induce me heartily to Mish that they had 
 been suppressed ; but whilst I allow so far, I will not pros- 
 titute those same principles by distinguishing Pope's works 
 1 for
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 53 
 
 for correctness in morals (i) as well as taste, and quote 
 Eloisc to Abelard, Sappho to Phaon, January and Ma}';, 
 the Wife of Bath, and the Imitations of ancient Authors, 
 as intended for the most general and most unqualified read- 
 ing. The rich vehi of humour Avhich runs through the 
 chapter of the Double Mistress Avas not, I repeat, in my 
 opinion a sufficient excuse, under all circumstances, for 
 publishing it ; but we are well aware how eagerly an editor 
 catches at every unknown production of his author, and 
 what a value he sets on whatever may give the charm 
 of no\<d\\.y(k) to his book : the indecency of the subject 
 however should have checked this generally venial desire. 
 Not that I dread its influence on the minds of youth. Dis- 
 gust is a more natural effect of perusing it than allurement, 
 and I should as soon expect seduction from a lecture on 
 anatomy or midwifery. On the other hand, when the elegance 
 of language and the charms of poetry unite to infuse sensuality 
 under the masque of sentiment, when the contending pas- 
 sions of an Eloise, or the wanton recollections of a Sappho, 
 are included in a work against no part of which a father 
 
 (i) See notes to the fourth part of the Pursuits of Literature. 
 
 (k) An instance of this mischief to society has lately fallen under the 
 notice of the Editor. Gray's works, in an elegant duodeciniOj have lately 
 been published with additional Latin and English poems, amongst which is 
 a vulgar and indecent copy of verses, entitled. The Cambridge Candidate. 
 In this case a poet is become objectionable, through whose whole volume 
 was not, ere this, one line whic-h could raise the sligiitest blush on the cheek 
 of virginity. The publisher will, it is to be hoped, see the propriety of 
 castigating the edition. 
 
 M 2 or
 
 84 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 or a husband need caution a daughter or wife ; I feel the 
 danger greater, because the poison is administered under a 
 more deceitful form. From the Second Satire (IJ and the 
 Double Mistress, delicacy revolting turns away: no female 
 would attempt to read them, nor a\ ill they hold out allure- 
 ment to a feeling and innocent mind. Can we say as much 
 of the poems before mentioned ? 
 With respect to 
 
 " The pictur'd person, and the libell'd shape," 
 nothing can be more frivolous and unjust than the attack. 
 The late Lord Palmerston possessed the picture, and know- 
 ing that his friend Dr. Warton was employed in an 
 edition of this poet's works, sent it to him both as a curi- 
 osity and an interesting addition to the publication. Pope's 
 personal qualifications Avere not those on which his fame was 
 built; and if, amongst those weaknesses which are sometimes 
 inseparable from the greatest minds, he had any share of 
 personal vanity, as the picture was not sent into the world 
 during his life, that vanity could not be wounded (m). 
 
 On 
 
 (I) The author of the Pursuits of Literature quotes some very impure and 
 improper lines ; but I fear in the January and May, as well as in other poema 
 of Pope, there may be found those which are equally objectionable. 
 
 (mj The British Critic for the year 1797, puts the affair in a very candid 
 and proper light. " We for our parts most heartily thank the editor for 
 inserting the whole-length sketch of his author : we agree with him, that as 
 an unique, it is valuable and curious ; and, as giving probably the real air of 
 his person, is interesting in a great degree. We are thus introduced to him ; 
 we know him by sight. The figure is mean, indeed, but, for deformity, it is 
 not so bad as many verbal descriptions had made himj and were it ten times
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH AVARTON. 85 
 
 On a charge of democracy Dr. Warton was never before 
 arraigned ; but, as I have ah-eady said, the laudable zeal 
 in defence of church and state which marked this satire, 
 renders it an unwelcome task to canvass too minutely 
 any mistakes arising from so good a motive : In anony- 
 mous authors, however, a peculiar degree of caution and 
 candour (nj should be found ; if in private life a liberal 
 spirit prevents us from saying behind the back of a man 
 that which we will not aver to his face, the satirist Avho 
 publishes those censlires to which he either does not choose 
 or dare to set his name, should for the sake of his OAvn 
 credit practise a similar forbearance. In every sense of 
 the word there is something invidious if not despicable in 
 secret Violence. 
 
 more mis-shapen than it is, whom can it hurt to know, by this additional and 
 striking instance, that we are not always to judge by appearances ? Mr. 
 Hoare, who risked the displeasure of the poet, by taking the sketch, did it 
 certainly with no malicious design ; but merely to preserve a memorial, of 
 what is truly memorable, in how mean a body Providence had thought fit to 
 lodge a soul of such high quahties. The curiosity to know such facts de- 
 serves no kind of blame, and we doubt not that, to a great part of the public, 
 there were few things more pleasing in the new edition, than this original 
 sketch of the poet." 
 
 (nJ The author of the Pursuits of Literature repeatedly disclaims any per- 
 sonal harshness or severity on the character of Dr. Warton ; when therefore 
 ■we read the following passages — " I praised (and liberally enough as some 
 people thought) Dr. Joseph Warton's common-place book on Pope" — '' a 
 writer of little Odes to Fancy, evening owls upon a tree, apostrophes to the 
 twilight, and such nonsense" — " an assurance equal at least to the trifling 
 dilettante spirit of such a commentator as Dr. Warton" — we are to consider 
 them as written in the true spirit of liberal and candid criticism. 
 
 iVlthoush
 
 S6 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 Although Dr. Wauton certainly felt the misrepresenta- 
 tions of his motives and character, and the contemptuous 
 and indelicate manner in which he had been treated, yet 
 he did not so totally shrink from the grey-goose plume (o) 
 
 (o) This expression alludes to a singular prophecy of the dismay which 
 must naturally await the Editor of Pope on reading the ahoveinentioned 
 strictures. Dr. Warton, who had been an cxenip.Uuily atlectionale son, eagerly 
 embraces an occasion, on the conclusion of the Prologue to the Satires, of 
 paying a just tribute to Pope's filial piety. ' The line* alluded to,' he says, 
 ' derive additional beauty from the harsh and austere colouring of some of the 
 preceding passages ; besides it is a natural gratification to see great men de- 
 scendin<^ from their height into the familiar offices of common life, and the 
 sensation is the more pleasing to us because admiration is converted into 
 affection.' After quoting other examples, he adds with great feeling, and jus- 
 tice to the character of Hector, that ' we read with more satisl'action — 
 K waifoj offlaTO faiJi/xc; E«Taf 
 
 h^ 'TTsiii TT^O; KO^TTOV SiJ^UWlO TlflnVUJ 
 
 than we do 
 
 Tpi; /«£v cf sfaT lavj to Se tetj aTCV ixeto riKfiu^ 
 
 Aiya;.' 
 This affords an opportunity of striking the last blow — " But as to the conclu- 
 sion of one of Dr. Warton's notes on the Prologue to the Satires, I can well 
 conceive it to be his own case, and 1 can believe it may be applied with feel- 
 ino-. Dr. Warton says, ' we read (or he will read) with more satisfaction, the 
 
 Av]/' 9raJ'{ Trpo; koMtov lu^moio Tifljimj 
 
 Ek^iv5)i lax'"'' 
 ' than we do (or than the Doctor will hereafter do) 
 
 Tfif liiv c^ila-T lav, TO AE TETPATON <«£to ibk/jm^ 
 Aivaj.' «tx. Vol. iv. page 55. 
 Which last is the motto to this fourth and last dialogue of the Pursuite of 
 Literature. I can indeed easily conceive, that after Dr. Joseph AVarton has 
 read these remarks, he will shrink back like the child in Honier, from the 
 grey-goose plume nodding on the head of the writer of this note, and prefer 
 luxury and. repose on the deep bosoms of his well-zoned nurses, the London 
 booksellers. To them and to their consolations 1 leave him." So much for the 
 charitable censure of a Christian, the liberal criticism of a scholar !!! 
 
 nodding
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 87 
 
 nodding on the head of this inexorable censor, as to hang up 
 his armour unfit for future enterprize, and give up the re- 
 mainder of his days to indolence and ease. 
 
 He entered on an edition of Dryden, an author for whose 
 exalted genius and strong powers of mind he felt the most 
 decisive admiration, and some of whose works he had 
 already rescued from the mistaken severity of prejudice and 
 error. Between this period and the close of 1799, he com- 
 pletely finished two volumes of this poet with notes ; and 
 in opposition to the encroachments of a too resistless 
 malady(^j?j, was proceeding in his classical and interesting 
 pursuit, when nature completely sunk under disease, and 
 the very early part of the ensuing spring put an end to a 
 life, the greater part of which had been dedicated to the 
 most useful and honorable employments, and no period 
 of which had been such as to call a blush into the cheek 
 of those who from consanguinity or friendship looked back 
 with regret on its termination. Independant of his natural 
 partiality for an author so gifted with those requisites which 
 he deemed essential to genuine poetr}^ it may be presumed 
 that a laudable wish of shewing himself neither incapable 
 or reluctant to enter again on a " periculosai plenum opu- 
 salea?," that he was not arrived at the state of " drivelling 
 
 (p) The Doctor's disease originated in the kidneys. It first arrived at an 
 alarming height during the moiilh of October 1799 ; and a general paralysis 
 having taken place in the ensuing February, it within a lew days became 
 fatal. 
 
 childhood,"
 
 88 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 childhood," may have prompted DhWarton to undertake 
 this last efiwt of intellectual exertion. Under this impres- 
 sion, I cannot but wish that the possessor of the manu- 
 script had found it convenient, or deemed it proper, to 
 publish at least the two volumes left (and declared to be 
 so under the Doctor's own hand) ready for the press, and 
 had taken the earliest opportunity of giving to the world 
 his father's last and sacred farewell to literature. 
 
 So occupied are we by the busy scene continually pass- 
 ing before our eyes, so strongly attached to living con- 
 nections and the intercourse from which we hope to derive 
 either present pleasure or advantage, that the remem- 
 brance of the greatest and best men is but too soon buried 
 with them in their graves ; and however the name of 
 Warton must and will at all times stamp a value on the 
 merit, and recommend the publicity of poetry or criticism, 
 yet it is fairly to be conjectured that whilst tlieir sorrows 
 were newly awakened by his loss, and their feelings con- 
 sequently alive to his worth, a posthumous work would 
 have been more eagerly perused by his friends, and would 
 have possessed a fairer chance of arresting a general at- 
 tention from the literary world. Such is my opinion of the 
 hands into wliicli the work has fallen, that I doubt not 
 there being good reasons for the delay: I only mean 
 to state that such a delay can be justified but by good 
 reasons. 
 
 Family

 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WAKTON. «^ 
 
 Family statements (q), and a delicacy arising from 
 tliem on all sides, prevented those public obsequies to 
 which Dr. Wauton had an undoubted claim, and which 
 the Wykehanncal Society were with strict propriety eager 
 to furnish. That society however left him not without 
 memorial, nor did their reverence and regard cease with 
 his life : At their ensuing public anniversary, a subscription 
 for the erection of a monument in Winchester Cathedral 
 was warmly urged and as Avarmly accomplished : In con- 
 sequence of which resolution the ingenious and classical 
 talents of Mr. Flaxman were employed to perpetuate their 
 gratitude and love, and to hand down to posterity both 
 the lineaments (r) and fame of their revered, their inmii- 
 table instructor. 
 
 In delineating the rich and varied qualifications of Dr.WAR- 
 TON, the reader will naturally turn his mo]"e serious thoughts 
 to the characters under which he is in this work specifically 
 
 represented, 
 
 (q) Dr. Warlon in his will expressed an earnest and decisive wish to be 
 ^juried by his fiisl wife, in the north aile of Winchester Cathedral. This was 
 an insurmountable obstacle to any intentions the College might have formed 
 of a public funeral. They could only bury him in their own cloisters. 
 
 (r) The monument of Dr, Warton, erected by the voluntary subscription 
 of the Wykehamists in Winchester Cathedral, is placed against the pillar next 
 to the entrance of the choir on the south side of the center aile : the Doctor 
 is represented (in basso relievo) instructing his pupils; and that his discourse 
 relates to the higher doctrines of criticism and poetry is indicated by the 
 busts of Aristotle behind his chair, and of Horner on his left hand. On one 
 side of the die (considering the general form of the monument to resemble a 
 pedestal to the pillar) is the portrait of Pope, and on the other, that of 
 Dri/den; above the basso relievo is a cornice on which the Grecian Lyre 
 N rises
 
 90 BIOGRAPHICAL MEINIOIRS 
 
 represented, viz. a poet, a critic, and an instructor, as to 
 these must he be indebted for every prospect of posthu- 
 mous fame. How far Dr. Wacton was entitled to the 
 
 rises from the Corinthian acanthus, and terminates the design. Tlie height 
 of the whole is about twelve feet from the pavement ; and on its plerith i* 
 inscribed the following epitaph r 
 
 H. S. E. 
 
 Josephus Walton, S. T. P. 
 
 Hujus EcclesicB 
 
 Prebendarius : 
 
 Scholae Wintoniensis 
 
 Per annos fere triginta 
 
 Informator : 
 
 Poeta fervidus, fac'dis, ex politus ; 
 
 Criticus eruditus, pcrspicax, elegans r 
 
 Obiit XXIIP Feb. MDCCC. 
 
 .aStnt. LXXVIII. 
 
 Hoc qualecunque 
 
 • • Pietatis monumentum 
 
 Prieceptori optiuio, 
 
 Pesideratissimo. 
 
 \V iccamici sui 
 
 P. a 
 
 Tlie exquisite hand of a master is forcibly displaj'ed in the execution of 
 tills design ; and to those who closely examine the nice and delicate touches 
 which grace both the figures and the drapery, new excellencies will perpetually 
 arise. The likeness of Dr. VVarton is also more striking than either the pic- 
 ture of Sir Joshua Reynolds or the mezzotiiito taken from it. Yet, in defi- 
 ance of tliese superiorities, the monument docs not strike sufficiently at the 
 first view, or generally please. The costume of the college gown is appro- 
 priate, but the commoners should have been omitted. The want of effect 
 however is chiefly produced by the immense space and height with which it 
 is surroundid. Tlie scale is not suthciently large for the building. Inimitably, 
 beautiful in Mr. Flaxman's study, the luonuniLiit is uevertlicless lost in Wui- 
 chcster Calhcdral. 
 
 first
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. gz 
 
 first distinction, he has the opportunity of judging from a 
 perusal of the inserted poems; he will bear also in his 
 mind the exquisite personification of the passions depicted 
 in the Rebellion of the Subjects of Reason. Nor will he 
 derive a trilling degree of additional gratification from a 
 beautiful fragment found amongst his papers, and wrapped 
 in the following envelope : " The story of the enclosed poem 
 was simply this, taken from an old Italian writer — The 
 Poet wandering in a wood comes to the Temple of Love, 
 the outside of which is extremely beautiful — the moment 
 he enters, he finds all the miseries of those within it. The 
 allegory is easy and plain, and it is also very easy to add 
 lines, and finish it." 
 The first appearance of the temple is thus described : 
 
 Ere long, on polish'd pillars rear'd 
 
 High o'er the woods, the tow'rs appear'd ; 
 
 A purer air with purple light 
 
 Here darts upon my ravish'd sight. 
 
 The warbling rills o'er stones of gold 
 
 Their chrystal windings softly roH'd, 
 
 The birds upborne on wavy wing 
 
 Round the bright dome in chorus sing ; 
 
 Hark, how their notes of gladness swell, 
 
 Temper'd by plaintive Philomel ; 
 
 Here on the green smooth-shaven ground. 
 
 Dancing in many a wanton round, 
 
 N 2 Comiis
 
 92 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 Comus and revelry resort, 
 "With naked Liberty, and sport ; 
 Here Hebe dwells, and healthy Joy ; 
 Young Laughter leads a playful boy ; 
 Here sits Content, and strokes a dove. 
 And calls herself the child of Love ; 
 On couch of lilies idly laid, 
 Meanwhile I spy a beauteous maid^ 
 In azure mantle thinly drest, 
 Yet naked was her swelling breast. 
 Her mantle ill conceal'd the rest. 
 Her artless locks hung loose behind. 
 Dancing in the wanton Avind ; 
 Her eyes, so sleepy and so mild, 
 With love-sick languors sweetly smil'd ; 
 She cast a soul-ensnaring loc>k ; 
 A well tun d silver lute she took, 
 Whose dulcet and delicious sound 
 In transport deep my senses drown'd ; 
 With me, O happy shepherds ! stay, 
 (Thus she began her luring lay) 
 All dear delights to thee I'll show 
 That on green earth's gay bosom grow ; 
 Lull'd in my downy flow'ry lap, 
 Soft ecstacies each sense shall wrap : 
 
 1 
 
 I teach
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON; 93 
 
 I teach becalmed souls to bless 
 The placid pow'r of Idleness ; 
 
 enter here, and thou shalt find 
 Each joy to feast th' enraptur'd mind. 
 
 This representation of Idleness is truly poetical, and re- 
 minds us of the delineation of Pleasure in the Judgement of 
 Hercules. The contrast arising from the inside of the tem- 
 ple is finely opened : 
 
 1 entered, and perceiv'd too late 
 Th' alluring Syren's sad deceit; 
 
 O ! what a doleful, difF'rent scene 
 
 Rose to my Avond'ring eyes within ; 
 
 The walls in glowing colours show 
 
 A thousand tales of pictur'd woe ; 
 
 There saAv I Ariadne stand a 
 
 All on the bleak and barren sand ; C 
 
 Who beckons with beseeching hand J 
 
 To Theseus hasting o'er the main. 
 
 And kneels, and Aveeps, and shrieks in vain : 
 
 There Phsedra from dishevell'd hair 
 
 Her costly jewels strove to tear ; 
 
 While her fond soul with incest burns. 
 
 From her fond lord her eyes she turns ; 
 
 In frantic passion seems to say, 
 
 Come, to the high woods let's away. 
 
 Beneath some spreading beech reclin'd 
 
 My lov'd Hyppolitus to find. 
 
 There
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOirvS 
 
 ******* 
 
 There Eloise in stony cell, 
 
 Where Solitude and Sorrow dwell, 
 
 Sits lonely by a winking light, 
 
 And wastes in bitter thoughts the night, 
 
 Thinking each hollow blast she heard 
 
 The absent voice of Abelard : 
 
 Next Tancred all astonish'd stood 
 
 Gazing on pale Chlorinda's blood 
 
 \Vhat time with rash mistaken spear 
 
 He smote unknown the warlike fair : 
 
 ******* 
 
 There in her spotless bridal bed 
 Lay injur'd Desdemona dead ; 
 The rash-believing ]\Ioor stood by, 
 Rolling with jealous rage his eye, 
 Whence the fierce fires of fury flash, 
 His grinding teeth together gnash. 
 *****- * * 
 
 But in the inmost temple stand 
 Of frowning fiends a gloomy band ; 
 Here trembled Fear, there Discontent 
 With ragged locks and mantle rent; 
 Next sly Suspicion hst'ning stood. 
 Her right hand bath'd in brother's blood ; 
 With cruel Pride, and deaf Disdain, 
 Who spurns aside the kneelhig sAvain ; 
 
 Dark
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 95 
 
 Dark Melancholy — moping sprite, 
 Detesting human voice and sight. 
 Sitting alone, her lips did bite. 
 The following is likewise a most impressive image of Despair; 
 She loneliest caves, and gloomy groves. 
 And e'en the doleful dungeon loves ; 
 Delights, at awful midnight hours. 
 In whistling winds, and beating show'rs : 
 A panting corpse beside her lay,. 
 That just Avas breathing life away ; 
 A youth (s) by her beguil'd of life — 
 His hand still clasp'd the reeking knife (t). 
 
 (s) I cannot pass over Warton's excellent criticism on the Suicide, in 
 Dryden's Temple of Mars, in tlie first book ofPalamon and Arcitc. Indeed,, 
 in reading the above fragment the reader will bring to his recollection both, 
 this and the Temple of Venus in the same poem : 
 
 " The image of the Suicide is exjually picturesque and patlietic :" 
 ' The slayer of himself yet saw I there ; 
 The gore congeal'd was clotted in his hair. 
 With eyes half-clos'd, and gaping mouth he lay. 
 And grim as when he breatli'd his sullen soul away.' 
 " This reminds me of that forcible description in a writer whose Hmcy was 
 eminently strong : ' Calalina vero, longe a suis inter hostium cadavera re- 
 pertusest, paululiim etiam spirans; ferociamque animi, quam habuerat vivus, 
 in vultu retinens.' Nor must I omit that aflecting image in Spenser, who 
 ever excels in the pathetic : 
 
 ' And him besides there lay upon the grass 
 A dreary corse, whose life away did pass ; 
 All wallow'd in his own yet lukewarm blood 
 That from his wound yet welled fresh, alas!: 
 In which a rusty knife fast fi.xed stood. 
 And made an open passage for the gushing flood.*" 
 
 Warton on Pope, Vol. 11. 
 (tj This is to be considered a rough and incorrect sketch ; it is how- 
 ever the sketch of a master, and bears the strongest marks of its eventual 
 
 excellence,
 
 96 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS' 
 
 The Enthusiast, as also the Odes to Fancy, and to i\Ir. 
 AVest on liis translation of Pindar, few are there who have 
 not perused, and, I believe, as few who do not deem the 
 efforts of a poet. It has often surprized me, that the 
 " Dying Indian" has not held an higher place in the pub- 
 lic estimation, or been brought more forward as a proof of 
 its author's excellence. Through the A^hole of this little 
 poem, every sentiment, ever}' expression is thoroughly ap- 
 propriate ; they manifestly derive a grace from being so 
 placed, and suit alone the object to which they are there 
 attached. Indeed the striking beauties of Dr. Warton's 
 poetry are, originality, and the introduction of images cal- 
 culated for the particular situation he has assigned them, 
 and not equally fitted to general and indiscriminate use. 
 Be it recollected also, that in his M'orks we have no vapid 
 mediocrity, sanctioned alone by the harmony of versifica- 
 tion ; no stiff didactic apophthegms, no trite common-place 
 sayings, differing only from prose by studied measure: 
 ■whatever may be the faults, 
 
 quas aut incuria fudit, 
 
 Aut humana parum cavit Natura, 
 
 There still breathes through his poetry a genuinely spirited 
 invention, a fervor which can alone be produced by a 
 highly inspired mind; and which, it is to be presumed. 
 
 excellence, had it been brought to a conclusion, and undergone the polish of 
 revisal and correction. 
 
 1 fairly
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 97 
 
 fairly ranks him amidst what he himself properly terms the 
 " makers and inventors," that is, the real poets (u). 
 
 The beauties and utility of Warton's Virgil, in which 
 his merits both as a translator and critic have been strongly, 
 but I trust not improperly, asserted, are already discussed : 
 the conclusion however of the Mantuan's character, as 
 pourtrayed by him, must not be passed over. " Lastly, the 
 art of Virgil is never so powerfully felt as when he attempts 
 to move the passions, especially the more tender ones. The 
 pathetic was the grand distinguishing characteristic of his 
 genius and temper, and this perhaps is the reason why 
 TEneas is painted of so soft and compassionate a turn of 
 mind. Our poet began so early as in his Eclogues to steep 
 his song in tears ; and the story of Orpheus is excelled by 
 nothing but that of Dido, of Nisus and Euryalus and his 
 mother; the mournful picture of Troy, the lamentations 
 
 fuj "'Tis by the design and the invention of ideas and images, proper for 
 moving us, and employed in the executive part, tiiat we distinguish tlie great 
 artist from the plain workman, who frequently excels the former in execution. 
 The best versifiers are not the greatest poets, as the most regular designers 
 are far from being the greatest painters." 
 
 Nugent's translation of Du Bos, Vol. 11. 
 
 " One may have a considerable degree of taste in poetry, eloquence, 
 or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for composition 
 or execution in any of these arts ; but genius cannot be found without in- 
 cluding taste also; genius therefore deserves to be considered as an higher 
 power of the mind than taste. Genius always imports something invetitive or 
 creative ; which does not rest in mere sensibility to beauty, where it is per- 
 ceived, but which can, moreover, produce new beauties, and exhibit them in 
 such a manner as strongly to impress the minds of others. Refined taste 
 forms a good critic; but genius is farther necessary to form the poet or the 
 orator." — Blair's Le<5lures. 
 
 O of
 
 98 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 of Evander, and the distresses of Latinus, Juturna, and 
 Turnus: Quinctilian has exactly drawn Virgil's character 
 tinder that of Euripides : In affectibus cum omnibus mirus, 
 tuni iis qui miseratione, constant facile prsecipuus. It lay 
 in his power alone to have enriched the Roman poesy with 
 what it so greatly wanted, and what is perhaps a more 
 useful work than even an epic poem itself — a perfect 
 tragedy." In this detail of pathetic and interesting parts 
 of his favourite author, it is surprising that the filial piety 
 and lamented fate of Lausus are omitted. In few poets is 
 there so affecting, so impassioned a scene as the close of 
 the tenth jEneid. The contrast of character between 
 father and son, the exquisite speech of jEneas over the 
 dying youth, the address of INIezentius to his horse, his 
 self accusations on viewing the corpse of Lausus, and the 
 sullen consistence of character with Avhich he meets death, 
 are perfectly tragic, and possess all the necessary quahfi- 
 cations for the drama. 
 
 After the testimonies of Spence, Young, Lowth, John- 
 son (x)^ and others of eminent abilities, little remains to 
 
 (x) The disagreement which took place after a long and warm friendship 
 ■between Johnson and Warton, is much to be lamented ; it occurred at the 
 house of Sir Joshua Revnolds, as I am told by one of the company, wlio only 
 overheard the following conclusion of the dispute. Johnson. " Sir, I am 
 not used to be contradicted." Warton. " Better for yourself and friends. Sir, 
 if you were; our admiration could not be encreased, but our love might." The 
 party interfered, and the conversation was stopped. A coolness however 
 from that time took place, and was encreased by many trifling circumstanccs^ 
 which before this dispute would perhaps have not been attended to. 
 
 be
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 99 
 
 be said on the reputation and success of the Essay on 
 Pope, a work (says a learned and ingenious commen- 
 tator) (y) filled with speculations in a taste perfectly pure : 
 nor did this quality forsake him in his other essays. The 
 criticism on the play of the Tempest published in the 
 Adventurer was such in the opinion of Mrs. Montague (z) 
 as to render it unnecessary on her part to enlarge on that 
 effort of Shakespear's genius : and one of the most approved 
 editors (a) of our illustrious bard thought himself bound 
 to apologize by letter to Dr. Warton, from the apprehen- 
 sion of having raistated his just and ingenious remarks on 
 Lear. In the two papers respecting the opposite excel- 
 lencies of the ancients and moderns, there is perhaps as 
 thorough and well-grounded knowledge of general literature 
 as can be found in a periodical essay : and what can be a 
 more pointed, more original, and at the same time candid 
 treatise, than his paper (h) on the blemishes of Paradise 
 Lost. In a Avord, he has ever given his opinions as a critic 
 with freedom, but it is tlie freedom of good humour ; he has 
 afforded instruction by his knowledge, but it is instruction 
 mingled with delight. If in some cases severity has pro- 
 voked a kindred reply, and harsh criticism in more than 
 one instance urged him to retort in the same spirit, yet 
 
 (y) See Harris's Philological Inquiries. 
 
 (x) Essay on Sliakespear — Chapter on Praeternatural Beings. 
 
 (a) Boswell's Life of Johnson, Vol.11. 
 
 (b) Adventurer, No. loi. 
 
 o 2 such
 
 100 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 such M'as not his general style : the softness of his heart, 
 not less than the clearness of his head, characterized and 
 pervaded his every work. His professional exertions vniited 
 the qualities of criticism and instruction. When the higher 
 classes read under him the Greek tragedians, orators, or 
 poets, they received the benefit not only of direct and 
 appropriate information, but of a pure, elegant lecture oa 
 classical taste. The sphit with which he commented on 
 the prosopopoeia of QEdipus or Electra, the genuine ele- 
 gance and accuracy with which he developed the animated 
 rales and doctrines of his favourite Longinusfcj, the insi- 
 nuating but guarded praise he bestowed, the well-judged 
 and proportionate encouragement he uniformly held out to 
 the first dawning of genius, and the anxious assiduity with 
 which he pomted out the paths to literary eminence, can 
 never, I am confident, be forgotten by those Avho have 
 hung with stedfast attention on his precepts, and enjoyed 
 the advantage of his superior guidance. If we consider 
 the crude and dry method in which the classics are too 
 often read in schools, and how few enter the University with 
 any remembrance of them, except as the dmdgery of hard 
 labour and the imposed weariness of a task; it is to bo 
 lamented that there exists no public lecture in which a 
 professor might unfold their beauties, entice his auditors 
 to a relish for them, and direct their taste to those most 
 
 (c) See his first letter to his father. 
 
 worthy
 
 OF DR. JOSEPH WARTON. loi 
 
 worthy of attention, most calculated to inform and polish 
 the mind. How nmcli composition and the general style of 
 scholarship would be benefited by such an arrangement, it 
 is needless to add : the effect arising from it must be univer- 
 sally acknowledged. And if ever there was an individual 
 more calculated to fill such a chair, more gifted with every 
 requisite to render the office all its warmest advocates 
 deem it competent to accomplish; it was Dr. Warton. 
 No idea can I form of literary luxury much greater than 
 attendance on him as a lecturer on the classics. 
 
 Zealous in his adherence to the church establishment, 
 and exemplary in his attention to its ordinances and duties, 
 he was at the same time a decided enemy to bigotry or 
 intolerance. His style of preaching was unaffectedly earnest 
 and impressive; and the dignified solemnity with which he 
 read the Liturgy (particularly the Communion (d) service) 
 was remarkably awful. He had the most happy art of 
 aiTcsting the attention of youth on religious subjects. Every 
 "Wiccamical reader will recollect his inimitable commen- 
 taries on Grotius in the Sundaj' evenings, and his discourse 
 annually delivered in the school on Good Friday: the 
 impressions made by them cannot be forgotten. 
 
 To descend to the minatia? of daily habits is surely 
 beneath the pro\ ince of biography. Free, open, and chcar- 
 ful to his friends, without rigour or sullen severity to those 
 
 (d) Johnson's reproof to Garrick ever reminded me of Dr. W.'s strict pro- 
 priety in reading the Commandments. .
 
 102 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 he disliked, Dr. Warton in his general character could 
 never deserve and seldom incur enmit}', A playl'ul liveli- 
 ness, even on the most dry and didactic subjects, divested 
 him of the smallest appearance of that pedantry which is 
 too apt to attach itself to scholars by profession. None 
 could leave his society Avithout improvement, yet never was 
 the man found who was oppressed by his superiority. The 
 charm of unaflected ease and good humour prevented every 
 feeling of inequality, every jealousy of receiving instruction : 
 no individual perhaps ever possessed in a stronger degree the 
 powers of enlivening conversation by extensive knowledge, 
 correct judgement, and elegant taste (e). His chearfulness 
 
 and 
 
 (e) In an excellent controversial pamphlet we find ibc following passage : 
 " Whilst I am writing, the world has heeii deprived of Dr. Warton, a most 
 accomphshed and excellent scholar. In elegant learning and critical taste, 
 I have ever considered him as consummate and supreme. This taste he ex- 
 celled in imparting to successive generations of rising scholars, over whom 
 he for many years presided at Wykeliam's College. Scarcely any man pos- 
 sessed so much of what may be called the private history of literature and 
 learned men. But what might be less expected from such a scholar, was his 
 being equally informed on every other subject, on philosophical and theolo- 
 gical opinions, and on general hisitory. The good humour and vivacity with 
 which he conmiunicatcd his taste and knowledge to his numerous friends, 
 will be long remembered by them with affection and regret." 
 
 The following character likewise appeared soon after his death, written by 
 a friend who was thoroughly competent to estimate, and who deeply felt, the 
 loss of such a companion : 
 
 " On Sunday morning early, died, in the 78th year of his age, at Wickham 
 ki Hampshire, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Warton, rector of that parish, prebendary 
 of Winchester, &c. The erudition and critical talents of this eminently 
 literary character have been universally acknowledged during the last half 
 century. But these quahties, however great in themselve?, were as nothing, 
 1 1 when
 
 OP DR. JOSEPH WARTON. 103 
 
 and resignation in affliction were invincible: even under 
 the extreme of bodily weakness, his strong mind was 
 unbroken, and his limbs became paralyzed in the very act 
 of dictating an epistle of friendly criticism. So quiet, so 
 composed was his end, that he might more truly be said to 
 cease to live than to have undergone the pangs of death. 
 
 Thus sincerely and without affectation estimating the 
 talents and virtues of Dr. Warton, thus conscious of his 
 eminence as an author, and attached to his memory as 
 an instructor, let me ask in the language of Cicero " Hunc 
 eo"o non diligam ? non admirer ? non omni ratione defen- 
 dendum putem .''" 
 
 when compared to the virtues of his mind. His incomparable temper, gene- 
 ral benevolence, and social accomplishments, must for ever endear him, both 
 as a man and a Christian, to the memory of his very numerous^ and surviving 
 friends."
 
 SELECTION 
 
 Dr. W a ETON'S 
 
 POETICAL WORKS.
 
 The Reader will be suipiized to find notes on so few poems. The original 
 intention of the Editor was to have added them generally : but the advice 
 of a friend, to whose judgment and care in reviewing the manuscript he 
 is highly indebted, has convinced him that a profusion of notes in a 
 work where neither Antiquity or Obscurity are to be illustrated cannot 
 amuse or assist the reader, and often subjects the commentator to the 
 suspicion of gratifying personal vanity under the masque of necessary 
 explanation. 
 
 Some of those introduced in the Enthusiast, and Ode to Mr. West, were 
 passages referred to by the Doctor, though they were not given at length 
 in his edition — a justifiable plea, it may be presumed, for their retaining 
 their place.
 
 SAPPHO'S ADVICE. 
 
 Tir'd with the visits of the day, 
 Semanthe on a sofa lay ; 
 And leaning on her elbow, thought 
 Which was the loveliest silks she bought; 
 How by Sir Plume she was gallanted, 
 How at the Park and Opera flaunted ! 
 What silly hearts she had subdu'd, 
 And hoAv she best might play the prude ! 
 Till Sleep his heavy poppies spread, 
 Adown she drops her drowsy head ! 
 
 Sudden a female phantom rose. 
 Her cheek with healthy roses glows, 
 Her lively eyes are fill'd with fire, 
 Yet modestly forbid desire : 
 Her ebon curls hang loose behind. 
 And laurel-wreaths her temples bind : 
 
 In a magazine I find the following memoranduni, in Dr. Warton's hand- 
 writing : — P. 545. Sappho's Advice was written by me, then at Winchefter 
 school ; the next by Toinkyns ; and the sonnet by Collins. 
 
 J. Wauton. 
 
 p 2 A snowy
 
 108 SELECTION FROM 
 
 A snowy robe her limbs array 'd, 
 
 While thus the vision, Sappho, said : 
 
 — It grieves me much, alas ! to find 
 
 The Fair neglect t'improve her mind ! 
 
 The toys that your attention claim, 
 
 A Grecian maid would blush to name : 
 
 While you're adjusting your commode, 
 
 Lesbia, or I, could make an ode! 
 
 No gaudy ribbons deck'd her head, 
 
 A trembling light no diamond shed ; 
 
 In white and innocency drest 
 
 The plainest beauties were the best : 
 
 A pen I handled for a fan, 
 
 And learnt not how to dance but scan : 
 
 Those pretty eyes !— how soon they close 1 
 
 Those cheeks— how fades the blushing rose I 
 
 When age has wean'd your love for dress, 
 
 And akes and beaux your years confess ; 
 
 When amorets no more can shine ; 
 
 And Stella owns she's not divine ; 
 
 Then sense and merit shall supply 
 
 The blushing check, the sparkling eye ; 
 
 For nymphs, regardless of their faces, 
 
 Should add Minerva to the Graces. 
 
 MONITORIUS.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 109 
 
 BEAUTY AND INNOCENCE. 
 
 A GENTLE dove, while Aura stray 'd 
 
 To taste the ev'ning air, 
 Approach'd amid the myrtle shade, 
 
 The far more harmless Fair. 
 
 Perch'd on her arm, where nought he feai''d. 
 
 The bird forgot to rove. 
 And as her softer voice he heard, 
 
 Coo'd sympathy and love. 
 
 The tender maid with sweet surprize 
 
 Stood wond'ring whence he came. 
 And why the wand'rer of the skies 
 
 Unnaturally tame : 
 
 I shall stand excused, at least I trust, amongst my Wiccamical readers,, 
 for the introduction of the two lyric pieces not professedly written by Di: 
 Warton. The three juvenile poets probably inspected each others composi- 
 tions, and may be considered as jointly concerned in the pacquet sent to 
 the magazine — A pacquet which called forth, from a critic by no means 
 inaccurate or easily satisfied, the following unqualified eulogium: — "We 
 pass on to three more of the lyric kind, which might do honour to any 
 collection. There belongs to them an happy facility of versification, and the 
 way to the scope or striking part is natural and well conducted. Whoever 
 ventures to prefer one, must allow the otlier two worthy of the same hand : 
 the least, which is a favourite of mine, carries a force mixed with tender- 
 ness and an uncommon elevation." — 601. Criticism on the three poems 
 from Winchester, by Johnson. 
 
 But
 
 10 SELECTION FROM 
 
 But what should Aura's wonder move ? 
 
 The dove beheld her mien, 
 And while she charm'd th' admiring grove, 
 
 Thought 'twas the Cyprian queen. 
 
 Happy mistake ! deceiv'd yet bless'd 
 
 He left the bow'rs above ; 
 Thus Aura justly was confess'd 
 
 The brighter queen of love. 
 
 AURAMANTULUS. 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 When Phoebe form'd a wanton smile 
 
 My soul ! it reach'd not here ! 
 Strange that thy peace, thou trembler, flies 
 
 Before a rising tear ! 
 
 From midst the drops, my Love is born, 
 
 That o'er those eyelids rove : 
 Thus issued from a teeming wave 
 
 The fabled Queen of Love. ' 
 
 Delicatulus.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. iii 
 
 THE ENTHUSIAST: 
 
 LOVER OF NATURE. 
 
 WRITTEN IN 1740. 
 
 Rare vero barbaroque Itetatur. Martial, 
 
 Ut inihi devio 
 
 Rupes et vacuum nemus 
 
 Mirari libet ! Horace. 
 
 Ye green-rob'd Dryads, oft at dusky eve 
 By wondering shepherds seen, to forests brown, 
 To unfrequented meads, and pathless wilds. 
 Lead me from gardens deck'd with art's vain pomps. 
 Can gilt alcoves, can marble-mimic gods, 
 Parterres embroider'd, obelisks, and urns, 
 Of high relief ; can the long, spreading lake, 
 Or vista lessening to the sight ; can Stow, 
 With all her attic fanes, such raptures raise. 
 As the thrush-haunted copse, where lightly leaps 
 The fearful fawn the rustling leaves along. 
 And the brisk squirrel sports from bough to bough. 
 
 While
 
 112 SELECTION FROM 
 
 While from an hollow oak, whose naked roots 
 O'erhang a pensive rill, the busy bees 
 Hum drowsy lullabies ? The bards of old. 
 Fair Nature's friends, sought such retreats, to charm 
 Sweet Echo with their songs ; oft too they met 
 In summer evenings, near sequester'd bowers, 
 Or mountain-nymph, or muse, and eager learnt 
 The moral strains she taught to mend mankind. 
 As in a secret grot ^Egeria stole 
 With patriot Numa, and in silent night 
 Whisper'd him sacred laws, he list'ning sat. 
 Rapt with her virtuous voice, old Tyber lean'd 
 Attentive on his urn, and hush'd his waves. 
 
 Rich in her weeping country's spoils, Versailles 
 May boast a thousand fountains, that can cast 
 The tortur'd waters to the distant heav'ns ; 
 Yet let me choose some pine-topt precipice 
 Abrupt and shaggy, whence a foamy stream, 
 Like Anio, tumbling roars ; or some bleak heath, 
 Where straggling stands the mournful juniper, 
 Or yew-tree scath'd ; while in clear prospect round, 
 From the grove's bosom spires emerge, and smoke 
 In bluish wreaths ascends, ripe harvests wave. 
 Low, lonely cottages, and ruin'd tops 
 
 As in a secret grot.'] — LivY, Book 1st. chap, igtli. 
 13 Of
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. us 
 
 Of Gothic battlements appear, and streams 
 Beneath the sun-beams twinkle. — The shrill lark, 
 That wakes the woodman to his early task. 
 Or love-sick Philomel, whose luscious lays 
 Sooth lone night-wanderers, the moaning dove 
 Pitied by list'ning milk -maid, far excel 
 The deep-mouth'd viol, the soul-lulling lute. 
 And battle-breathing trumpet. Artful sounds ! 
 That please not like the choristers of air. 
 When first they hail th' approach of laughing May. 
 
 Can Kent design like Nature ? Mark where Thames 
 Plenty and pleasure pours through Lincoln's meads * ; 
 
 Can 
 
 * The Earl of Lincoln's terrace at Weybridge in Surrey. 
 Can Kent design like Nature ?] — In Walpole's elegant and entertaining 
 History of Modern Gardening, Kent is deemed the artist to whom the Eng- 
 lish nation is chiefly indebted for diffusing a taste in laying out grounds. It 
 is likewise asserted that the friendship Pope felt for him contributed in a great 
 degree to form this taste. — The first book of Mason's English Garden thus 
 alludes to their united powers : 
 
 vvith bolder rage. 
 
 Pope next advances, his indignant arm 
 
 Waves the poetic brand o'er Timon's shades 
 
 And lights them to destruction. The fierce blaze 
 
 Sweeps thro' each kindred vista. Groves to groves 
 
 Nod their fraternal farewell, and expire. 
 
 And now, elate with fair-earn'd victory. 
 
 The bard returns, and on the banks of Thames 
 
 Erects his flag of triumph, wild it waves 
 
 In verdant splendor, and beholds, and hails 
 
 The King of Rivers ! as he rolls along, 
 
 Kent is his bold associate, Kent who felt 
 
 Q The
 
 114 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Can the great Artist, though with taste supreme 
 Endu'd, one beaut}^ to this Eden add ? 
 Though he, by rules unfetter'd, boldly scorns 
 Formality and method, round and square 
 Disdaining, plans irregularly great. 
 
 Creative Titian, can thy vivid strokes, 
 Or thine, O graceful Raphael, dare to vie 
 With the rich tints that paint the breathing mead ? 
 The thousand-colour'd tulip, violet's bell 
 
 Snow- 
 
 The pencil's power, but, fir'd by higher forms 
 Of beauty than that pencil knew to paint, 
 Work'd with the living hues that nature lent. 
 And realiz'd his landscapes. Generous he 
 Who gave to painting what the wayward nymph 
 Refus'd her votary, those Eiysian scenes. 
 Which would she emulate, her nicest hand 
 Must all its force of light and shade employ. 
 
 The thousand-colour d tulip.'] 
 
 .. . When at hand 
 
 Along these blushing borders bright with dew 
 And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers 
 Fair handed Spring unbosoms every grace. 
 Throws out the snow-drop and the crocus first. 
 The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue, 
 And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes. 
 The yellow wall-flower stain'd with iron brown. 
 And lavish stock that scents the garden round. 
 From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed 
 Anemonies, auriculas, emich'd 
 With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves, 
 And full ranunculas of glowing red. 
 
 3 Then
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 115 
 
 Snow-clad and meek, the vermil-tinctur'd rose, 
 And golden crocus ?— Yet with these the maid, 
 Phillis or Phoebe, at a feast or wake 
 Her jetty locks enamels ; fairer she, 
 In innocence and homespun vestments dress'd, 
 Than if caerulean sapphires at her ears 
 Shone pendant, or a precious diamond-cross 
 Heav'd gently on her panting bosom white. 
 
 Yon shepherd idly stretch'd on the rude rock, 
 List'ning to dashing waves, and sea-mew's clang 
 High-hovcring o'er his head, who views beneath 
 The dolphin dancing o'er the level brine, 
 Feels more true bhss than the proud admiral, 
 Amid his vessels bright Avith burnish'd gold 
 And silken streamers, though his lordly nod 
 Ten thousand war-worn mariners revere. 
 And great iEneas gaz'd with more delight 
 On the rough mountain shagg'd with horrid shades, 
 
 1 (Where 
 
 Then conies the tulip race whei-e beauty plays 
 
 Her idle Freaks, from family diffus'd 
 
 To family, as flies the father dust 
 
 The varied colours run ; and while they break 
 
 On the charmed eye, th' exulting florist marks 
 
 With secret pride the wonders of his hand. 
 
 Thomson's Spuing. 
 Jnd great JEneas gazd-l 
 
 Hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem et Capitolia diicit, 
 
 Aurea nunc, olim sylvestiibus horrida diunis. 
 
 6 2 Jam
 
 116 SELECTION FROM 
 
 (Where cloud-compelling Jove, as fancy dreani'd. 
 
 Descending, shook his direful iEgis black) 
 
 Than if he enter'd the high Capitol 
 
 On golden columns lear'd, a conquer'd world 
 
 Exhausted, to enrich its stately head. 
 
 More pleas'd he slept in poor Evander's cot 
 
 On shaggy skins, lull'd by sweet nightingales. 
 
 Than if a Nero, in an age refin'd, 
 
 Beneath a gorgeous canopy had plac'd 
 
 His royal guest, and bade his minstrels sound 
 
 Soft slumbrous Lydian airs, to sooth his rest. 
 
 Happy the first of men *, ere yet confin'd 
 To smoky cities ; who in sheltering groves, 
 Warm caves, and deep-sunk vallies liv'd and lov'd, 
 By cares unwounded; what the sun and showers, 
 And genial earth untillag'd, could produce. 
 They gather'd grateful, or the acorn brown 
 Or blushing berry ; by the liquid lapse 
 Of murm'ring waters call'd to slake their thirst. 
 Or with fair nymphs their sun-brown limbs to bathe ; 
 
 Jam turn religio pavidos terrebat agrestes 
 
 Dira loci ; jam turn sylvam saxumq; tremebant. 
 
 Hoc nemus, hunc, inquit, frondoso vertice collem, 
 
 (Quis Deus, incertum est) habitat Deus. Arcades ipsum 
 
 Credunt se vidisse Jovem, cum saepe nigrantem 
 
 ^gida concuteiet dextri, nimbosq; cieret." JEn. 8th. 
 
 * See LucKETiuSj Lib. V. from linegaa to 1008. Et genus humanum, &c. 
 
 Witt
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 117 
 
 With nymphs who fondly clasp'd their fav'rite youths, 
 
 Unaw'd by shame, beneath the beechen shade. 
 
 Nor wiles, nor artificial coyness knew. 
 
 Then doors and walls were not; the melting maid 
 
 Nor frown of parents fear'd, nor husband's threats ; 
 
 Nor had curs'd gold their tender hearts allur'd : 
 
 Then beauty was not venal. Injur'd Love, ,: 
 
 O ! whither, god of raptures, art thou fled ? 
 
 While Avarice 'waves his golden wand around, 
 
 Abhorred magician, and his costly cup 
 
 Prepares with baneful drugs, t' enchant the souls 
 
 Of each low-thoughted fair to wed for gain. 
 
 In earth's first infancy (as sung the bard, i 
 
 Who strongly painted what he boldly thought), 
 Though the fierce north oft smote with iron whip j 
 
 Their shiv'ring limbs, though oft the bristly boar 
 Or hungry lion 'woke them with their howls. 
 And scar'd them from their moss-grown caves, to rove - 
 Houseless and cold in dark tempestuous nights ; 
 Yet were not myriads' in embattel'd fields 
 Swept off at once, nor had the raging seas 
 O'erwhelm'd the found'ring bark and shrieking crew ; 
 In vain the glassy ocean smil'd to tempt 
 The jolly sailor, unsuspecting harm, 
 For Commerce ne'er had spread her swelling sails. 
 Nor had the wond'ring Nereids ever heard 
 
 The
 
 118 SELECTION FROM 
 
 The dashing oar : then famine, vant, and pain, 
 
 Sunk to the grave their fainting Umbs; but us, 
 
 Diseaseful dainties, riot, and excess, 
 
 And feverish luxury destro3\ In brakes 
 
 Or marshes wild unknowingly they crop'd 
 
 Herbs of malignant juice ; to realms remote 
 
 AVhile we for powerful poisons madly roam. 
 
 From every noxious herb collecting death. 
 
 What though unknown to those primeval sires 
 
 The well-arch'd dome, peopled with breathing forms 
 
 By fair Italia's skilful hand, unknown 
 
 The shapely column, and the crumbling busts 
 
 Of awful ancestors in long descent ? 
 
 Yet why should man, mistaken, deem it nobler 
 
 To dwell in palaces, and high-roof'd halls, 
 
 Than in God's forests, architect supreme ! 
 
 Say, is the Persian carpet, than the field's 
 
 Or meadow's mantle gay, more richly wov'n ; 
 
 Or softer to the votaries of ease 
 
 Than bladed grass, perfum'd with dew-dropt flow'rs ? 
 
 Then famine, want, and pain.} 
 
 Some, as thou saw'st, by violent stroke shall die ; 
 
 By fire, flood, famine, by intemp'iance more 
 
 In meats and drinks, which on the earth shall bring 
 
 Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew 
 
 Before thee shall appear ; that thou may'st know 
 
 What misery th' inabslineuce of Eve 
 
 Shall bring on men. 
 
 Paradise Lost, Book nth 
 
 O taste
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 119 
 
 O taste corrupt! that luxury and pomp, 
 In specious names of polish'd manners veil'd, 
 Should proudly banish Nature's simple charms! 
 All beauteous Nature ! by thy boundless charms 
 Oppress'd, O where shall I begin thy praise, 
 Where turn th' ecstatic eye, how ease my breast 
 That pants with wild astonishment and love ! 
 Dark forests, and the op'ning lawn, refresh'd 
 With ever-gushing brooks, hill, meadow, dale, 
 The balmy bean-field, the gay-clover'd close, 
 So sweetly interchang'd, the lowing ox. 
 The playful lamb, the distant water-fall 
 Now faintly heard, now swelling with the breeze. 
 The sound of pastoral reed from hazel-bower. 
 The choral birds, the neighing steed, that snuffs 
 His dappled mate, stung with intense desire, 
 The ripen d orchard when the ruddy orbs 
 Betwixt the green leaves blush, the azure skies. 
 The chearful sun that through earth's vitals pours 
 Delight and health, and heat ; all, all conspire 
 To raise, to sooth, to harmonize the mind, 
 To lift on wings of praise, to the great Sire 
 Of being and of beauty, at whose nod 
 Creation started from the gloomy vault 
 Of dreary Chaos, Avhile the griesly king 
 Murraur'd to feel his boisterous power confined. 
 
 What
 
 120 SELECTION FROM 
 
 What are the lays of artful Addison, 
 Coldly correct, to Shakcspear's waiblings wild ? 
 Whom on the winding Avon's willow'd banks 
 Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe 
 To a close cavern: (still the shepherds shew 
 The sacred place, whence with religious awe 
 They hear, returning from the field at eve, 
 Strange whisp'rings of sweet music through the air) 
 Here, as with honey gather'd from the rock, 
 She fed the little prattler, and with songs 
 Oft sooth'd his wond'ring ears, with deep delight 
 On her soft lap he sat, and caught the sounds. 
 
 Oft near some crowded city would I walk. 
 Listening the far-off noises, rattling cars, 
 
 What are the Jays of artful Addison, &c.] — When Voltaire preferred Cato 
 to the tragedies of Sbakespear, 1 am inclined to suspect there was as much 
 malice as depravity of taste in the decision. The English drama he well 
 knew was not exalted by his panegyric, whilst he intended that it should be 
 sensibly depreciated by his censure. The justly celebrated Mrs. Montague, 
 in her Essay on the Writings and Genius of our great Dramatic Poet, has 
 completely refuted the French Critic's misrepresentations. 
 
 And bore the smiling babe, &c.] 
 
 Far from the sun and summer gale 
 In thy green lap was Nature's darling laid. 
 What lime, where lucid Avon stray'd, 
 To Him the mighty Mother did unveil 
 Her aweful face. The dauntless child 
 Stretch'd forth his little arms, and smil'd. Gray. 
 
 Loud
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 121 
 
 Loud shouts of joy, sad shrieks of sorrow, knells 
 
 Full slowly tolling, instruments of trade, 
 
 Striking mine ears with one deep-swelling hum. 
 
 Or wand 'ring near the sea, attend the sounds 
 
 Of hollow winds, and ever-beating waves, 
 
 Ev'n when wild tempests swallow up the plains, 
 
 And Boreas' blasts, big hail, and rains combine 
 
 To shake the groves and mountains, would I sit, 
 
 Pensively musing on the outrageous crimes 
 
 That wake heaven's vengeance : at such solemn hours, 
 
 Daemons and goblins through the dark air shriek, 
 
 While Hecat, with her black-brow'd sisters nine. 
 
 Rides o'er the earth, and scatters woes and death. 
 
 Then too, they say, in drear J5^gyptian wilds 
 
 The lion and the tiger prowl for prey 
 
 With roarings loud ! the list'ning traveller 
 
 Starts fear-struck, while the hollow-echoing vaults 
 
 Of pyramids increase the deathful sounds. 
 
 But let me never fail in cloudless nights, 
 When silent Cynthia in her silver car 
 Through the blue concave slides, when shine the hills, 
 Twinkle the streams, and woods look tip'd with gold, 
 To seek some level mead, and there invoke 
 Old Midnight's sister Contemplation sage, 
 (Queen of the rugged brow and stern-fixt eye) 
 
 R To
 
 122 SELECTION FROM 
 
 To lift my soul above this little earth, 
 
 This folly -fetter'd world : to purge my ears, 
 
 That I may hear the rolling planets' song, 
 
 And tuneful turning spheres : if this be barr'd, 
 
 The little Fays that dance in neighbouring dales, 
 
 Sipping the night-dew, while they laugh and love, 
 
 Shall charm me with aerial notes. — As thus 
 
 I wander musing, lo, what aweful forms 
 
 Yonder appear ! sharp-ey'd Philosophy 
 
 Clad in dun robes, an eagle on his wrist, 
 
 First meets my eye ; next, virgin Solitude 
 
 Serene, who blushes at each gazer's sight ; 
 
 Then Wisdom's hoary head, with crutch in hand. 
 
 Trembling, and bent with age ; last Virtue's self 
 
 Smiling, in white array 'd, who with her leads 
 
 Sweet Innocence, that prattles by her side, 
 
 A naked boy ! — Harass'd with fear I stop, 
 
 I gaze, when Virtue thus — ' AVhoe'er thou art, 
 
 ' Mortal, by whom I deign to be beheld 
 
 « In these my midnight-walks ; depart, and say 
 
 * That henceforth I and my immortal train 
 
 * Forsake Britannia's isle ; who fondly stoops 
 
 The little Fai/s.'] — Thus in the Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespear puts 
 into the mouth of the fairy : 
 
 I must go seek some dew drops here, 
 And hang u pearl in every cowslip's ear. 
 
 'To
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 12:; 
 
 * To Vice, her favourite paramour.' — She spoke, 
 Anil as she turn'd, her round and rosy neck, 
 Her flowing train, and long ambrosial hair, 
 Breathing rich odours, T enamour'd view. 
 
 O who will bear me then to western climes, 
 (Since Virtue leaves our wretched land) to fields 
 Yet unpolluted with Iberian swords : 
 The isles of Innocence, from mortal vicAv 
 Deeply retir'd, beneath a plantane's shade, 
 Where Happiness and Quiet sit enthron'd, 
 With simple Indian swains, that I may hunt 
 The boar and tiger through savannahs wild, 
 Through fragrant deserts, and through citron groves? 
 There fed on dates and herbs, would I despise 
 The far-fetch'd cates of luxury, and hoards 
 Of narrow-hearted avarice ; nor heed 
 The distant din of tlie tumultuous world. 
 So Avhen rude whirlwinds rouze the roaring main, 
 Beneath fair Thetis sits, in coral caves, 
 Serenely gay, nor sinking sailors' cries 
 Disturb her sportive nymphs, who round her form 
 
 She spoke, 
 
 jlud as she turn'd, &,c.] 
 
 Dixit : et avertens lose^ cervice refulsit^ 
 
 Ambrosiaeq; comffi divinum vertice odoiem 
 
 Spiravere: pedes vestis defluxit ad imos, 
 
 Et vera incessu patuit Dea. Virg. /En. ist, 
 
 R 2 The
 
 124 SELECTION FROM 
 
 The light fantastic dance, or for her hair 
 Weave rosy crowns, or with according lutes 
 Grace the soft warbles of her honied voice. 
 
 VERS E S 
 
 ON A BUTTERFLY; 
 
 Fair child of Sun and Summer! we behold 
 VA^ith eager eyes thy wings bedropp'd with gold ; 
 The purple spots that o'er thy mantle spread, 
 The sapphire's lively blue, the ruby's red, 
 Ten thousand various blended tints surprize. 
 Beyond the rainbow's hires or peacock's eyes : 
 Not Judah's king in eastern pomp array 'd, 
 Whose charms allur'd from far the Sheban maid. 
 High on his glitt'ring throne, like you could shine 
 (Nature's complctest miniature divine): 
 For thee the rose her balmy buds renews, 
 And silver lilies fill their cups with dews; 
 Flora for thee the laughing fields perfumes. 
 For thee Pomona sheds her choicest blooms, 
 
 Soft
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 125 
 
 Soft Zephyr wafts thee on his gentlest gales 
 O'er Hackwood's sunny hills and verdant vales ; 
 For thee, gay queen of insects ! do we rove 
 From walk to walk, from beauteous grove to grove j 
 And let the critics know, whose pedant pride 
 And awkward jests our sprightly sport deride ; 
 That all who honours, fame, or wealth pursue, 
 Change but the name of things — they hunt for you. 
 
 ODE TO FANCY. 
 
 O Parent of each lovely muse," 
 Thy spirit o'er my soul diffuse, 
 O^er all my artless songs preside. 
 My footsteps to thy temple guide. 
 To offer at thy turf-built shrine, 
 In golden cups no costly wine. 
 No murder'd falling of the flock, 
 But tlowers and honey from the rock. 
 O nymph with loosely-flowing hair. 
 With buskin'd leg, and bosom bare,. 
 
 Thy
 
 126 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Thy waist with myrtle-girdle bound, 
 
 Thy brows with Indian feathers crown'd, 
 
 Waving in thy snowy hand 
 
 An all-commanding magic wand. 
 
 Of pow'r to bid fresh gardens blow, 
 
 'Mid cheerless Lapland's barren snow, 
 
 "Whose rapid wings thy flight convey 
 
 Thro' air, and over earth and sea. 
 
 While the vast various landscape lies 
 
 Conspicuous to thy piercing eyes. 
 
 O lover of the desert, hail ! 
 
 Say, in what deep and pathless vale, 
 
 Or on what hoary mountain's side, 
 
 'Mid fall of waters, you reside, 
 
 'Mid broken rocks, a rugged scene, 
 
 With green and grassy dales between, 
 
 'Mid forests dark of aged oak *, 
 
 Ne'er echoing with the woodman's stroke. 
 
 Where never human art appear'd, 
 
 Nor ev'n one straw-roof'd cot was rear'd, 
 
 Where Nature seems to sit alone, 
 
 Majestic on a craggy throne ; 
 
 * Of pine or monumental oak 
 
 Where the rude axe with heaved stroke 
 Was never heard the nymphs to daunt 
 Or fright them from their hallow'd haunt. Il Penseroso. 
 
 Tell
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 127 
 
 Tell me the path, sweet wand'rer, tell. 
 To thy unknown sequester'd cell, 
 Where woodbines cluster round the door, 
 Where shells and moss o'erlay the floor, 
 And on whose top an hawthorn blows, 
 Amid Avhose thickly-woven boughs 
 Some nightingale still builds her nest, 
 Each evening warbling thee to rest : 
 Then lay me by the haunted stream, 
 Rapt in some Avild, poetic dream, 
 In converse while methinks I rove 
 With Spenser through a fairy grove ; 
 Till, suddenly awak'd, I hear* 
 Strange whisper'd music in my ear, 
 And my glad soul in bliss is drown'd 
 By the sweetly-soothing sound ! 
 Me, Goddess, by the right hand lead, 
 Sometimes through the yellow mead. 
 Where Joy and white -rob'd Peace resort, 
 And Venus keeps her festive court. 
 Where Mirth and Youth each evening meet, 
 And lightly trip with nimble feet. 
 Nodding their lily-crowned heads, 
 Where Laughter rose-lip'd Hebe leads ; 
 
 * And as I wake^ sweet music breathe 
 Above, about, or undeneath 
 Sent by some spirit to mortals good 
 Or til' unseen Genius of tiie wood. Il Penseroso. 
 
 Where
 
 !8 SELECTION EROM 
 
 Where Echo walks steep hills among, 
 
 List'ning to the shepherd's song : 
 
 Yet not these flowery fields of joy 
 
 Can long my pensive mind employ, 
 
 Haste, Fancy, from the scenes of folly, 
 
 To meet the matron ]\Ielancholy, 
 
 Goddess of the tearful eye, 
 
 That loves to fold her arms, and sigh ; 
 
 Let us Math silent footsteps go 
 
 To charnels and the house of woe, 
 
 To Gothic churches, vaults, and tombs, 
 
 Where each sad night some virgin comes. 
 
 With throbbing breast, and faded cheek, 
 
 Her promis'd bridegroom's urn to seek ; 
 
 Or to some abbey's mould'ring tow'rs, 
 
 Where, to avoid cold wintry show'rs. 
 
 The naked beggar shivering lies* , 
 
 While whistling tempests round her rise. 
 
 And trembles lest the tottering wall 
 
 Should on her sleeping infants fall. 
 
 Now let us louder strike the lyre, 
 
 For my heart glows with martial fire, 
 
 I feel, I feel, with sudden heat. 
 
 My big tumultuous bosom beat ; 
 
 The trumpet's clangors pierce my ear, ^ 
 
 A thousand widows' shrieks I hear, 
 
 * This is not only an original, but wonderfully poetical idea. 
 
 Give
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 129 
 
 Give me anotljcr horse, I cry, 
 
 Lo ! the base Gallic squadrons fly ; 
 
 Whence is this rage ? — ^what spirit, say 
 
 To battle hurries me aAvay ? 
 
 'Tis Fancy, in her fiery car, 
 
 Transports me to the thickest war, 
 
 There whirls me o'er the hills of slain, 
 
 Where Tumult and Destruction reign ; 
 
 Where, mad with pain, the wounded steed 
 
 Tramples the dying and the dead ; 
 
 Where giant Terror stalks around, 
 
 With sullen joy surveys the ground. 
 
 And, pointing to th' ensanguin d field. 
 
 Shakes his dreadful gorgon-shield ! 
 
 O guide me from this horrid scene, 
 
 To high-arch'd walks and alleys green, 
 
 Which lovely Laura seeks, to shun 
 
 The fervors of the mid-day sun ; 
 
 The pangs of absence, O remove ! 
 
 For thou canst place me near my love, 
 
 Canst fold in visionary bliss. 
 
 And let me think I steal a kiss, 
 
 While her ruby lips dispense 
 
 Luscious nectar's quintessence ! 
 
 When young-eyed Spring profusely throws 
 
 From her green lap the pink and rose, 
 
 S When
 
 130 SELECTION PROM 
 
 When the soft turtle of the dale 
 
 To Summer tells her tender tale, 
 
 When Autumn cooling caverns seeks, 
 
 And stams with wine his jolly cheeks; 
 
 When Winter, like poor pilgrim old, 
 
 Shakes his silver beard with cold ; 
 
 At every season let my ear 
 
 Thy solemn whispers, Fancy, hear. 
 
 O warm, enthusiastic maid, 
 
 Without thy powerful, vital aid. 
 
 That breathes an energy divine. 
 
 That gives a soul to every line, 
 
 Ne'er may I strive with lips profane 
 
 To utter an unhallow'd strain. 
 
 Nor dare to touch the sacred striug, 
 
 Save when with smiles thou bid'st me sing. 
 
 O hear our prayer, O hither come 
 
 From thy lamented Shakespear's tomb. 
 
 On which thou lov'st to sit at eve, 
 
 Musing o'er thy darling's grave ; 
 
 O queen of numbers, once again 
 
 Animate some chosen swain ^ 
 
 Who, fiil'd with unexhausted fire. 
 
 May boldly smite the sounding lyre, 
 
 Who with some ne^v, unequall'd song. 
 
 May rise above the rhyming throng, 
 
 O'ev
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 131 
 
 O'er all our list'ning passions reign, 
 
 O'erwhelm our souls with joy and pain, 
 
 With terror shake, and pity move, 
 
 Rouze with revenge, or melt with love. 
 
 O deign t' attend his evening walk, ' 
 
 With him in groves and grottos talk ; 
 
 Teach him to scorn with frigid art 
 
 Feebly to touch th' unraptur'd heart ; 
 
 Like lightning, let his mighty verse 
 
 The bosom's inmost foldings pierce ; 
 
 With native beauties win applause 
 
 Beyond cold critics' studied laws ; 
 
 O let each Muse's fame encrease, 
 
 O bid Britannia rival Greece. 
 
 ODE TO HEALTH. 
 
 WRITTEN ON A RECOVERY FROM THE SMALL-POX. 
 
 O WHETHER with laborious clowns 
 
 In meads and woods thou lov'st to dwell, ^ 
 
 In noisy merchant-crowded towns. 
 Or in the temperate Brachman's cell ; 
 Who from the meads of Ganges' fruitful flood, 
 Wet with sweet dews collects his flowery food ; 
 
 ss In
 
 132 SELECTION FROAI 
 
 In Bath or in Montpellier's plains, 
 
 Or rich Bermuda's bahny isle, 
 Or the cold North, whose fur-clad swains 
 Ne'er saw the purple autumn smile, 
 Who over Alps of snow, and desarts drear, 
 By twinkling star-light drive the flying deer ; 
 
 O lovely queen of mirth and ease, 
 
 Whom absent, beauty, banquets, wine, 
 Wit, music, pomp, nor science please, 
 And kings on ivory couches pine. 
 Nature's kind nurse, to whom by gracious heav'n 
 To sooth the pangs of toilsome life 'tis giv'n ; 
 
 To aid a languid wretch, repair. 
 
 Let pale-ey'd Grief thy presence fly. 
 The restless demon, gloomy Care, 
 And meagre Melancholy, die ; 
 Drive to some lonely rock the giant Pain, 
 And bind him howUng with a triple chain ! 
 
 O come, restore my aking sight ; 
 
 Yet let me not on Laura gaze, 
 
 Soon must I quit that dear delight, 
 
 O'erpower'd by Beauty's piercing rays ; 
 
 Support my feeble feet, and largely shed 
 
 Thy oil of gladness on my fainting head : 
 
 How
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 133 
 
 How nearly had my spirit past, 
 
 Till stopt by Metcalf s skilful hand, 
 To Death's dai'k regions wide and waste, 
 And the black river's mournful strand ; 
 Or to those vales of joy, and meadows blest. 
 Where sages, heroes, patriots, poets rest ; 
 
 Where Maro and Museeus sit 
 
 List'ning to Milton's loftier song. 
 With sacred silent wonder smit ; 
 
 While, monarch of the tuneful throng. 
 Homer in rapture throws his trumpet down> 
 And to the Briton gives his amaranthine crown» 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO A GENTLEMAN ON HIS TRAVELS. niV 
 
 While I with fond officious care 
 
 For you my chorded shell prepare, 
 And not unmindful frame an humble lay, 
 
 Where shall this verse my Cynthio find, 
 
 What scene of art now charms your mind. 
 Say on what sacred spot of Roman ground you stray ? 
 
 Perhaps
 
 IS* SELECTION FROM 
 
 Perhaps you cull each valley's bloom, 
 To strew o'er Virgil's laurell'd tomb, 
 AVhence oft at midnight echoing voices sound ; 
 For at the hour of silence, there 
 The shades of ancient bards repair, 
 To join* in choral song his hallow'd urn around : 
 
 Or wander in the cooling shade 
 Of Sabine bow'rs, where Horace stray 'd, 
 And oft repeat in eager thought elate, 
 (As round in classic search you trace 
 With curious eye the pleasing place) 
 *« That fount he lov'd, and there beneath that liill he sate. 
 
 How longs my raptur'd breast with you 
 Great Raphael's magic strokes to vicAv, 
 To whose blest hand each charm the Graces gave! 
 Whence each fair form with beauty glows 
 Like that of Venus, when she rose 
 Naked in blushing charms from Ocean's hoary wave. 
 
 As oft by roving fancy led 
 To smooth Clitumnus' banks you tread. 
 What awful thoughts his fabled waters raise ! 
 While the low-thoughted swain, whose flock 
 Grazes around, from some steep rock 
 With vulgar disregard his mazy course surveys. 
 
 Now
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 135 
 
 Now thro' the ruin'd domes my Muse 
 Your steps with eager flight pursues, 
 That tlieir cleft piles on Tyber's plains present, 
 Among whose hollow-winding cells 
 Forlorn and wild Rome's Genius dwells, 
 His golden sceptre broke, and purple mantle rent. 
 
 Oft to those mossy mould'ring walls, 
 
 Those caverns dark and silent halls, 
 . Let me repair by midnight's paly fires ; 
 
 There muse on Empire's fallen state, 
 
 And frail Ambition's hapless fate. 
 While more than mortal thoughts the solemn scene inspires. 
 
 What lust of pow'r from the cold North 
 Could tempt those Vandal-robbers forth, 
 Fair Italy, thy vine-clad vales to waste ? 
 Whose hands profane, with hostile blade. 
 Thy story 'd temples dar'd invade, 
 And all thy Parian seats of Attic art defac'd I 
 
 They weeping Art in fetters bound, 
 And gor'd her breast with many a wound. 
 And \ eil'd her charms in clouds of thickest night ; 
 Sad Poesy, much-injur'd maid, 
 They drove to some dim convent's shade, 
 And qucucii'd in gloomy mist her lamp's resplendent light. 
 
 There
 
 136 SELECTION EROM 
 
 There long she wept, to darkness doom'd. 
 Till Cosmo's hand her light relum'd, 
 That once again in lofty Tasso shone ; 
 Since has sweet Spenser caught her fire, 
 She breath'd once more in Milton's lyre. 
 And warm'd the soul divine of Shakespear, Fancy's son. 
 
 Nor she, mild queen, will cease to smile 
 On her Britannia's much-lov'd isle. 
 Where these her best, her favourite Three were born, 
 While Theron * warbles Grecian strains. 
 Or polish'd Dodington remains. 
 The drooping train of arts to cherish and adorn. 
 
 ODE 
 
 AGAINST DESPAIR. 
 
 Farewell thou dimpled cherub, Joy, 
 Thou rose-crown'd ever-smiling boy, 
 Wont thy sister Hope to lead, 
 To dance along the primrose mead ! 
 
 * The author of The Pleasures of Imagiaation. 
 
 No
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL ^VOllKS. 137 
 
 No more, bereft of happy hours, 
 I seek thy lute-resounding bow'rs. 
 But to yon ruin'd tow'r repair, 
 To meet the god of groans, Despair ; 
 Who, on tliat ivy-darken'd ground, 
 Still takes at eve his silent round. 
 Or sits yon new-made grave beside, 
 Where lies a frantic suicide : 
 While lab'ring sighs my heart-strings Ijreak, 
 Thus to the sullen power I speak : 
 
 • Haste with thy poison'd dagger, haste, 
 ' To pierce this sorrow-laden breast ! 
 ' Or lead me, at the dead of night, 
 
 * To some sea-beat mountain's height, 
 
 ' Whence with headlong haste Til leap 
 
 * To the dark bosom of the deep ; 
 
 ' Or shew me, far from human eye, 
 
 ' Some cave to muse in, starve, and die ; 
 
 ' No weeping friend or brother near, 
 
 ' JMy last, fond, falt'ring words to hear !' 
 
 'Twas thus, with weight of woes opprest, 
 I sought to ease my bruised breast ; 
 When straight more gloomy grew the shade, 
 And lo ! a tall majestic maid ! 
 
 T Her
 
 158 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Her limbs, not delicately fair, 
 Robust, and of a martial air ; 
 She bore of steel a polish'd shield, 
 "Where highly-sculptur d I beheld 
 Th' Athenian * martyr smiling stand, 
 The baleful goblet in his hand ; 
 Sparkled her eyes with lively flame. 
 And Patience was the seraph's name ; 
 Sternly she look'd, and stern began — 
 
 * Thy soiTows cease, complaining man, 
 
 * Rouze thy weak soul, appease thy moan, 
 ' Soon are the clouds of sadness gone ; 
 
 * Tho' now in Grief's dark groves you walk, 
 ' "Where griesly fiends around you stalk, 
 
 * Beyond, a blissful city lies, 
 
 * Far from whose gates each anguish flies ; 
 
 ' Take thou this shield, which once of yore 
 
 * Ulysses and Alcides wore, 
 
 ' And which in later days I gave 
 
 * To Regulus and Raleigh brave, 
 ' In exile or in dungeon drear 
 
 * Their mighty minds could banish fear; 
 
 * Thy heart no tenfold woes shall feel, 
 
 * 'Twas Virtue temper'd the rough steel, 
 ' And, by her heavenly fingers wrought, 
 
 * To me the precious present brought/ 
 
 • Socrates.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 139 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO EVENING. 
 
 Hail, mcek-ej'd maiden, clad in sober grej, 
 Whose soft approach the weary woodman loves, 
 As, homeward bent to kiss his prattling babes, 
 He jocund whistles thro' the twilight groves. 
 
 When Phoebus sinks beneath the gilded hills, 
 You lightly o'er the misty meadows walk, 
 The drooping daisies bathe in dulcet dews, 
 And nurse the nodding violet's slender stalk ; 
 
 The panting Dryads, that in day's fierce heat 
 To inmost bowers and cooling caverns ran, 
 Return to trip in wanton evening dance, 
 Old Sylvan too returns, and laughing Pan. 
 
 To the deep wood the clamorous rooks repair. 
 Light skims the swallow o'er the wat'ry scene, 
 And from the slieep-cotes, and fresh-furrow'd field, 
 Stout ploughmen meet to wrestle on the green. 
 
 T 2 The
 
 140 SELECTION FROM 
 
 The swain that artless sings on yoncler rock, 
 His nibbhng sheep and length'ning shadow spies, 
 Pleas'd with the cool, the cahi), refreshful hour, 
 And Avith hoarse hummings of unnumber'd flies. 
 
 Now every passion sleeps ; desponding TiOve, 
 And pining Envy, ever-restless Pride ; 
 An holy calm creeps o'er my peaceful soul, 
 Anger and mad Ambition's storms subside. 
 
 O modest Evening, oft let me appear 
 A wandcrmg votary in thy pensive train, 
 List'ning to every wildly-warbling throat 
 That fills wath farewell notes the dark'ning plain. 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO CONTENT. 
 
 Welcome Content! from roofs of fretted gold, 
 From Persian sofas, and tiie gems of Ind, 
 
 From courts, and camps, and crowds. 
 
 Fled to my cottage mean! 
 
 Meek
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 141 
 
 Meek Virgin, wilt thou deign with me to sit 
 In pensive pleasure by my glimmering fire, 
 
 And with calm smile despise 
 
 The loud world's distant din ; 
 
 As from the piny mountain's topmost cliff 
 Some wandering hermit sage hears unconcern d, 
 
 Far in the vale beloM^, 
 
 The thund'ring torrent burst ! 
 
 Teach me, good heaven, the gilded chains of vice 
 To break, to study independant ease, 
 
 Pride, pomp, and power to shun,^ 
 
 Those fatal Syrens fair, 
 
 That, rob'd like Eastern queens, sit on high thrones, 
 And, beckoning every thirsty traveller. 
 
 Their baleful cups present 
 
 With pleasing poisons fraught, 
 
 O let me dwell in life's low valley, blest 
 
 With the dear Nymph I love, true, heart-felt joy, 
 
 With chosen friends to turn 
 
 The polish'd Attic page ; 
 
 Noi
 
 142 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Nor seldom, if nor Fortune damp my wings, 
 Nor dire Disease, to soar to Pindus' hill, 
 
 My hours, my soul devote, 
 
 To Poesy and Love ! 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO THE NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 O THOU, that to the moon-light vale 
 Warblest oft thy plaintive tale, 
 What time the village-munuurs cease, 
 And the still eye is hush'd to peace, 
 When now no busy sound is heard, 
 Contemplation's favourite bird ! 
 
 Chauntress of night, whose amorous song 
 
 (First heard the tufted groves among) 
 
 Warns wanton JNIabba to begin 
 
 Her revels on the circled green, 
 
 Whene'er by Meditation led 
 
 I nightly seek some distant mead. 
 
 A short
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. us 
 
 A short repose of cares to find. 
 And sooth my love-distracted mind, 
 O fail not then, sweet Philomel ! 
 Thy sadly-warbled woes to tell ; 
 In sympathetic numbers join 
 Thy pangs of luckless love with mine ! 
 
 So may no swain's rude hand infest 
 Thy tender young, and rob thy nest ; 
 Nor ruthless fowler's guileful snare 
 Lure thee to leave the fields of air, 
 No more to visit vale or shade, 
 Some barbarous virgin's captive made. 
 
 O T> t 
 
 TO A LADY ON THE SPRING. 
 
 Lo ! Spring, array'd in primrose-colour'd robe. 
 Fresh beauties sheds on each enUveii'd scene. 
 With shovv'rs and sunshine chears the smiling globe, 
 And mantles hill and vale in glowing green. 
 
 All
 
 144 SELECTION FROM 
 
 All nature feels her Aital heat around, 
 The pregnant glebe now bursts with foodful grain, 
 AVith kindly warmth she opes the frozen ground, 
 And with new hfe informs the teeming plain. 
 
 She calls the fish from out their ouzy beds, 
 And animates the deep with genial love, 
 She bids the herds bound sportive o'er the meads, 
 And Avith glad songs awakes the joyous grove. 
 
 No more the glaring tyger roams for prey, 
 
 All-powerful Love subdues his savage soul, 
 
 To find his spotted mate he darts away, 
 
 "While gentler thoughts the thirst of blood controul. 
 
 But ah ! Avhile all is warmth and soft desire, 
 While all around Spring's chcarful spirit own, 
 You feel not, Amoret, her quickening fire, 
 To Spring's kind influence you a foe alone !
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. us 
 ODE 
 
 TO A LADY WHO HATES THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Now Sammer, daughter of the Sun, 
 O'er the gay fields comes dancing on, 
 
 And earth o'erflows with joys ; 
 Too long in routs and drawing-rooms 
 The tasteless hours my Fair consumes, 
 
 'Midst folly, flattery, noise. 
 
 Come, hear mild Zephyr bid the rose 
 Her balmy-breathing buds disclose, 
 
 Come, hear the falling rill. 
 Observe the honey-loaded bee. 
 The beech embower'd cottage see, 
 
 Beside yon sloping hill. 
 
 By health awoke at early morn, 
 
 We'll brush sweet dews from every thorn, 
 
 And help unpen the fold ; 
 Hence to yon hollow oak we'll stray, 
 Where dwelt, as village-fables say. 
 
 An holy Djuid old. 
 
 V '*' Come,
 
 U6 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Come, wildly rove thro' desart dales, 
 To listen how lone nightingales 
 
 In liquid lays complain ; 
 Adieu the tender, thrilling note 
 That pants in Monticelli's throat, 
 
 And Handel's stronger strain. 
 
 * Insipid pleasures these!' you cry; 
 
 * Must I from dear assemblies fly, 
 
 ' To see rude peasants toil ? 
 ' For operas listen to a bird ? 
 
 * Shall Sydney's fables* be preferr'd 
 
 ' To my sagacious Hoylef ?' 
 
 O falsely fond of what seems great, 
 Of purple pomp, and robes of state. 
 
 And all life's tinsel glare ! 
 Rather with humble violets bind. 
 Or give to wanton in the wind, 
 
 Your length of sable hair. 
 
 Soon as you reach the rural shade, 
 Will Mirth, the sprightly mountain-maid, 
 Your days and nights attend, 
 
 * Arcadia. 
 
 t Alluding to those ladies who have left their novels and romances for the 
 profound study of Mr. Hoyle's book on Whist. 
 
 She'll
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. ur 
 
 She'll bring fantastic Sport and Song, 
 Nor Cupid will be absent long, 
 Your true ally and friend. 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO SOLITUDE. 
 
 Thou, that at deep dead of night 
 Walk'st forth beneath the pale moon's light. 
 In robe of flowing black array 'd, 
 While cypress-leaves thy brows o'ershade ; 
 List'ning to the crowing cock. 
 And the distant sounding clock ; 
 Or, sitting in thy cavern low, 
 Dost hear the bleak winds loudly blow, 
 Or the hoarse death-boding owl, 
 Or village mastiff's wakeful howl. 
 While through thy melancholy room 
 A dim lamp casts an awful gloom ; 
 Thou, that on the meadow green 
 Or daisy 'd upland art not seen, 
 
 V 2 But
 
 148 SELECTION FROM 
 
 But waiid'ring by the dusky nooks. 
 And the pensive falHng brooks, 
 Or near some rugged, hcrbless rock. 
 Where no shepherd keeps his flock ! 
 Musing maid, to thee I come. 
 Hating the tradeful city's hum ; 
 O let me cahiily dwell with thee. 
 From noisy mirth and bus'ness free, 
 AVith meditation seek the skies, 
 This folly-fetter'd world despise I 
 
 ODE 
 
 -TO MR. WEST ON HIS TRANSLATIOxV OF PINDAR. 
 
 1. 1. 
 
 Albion exult ! thy sons a voice divine have heard. 
 The man of Thebes hath in thy vales appear'd I 
 * Hark ! with fresh rage and undiminish'd fire 
 The sweet enthusiast smites the British lyre ; 
 
 * And with a Master's hand^^ and Prophet's fire, 
 IStruck the deep sorrows of his lyre. Gray's Bard. 
 
 The
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 The sounds that echoed on Alpheus' streams 
 Reacli the dehghted ear of Hstening Thames; 
 Lo ! swift across the dustj plain 
 Great Theron's foaming coursers strain ! 
 What mortal tongue e'er roll'd along 
 Such full impetuous tides of nervous song ? 
 
 1.2. 
 
 The fearful, frigid lays of cold and creeping art 
 Nor touch, nor can transport th' unfeeling heart; 
 Pindar, our inmost boson:i piercing, warms 
 With glory's love, and eager thirst of arms : 
 When Freedom speaks in his majestic strain, 
 The patriot-passions beat in every vein : 
 * We long to sit with heroes old, 
 'Mid groves of vegetable gold, 
 Where Cadmus and Achilles dwell. 
 And still of daring deeds and dangers tell. 
 
 Lo ! swift across^ Sic.] 
 
 yiyuvrirsov oVi. 
 t^ua-fjL Ax^ayajlof 
 
 ?ofov/A?v?!£?. 2J Olymp. Od. 
 
 149 
 
 Away, 
 
 A^lA^EO!
 
 150 SELECTION FROM 
 
 1.3. 
 
 Away, enervate bards, away. 
 Who spin the courtly, silken lay. 
 As wreaths for some vain Louis' head. 
 Or mourn some soft Adonis dead: 
 No more your polish'd lyrics boast, 
 In British Pindar's strength o'er-whelm'd and lost : 
 • As well might ye compare 
 The glimmerings of a waxen flame, 
 (Emblem of verse correctly tame) 
 * To his own Etna's sulphur-spouting caves, 
 AVhen to Heav'n's vault the fiery deluge raves, 
 When clouds and burning rocks dart thro' the troubled air. 
 
 In 
 
 A%l^^£a T en'itK cwu 
 
 Virgil, in the following beautiful passage, reminds us of Pindar's animated 
 description of the inhabitants of Elysium : 
 
 Magnanimi heroes, nati melioribus annis ; 
 Ilusq; Assaracusq; et Trojoc Dardanus auctor. 
 Arma procul, currusq; virum miratur inanes. 
 Stant terra detixiE hasla?, passimq; soluli 
 Per cainpos pascuntur equi. Quae gratia curriim, 
 Armorumq; fiiit vivis, quas cura nitentes 
 Pascere equos ; eadem sequitur teliure repostos. 
 
 *------- xlm 
 
 J' afaviat <ruv cx^i, 
 vif oEiTo-' Anva wdnli; 
 Xiiwi o^ttai Tifova 
 TO{ htuyovlai /J^ev i-TC^ta- 
 
 in jUUp^iiiv 3-«7«' TTolaiMl
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. i5l 
 II. 1. 
 
 * In roaring cataracts down Andes' channell'd steeps 
 Mark how enormous Orellana sweeps ! 
 Monarch of mighty floods ! supremely strong, 
 Foaming from chfF to cliff he Avhirls along, 
 Swoln with an hundred hills' collected snows : 
 Thence over nameless regions widely flows, 
 
 Round fragrant isles, and citron-groves. 
 
 Where still the naked Indian roves. 
 
 And safely builds his leafy bow'r, 
 Trom slavery far, and curst Iberian pow'r; 
 
 11. £. 
 
 'j- So rapid Pindar flows. — O parent of the lyre. 
 Let me for ever thy sweet sons admire ! 
 
 AtSuv. fl!>A' h o^patai we 
 
 «V ^£f£( Wo'vloU WXOKa (TUV •nof 
 
 Ta7«J. J. PYTII.On. 
 
 See also the i st Georgic : 
 
 Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros 
 
 Vidimus undantem ruptis foinacibus iEtnam, 
 Flammariimque globos, liquetactaq; volvere saxa ! 
 
 * Now rolling down the steep amain. 
 Headlong, impetuous, see it pour : 
 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar. Gray. 
 
 f Monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres 
 Quem super notas jJuere ripas 
 Fervet, immensusq; ruit profundo. Pindarus Orb. 
 
 O ancient
 
 152 SELECTION FROM 
 
 O ancient Greece, but chief the bard whose lays 
 The matchless tale of Troy divine emblaze ; 
 And next Euripides, soft Pity's priest, 
 Who melts in useful woes the bleeding breast; 
 
 And him, Mho paints th' incestuous king, 
 
 AVhose soul amaze and horror wring ; 
 
 Teach me to taste their channs refin'd, 
 The richest banquet of th' enraptur'd mind : 
 
 U.S. 
 
 For the blest man, the Muse's child *, 
 
 On whose auspicious birth she smil'd, 
 
 Whose soul she form'd of purer fire. 
 
 For whom she tun'd a golden lyre. 
 
 Seeks not in fighting fields renown : 
 No widow's midnight shrieks, nor burning town, 
 The peaceful poet please; 
 
 Nor ceaseless toils for sordid gains, 
 
 Nor purple pomp, nor wide domains, 
 Nor heaps of wealth, nor power, nor stateman's schemes, 
 Nor all deceiv'd Ambition's feverish dreams, 
 Lure his contented heart from the sweet vale of ease. 
 
 ♦ Quern tu, Melpomene, semel 
 
 Nascentem placido lumine videris. 
 Ilium non labor Isthmius 
 
 Clarabit pugilem ; non equus impiger 
 Curiu ducel Achaico 
 
 Viclorem ; neque res bellica Deliis 
 Ornatum foliis cluoem. 
 
 Quod regum tumidas contuderit luinas, 
 Ostendel Capitolio.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 153 
 
 STANZAS 
 
 ON TAKING THE AIR AFTER A LONG ILLNESS 
 
 1. 
 
 Hail genial Sun ! I feel thy powerful ray 
 Strike vigorous health into each languid vein ] 
 Lo, at thy bright approach, are fled away 
 The pale-ey'd sisters, Grief, Disease, and Pain. 
 
 O hills, O forests, and thou painted mead, 
 Again admit me to your secret seats, 
 From the dark bed of pining sickness freed, 
 With double joy I seek 3?our green retreats. 
 
 3. 
 Yet once more, O ye rivers, shall I lie 
 In summer evenings on your willow'd banks, 
 And, unobserv'd by passing shepherd's eye, 
 View the light Naiads trip in wanton ranks. 
 
 Each
 
 154 SELECTION FROM 
 
 4. 
 Each rural object charms, so long unseen, 
 The blooming orchards, the white wand'ring flocks, 
 The fields array 'd in sight-refreshing green. 
 And with his loosen'd 3^oke the wearied ox. 
 
 5. 
 Here let me stop beneath this spreading bush, 
 While Zephyr's voice I hear the boughs among, 
 And listen to the sweet thick-warbling thrush, 
 Much have I wish'd to hear her vernal song. 
 
 6. 
 The Dryad Health frequents this hallow'd grove ; 
 O where may I the lovely virgin meet ? 
 From morn to dewy evening will I rove 
 To find her haunts, and lay an ofF'ring at her feet.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 155 
 
 VERSES 
 
 WRITTEN AT MONTAUBAN IN FRANCE, 1750. 
 
 Tarn, how delightful wind thy willow'd waves, 
 But, ah ! they fructify a land of slaves ! 
 In vain thy bare-foot, sun-burnt peasants hide 
 With luscious grapes yon hill's romantic side ; 
 No cups nectareous shall their toil repay. 
 The priest's, the soldier's, and the fermier's prey : 
 Vain glows this Sun, in cloudless glory drest, 
 That strikes fresh vigour through the pining breast ; 
 Give me, beneath a colder, changeful sky. 
 My soul's best, only pleasure, Liberty ! 
 What millions perish'd near thy mournful flood * 
 When the red papal tyrant cry'd out — " Blood !" 
 Less fierce the Saracen, and quiver'd Moor, 
 That dash'd thy infants 'gainst the stones of yore. 
 Be warn'd, ye nations round ; and trembling see 
 Dire superstition quench humanity ! 
 By all the chiefs in Freedom's battles lost. 
 By wise and virtuous Alfred's awful ghost ; 
 
 * Alluding to the persecutions of the Protestants, and the wars of the 
 Saracensj carried on in the southern provinces of Inance. 
 
 X 2 By
 
 u;e SELECTION FROM 
 
 By old Galgacus' scythed, iron car, 
 
 That, swiftly wliiiling througl: tlic walks of war, 
 
 Dash'd Roman blood, and crush'd the foreign throngs 
 
 Bv holy Druids' courage-breathing songs; 
 
 By fierce Bonduca's shield and foaming steeds; 
 
 By the bold Peers that met on Thames's meads ; 
 
 By the fifth Henry's helm, and lightning spear > 
 
 O Liberty, my warm petition hear ; 
 
 Be Albion still thy joy ! with her remain. 
 
 Long as the surge shall lash her oak- crow n'd plain I 
 
 THE DYING INDIAN. 
 
 The dart of lijdabel prevails! 'twas dipt 
 In double poison — I shall soon arrive 
 At the blest island, where no tygers spring 
 On heedless hunters ; where ananas bloom 
 Thrice in each moon ; where rivers smoothly glide,- 
 Nor thund'ring torrents whirl the light canoe 
 Down to the sea ; where my forefathers feast 
 Daily on hearts of Spaniards ! — O my Son, 
 1 feel the venom busy in my breast, 
 
 A])proach,
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 157 
 
 Approach, and bring my crown, deck'd with the teeth 
 
 Of that bold Christian who first dar d deflow'r 
 
 The virgins of the Sun ; and, dire to tell ! 
 
 Robb'd Pachacamac's altar of its gems ! 
 
 I mark'd the spot where they interr'd this traitor,. 
 
 And once at midnight stole I to his tomb. 
 
 And tore his carcase from the earth, and left it 
 
 A prey to poisonous flies. Preserve this crown 
 
 With sacred secrecy : if e'er returns 
 
 Thy rauch-lov'd mother from the desart woods, 
 
 Where, as I hunted late, I hapless lost her, 
 
 Cherish her age. Tell her, I ne'er have worshipp'd 
 
 With those that eat their God. And when disease 
 
 Preys on her languid limbs, then kindly stab her 
 
 With thine own hands, nor suffer her to linger, 
 
 Like Christian cowards, in a life of pain. 
 
 I go ! great Copac beckons me ! Farewell !^
 
 158 SELECTION FROM 
 
 REVENGE OF AMERICA. 
 
 ^VuEN fierce Pizarro's legions flew 
 O'er ravag'd fields of rich Peru, 
 Struck with his bleeding people's woes, 
 Old India's awful Genius rose. 
 He sat on Andes' topmost stone, 
 And heard a thousand nations groan ; 
 For grief his feathery crown he tore, 
 To see huge Plata foam with gore ; 
 He broke his an-ows, stampt the ground. 
 To view his cities smoaking round. 
 
 AVhat woes, he cry'd, hath lust of gold 
 O'er my poor country widely roll'd ; 
 Plunderers proceed ! my bowels tear. 
 But ye shall meet destruction there ; 
 From the deep-vaulted mine shall rise 
 Th' insatiate fiend, pale Avarice ! 
 AVhose steps shall trembling Justice fly, 
 Peace, Order, Law, and Amity ! 
 I see all Europe's children curst 
 With lucre's universal thirst : 
 The rage that sweeps my sons away, 
 My baneful gold shall well repay.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 159 
 EPISTLE* 
 
 FROM THOMAS HEARNE, ANTIQUARY^ 
 
 10 TUB AUTHOR OP 
 
 THE COMPANION TO THE OXFORD GUIDE. 
 
 Friend of the moss-grown spire and crumbling arch,, 
 Who wont'st at eve to pace the long lost bounds 
 Of lonesome Oseney ! What malignant fiend 
 Thy cloister-loving mind from ancient lore 
 Hath base seduc'd .'* Urg'd thy apostate pen 
 To trench deep wounds on Antiquaries sage. 
 And drag the venerable fathers forth, 
 Victims to laughter ! Cruel as the mandate 
 Of mitred priests, who Baskett late enjoin'd 
 To throw aside the reverend letters black. 
 And print Fast Prayers in modern type ! — At this 
 * Leland, and Willis, Dugdale, Tanner, Wood, 
 Illustrious names ! with Camden, Aubrey, Lloyd, 
 Scald their old cheeks with tears ! For once they hop'd 
 To seal thee for their own 1 and fondly deem'd 
 
 * This poem by mistake has been given to Mr. T. Waiton, but its pro- 
 perty is claimed under the Doctor's own hand, in a letter to his brother on 
 the publication of the " Oxford Sausage." 
 
 f Names of eminent Antiquaiies. 
 
 The
 
 160 SELECTION FROM 
 
 The Muses, at thy call, would crowding come 
 To deck Antiquity with flowrcts gay. 
 
 But noAv may curses every search attend 
 That seems inviting ! may'st thou pore in vain 
 For dubious door-ways ! may revengeful moths 
 Tliy ledgers eat ! may chronologic spouts 
 Retain no cypher legible! may crypts 
 Lurk undiscern'd ! nor may'st thou spell the names 
 Of Saints in storied windows ! nor the dates 
 Of bells discover ! nor the genuine site 
 Of abbot's pantries ! and may Godstowe veil, 
 Deep from thy eyes profane, her Gothic charms. 
 
 FROM SHAKESPEAR'S TWELFTH NIGHT. 
 
 *" That strain again ! that strain repeat ! 
 Alas ! it is not now so SAveet ! 
 Oh ! it came o'er my mournful mind. 
 Like murmurs of the Southern wind, 
 
 That 
 
 * This exquisite morceau is grounded on the opening of Shakespear's 
 Twelfth Night : 
 
 " If music be the food of love, play on ; 
 Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting. 
 
 The
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. m 
 
 That steal along the violet's bed, 
 And gently bend the cowslip's head ; 
 Twas suited to my pensive mood, 
 Twas hopeless Love's delicious food. 
 
 ODE 
 
 TO MUSIC. 
 
 * Queen of every moving measure, 
 Sweetest source of purest pleasure, 
 Music ! why thy ])owers employ 
 Only for the sons of Joy ? 
 
 Only 
 
 The appetite may sicken, and so die: 
 
 Tiiat strain again ; it had a dying fall : 
 
 O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet South, 
 
 That breathes upon a bank of violets. 
 
 Stealing and giving odour. Enough ! no more ! 
 
 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before." 
 
 * The following beautiful chorus in the Medea of EuripideSj probably fur- 
 nished our author with the sentiments of this Ode to Music. 
 
 Eupovlo, ^iH repTtvag Sucoa;, 
 
 Y ESfslo
 
 les SELECTION FROM 
 
 Only for tiie smiling guests 
 At natal or at nuptial feasts ; 
 Rather thy lenient numbers pour 
 On those whom secret griefs devour ; 
 Bid be still the throbbing hearts 
 Of those, whom death, or absence parts. 
 And, with some softly whisper'd air, 
 Smooth the brow of dumb despair. 
 
 LINES, 
 
 ■WRITTEN EXTEMPORE, ON SEEING SOME SOLDIERS AT WICKIIAMj 
 
 VHO WERE GOING TO FORM A SETTLEMENT 
 
 NEAR SENEGAMBIA. 
 
 With happy omen march, ye valiant ranks, 
 From Thames to Senegambia's distant banks. 
 Where, beneath warmer suns and genial skies, 
 May future cities and new empires rise. 
 
 '^iMi "saiiuv, eI wv Savaloi, 
 Auval re rvxai (7(paX>\>i7i dona;. 
 Kai TOJ lah lAv x^M Mih^ai 
 UohWMO-i Rpotki- ha. S' iiiStimsi 
 Aams, Ti ixoiTTH TEi'vacri ^oai ; 
 To -jrafov yao cx^i T£f^}-lv ap" «ut5
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. i6i 
 VERSES 
 
 ON DR; BURTON'S DEATH. 
 
 Bathe not for me, dear 3'ouths ! 3^our mournful lays 
 In bitter tears. O'er blooming Beauty's grave 
 Let Pity wring her hands : I full of years, 
 Of honours full, satiate of life, retire 
 Like an o'erwearied pilgrim to his home, 
 Nor at my lot repine. Yet the last prayer, 
 That from my struggling bosom parts, shall rise 
 Fervent for you ! May Wickham's much-lov'd walls 
 Be still with Science, Fame, and Virtue blest, 
 And distant times and regions hail his name. 
 
 VERSES 
 By Dr. WART ON. 
 
 SPOKEN TO THE KING BY LOKD SHAFTESBURY. 
 
 Forgive th' officious Muse, that, with weak voice 
 And trembling accents rude, attempts to hail 
 Iler royal Guest ! who from yon tented field, 
 
 Y 3 Britain's
 
 164 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Britain's defence and boast, has deign'd to smile 
 On Wickhain s sons ; the gentler arts of peace 
 And science ever prompt to pi-aise, and Mars 
 To join with Pallas! 'Tis the Muses' task 
 And office best to consecrate to Fame 
 Heroes and virtuous Kings : the gen'rous youths. 
 My lov'd compeers, hence with rcdoul:>led toil 
 Shall strive to merit such auspicious smiles ; 
 And through life's various walks, in arts or arms. 
 Or tuneful numbers, with their country's love 
 And with true loyalty enflam'd, t' adorn 
 This happy realm ; while thy paternal care 
 To time remote, and distant lands, shall spread 
 Peace, Justice, Riches, Science, Freedom, Fame. 
 
 To Mr. SEWARD, 
 
 ON HIS VERSES TO LADY YOUNG. 
 
 By Dn. JVJRTON. 
 
 We aged bards, rash friend ! must now forbear 
 To wound with feeble rhymes Amanda's ear; 
 Waller in his full force such charms might praise, 
 Or polish'd Petrarch, in his earliest lays. 
 
 Not
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 165 
 
 Not with a lover's or a poet's fire — 
 
 In sober silence avc can l)ut admire 
 
 Beauty with temper, taste and sense combin'd, 
 
 The body only equall'd by the mind. 
 
 ANSWER. By W. F. Esq- 
 To Dr. wart on. 
 
 Shall Fancy's bard of age complain ? 
 Oh ! strike the sacred lyre again ; 
 For some there are whose powVs subhme 
 Defy the envious rage of time ; 
 And burst his slender cord, that binds 
 In narrow bounds inferior minds. 
 With youth renew'd an hundred years. 
 The dauntless eagle perseveres, 
 Aims at the Sun his daring flight, 
 And drinks untir'd the living light : 
 Thus Genius glows without decay. 
 And basks in Beauty's heavenly ray. 
 While Barb'ra claims the votive strain. 
 Strike, then — Oh strike the lyre again; 
 As Grecian dames to her must yield, 
 For thee Anacreon quits the field. 
 
 Thus
 
 166 SELECTION FROM 
 
 Thus shall Britannia's fame encrease, 
 In wit and beauty rival Greece. 
 Strike ! — strike again the sacred lyre, 
 Lo ! Seward joins th' applauding choir, 
 AVhose dross * contains a richer store 
 Than half the world's best polish'd ore ; 
 My feebler IVIuse her wing shall fold, 
 Tor 3-e are young, but I am old. 
 
 ON NOT BEING ABLE TO WRITE VERSES 
 TO DELIA. 
 
 No tuneful period, no well-polish'd line 
 Can issue from a heart so fond as mine: 
 Wit is the language of a mind at ease. 
 True passion feels too much with art to please. 
 Let rhyming tritiers celebrate your eyes ; 
 I only gaze in silence and in sighs. 
 Ye IMuses ! will ye deign your wonted aid, 
 And paint, O vain attempt ! my matchless Maid. 
 Ah, no ! the stifled groan, the starting tear 
 Too well declare, I am no poet here. 
 
 * Alluding to Mr. Seward's publication under the title o{ Drossiana. 
 
 'Twas
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 167 
 
 'Twas thus I sang, and heavy hours beguil'd, 
 Ere yet my Deha bent her head, and smil'd. 
 Now care, begone ! for soon my longing arms 
 Shall closely to my bosom strain her charms : 
 Haste ! tardy time ! and let me call her Wife, 
 I feel to live without her is not life. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 O GENTLE, feather-footed Sleep, 
 In downy dews her temples steep, 
 Softly waving o'er her head 
 Thy care-beguiling rod of lead ; 
 Let Hymen in her dreams apj^ear 
 And mildly whisper in her ear. 
 That constant hearts can never prove 
 True transports, but in wedded love. 
 
 * This ode was occasioned by the very spirited and proper animadver- 
 sions of a lady on the following dangerous lines of Pope, in his Eloise to 
 Abelard : 
 
 How oft, when press'd to marriage, have I said, 
 Cuise on all laws, but those which love has made, &c. 
 to the end of tlie ninetieth verse. Dr. Warton was much pleased with her 
 observations, and, in half an hour after the company had separated, sent her 
 the above.
 
 168 SELECTION FROM 
 
 VERSES 
 
 ■Vf RITTEN OX PASSING THROUGH IIACKWOOD PARK, 
 
 AUG. 7, 1779. 
 
 O MUCH lov'd haunts! O beecli-embower'd vales! 
 
 lonely lawns ! where oft at pensive eve 
 
 1 met in former hours the Muse, and sought 
 Far from the busy world j^our deepest shades. 
 Receive ray lovely Delia ; to her eye, 
 
 Well skill'd to judge of Nature's various charms. 
 Display your inmost beauties, lead her steps 
 To each inspiring avenue, but chief 
 O guide her to that airy hill, Avhere Health 
 Sits on the verdant turf enthron'd, and smiles 
 Around the joyous villages; O breathe 
 Into her tender breast your balmiest gales ; 
 O ease her languid head ! that she who feels 
 For otliers pains, may ne'er lament her own.
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. I6y 
 
 ODE 
 
 ox THE DEATH OF THE REV. T. V/ARTO X, V I C A R Of BASINGSTOKE. 
 
 B Y Ills DA UG [ITER*. 
 
 1. 
 Accept, O satcrcd Shade, this artless veise, 
 
 And kindly, O ye mourning friends, forbear 
 To tear disdaining from his decent herse 
 
 All I can give except the tender tear : 
 He must not lie in his cold grave, among 
 Poor shrieking ghosts, unprais'd, unwept, unsung. 
 
 Ah! 
 
 * Mrs. Jane Warlon, to whose kind and able exertions the Editor is highly 
 obliged. This lady, possessing all the genius and talent of the family, has 
 dedicated a great part of her life to the education of her own sex : she has 
 likewise distinguished herself by essays, and detached pieces of poetry, 
 inserted in various monthly publications. The highly and deservedly admired 
 Public Orator of the University of Oxford, in his " Oratio Crewiana, pro 
 Anno M,DCCC," during his comment on the late Mr. T. Wartoa as a Poetry 
 Professor, thus introduces the whole family : " Quid porro memorem Ilium 
 famiUarem et amicum meum, qiiem in historja Poeseos Anglicana; scribenda 
 occupatum mors pra^propera oppressit? Neque enim necesse est nunc dicere 
 quid in opere isto, quid in aliis suis multis, profecerit, quidve profecisset ultra, 
 ni fata prohibuissent. Quanti vos cum feceritis, Academici, testor vosmetip- 
 sos, et luctuosum ilium diem cum funus ejus duceretur, vobis, singulari sane 
 studio et honore, ad sepulchrum comitantibus. Enimvero erat in illo viro 
 nativum quoddam, et quasi ju-e familiffl datum, ingenium poeticum, el adliteras 
 humaniores apprime aptum et conformatura ; quod etiam ad csteros stirpis 
 Z ejus
 
 170 SELECTION FROM 
 
 o 
 
 Ah ! wliere Avas I wlien fiercely-frowning death 
 With brandish'd dart stood at still midnight nigh, 
 
 Why came I not to catch thy dying breath, 
 
 And close with trembling hand thy languid eye ? 
 
 And on my sad breast lay thy drooping head, 
 
 And bathe with tears thy hand so cold and dead ? 
 
 Thee 
 
 ejus pertinebat. Nam et Pater eodem, quo ipse, Piaelectoris muneie digne 
 perfunctus erat ; suavis adeo poela, ac etiam doctus: quin et Soror poemala 
 conscripsit, et in obitu parentis pietatem siiaiu laudabili carmine testata est : 
 Prater vero, quem inter primaries sa;culi siii viros poctiees laude florentem 
 ipsi vidimus, quam fiierit etiam ab omni elegantiori doctrina instructus docu- 
 mcnto sit Volumen illud quod de ingenio scriptisque Popii composuit, in eo 
 nimirum critices genere, de quo loquor, opus singulare ; quo quidcm nihil 
 rectius, nihil jucundius, nihil ad ingenium juvenile limandum accommodatius 
 aut util'.us legi possit. 
 
 Patianiini, ore, Academici, ut saltern hoc animi grati testlmonio accumu- 
 lem dilectissimum Virum, magistrum aliquando nieuui, quem adeo ut paren- 
 tem sum veneratus; cui quidem plus uni quam cteteris omnibus me debere 
 ni profiterer palam, essem ingratissimus. Video muitorum era jam in me 
 esse couversa, expcctantium scilicet si quid de conimimi prceceptore nostro, 
 in haccelebritate dicturus sim. Ego vero facile, Wiccamici, voluntali vestra 
 obsequerer, si, quantum ejus in me merita postulant tantum dicendo possem : 
 quae aulem est ista celebrilas, aut quis literatorum hominum convcntus, qui 
 talis viri laudes non libenter audiat? Nonne vero satius est tacere quam 
 parum dicerer Nam, ut prseterierim ingenium ejus fertile, doctrinam e.ximiam, 
 judicium exaclissimum, quae omnia jam fama vulgata sunt et celebrata, quam 
 niulta tamen essent in vita et nioribus ejus cum laude prasdicanda? Quol pro- 
 ferenda exempla liberalitatis, sapientias, et amoris j)oene paterni iu alumnos 
 suos ? Turn in illustri ea Schola, cui per tot annos praefuit, regenda, quanta 
 fuerit cura et auctoritate; in munere gravissimo obeundo, quantum ab acer- 
 bitate remolus ; et ingenium siquando in puero eluceret, quam sagax, quam- 
 que propensus ad fovendum : annis porro ingiavescentibus, cum jam moles- 
 tissimi offuii onere defatigatus ess«t, quam longe fuerit ab omai trisiitia et 
 
 queiela
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 171 
 
 3. 
 Thee do I view in yonder flying cloud, 
 
 Or do I hear thee in the hollow wind, 
 Or dost thou still sleep in thy sable shroud, 
 
 Where the dread judgment-trumpet thee shall find : 
 O till that day, ye pitying angels come, 
 Shield with your wings, and sing around his tomb. 
 
 4. 
 But if advanc'd to Heaven's empj'real height, 
 
 Above with glorious martyr'd saints to live. 
 Midst heav'nly hymns and harps, and visions bright, 
 
 And all the joys a smiling God can give ; 
 O be my watchful guardian-angel still, 
 Save me from slavish vice, from folly and from ill. 
 
 querela senili ; imo, ad extremum usque vitse tempus, quam comis atque 
 jucundus; ut, etiamsi in summa senectiite decesseiit, tamen decessus ejus im- 
 maturus esse videretur ! — V^erum sit satis iiaec leviter attigisse, et vos paulisper 
 ad recordationem anteactse setatis revocasse. Nunquam eiit liie sine debita 
 sua laude, superstitibus vobis ; neque vero parva laus est grata vestra memoria 
 post mortem teneri. Hisce quae jam dicta sunt, desiderio et araore viri ciiaris- 
 simi, veniam dabit Academia, et ignoscet pietati nostra;. 
 
 z S
 
 172 SELECTION FROM 
 
 ODE 
 
 ON THE SAME OCCASION. 
 
 By Dr. JV ART ON. 
 
 No more of mirth and rural joys, 
 
 The gay description quickly cloys, 
 
 In melting numbers, sadly slow, 
 
 I tune my alter'd strings to woe ; 
 Attend, Melpomene, and with thee bring 
 Thy tragic lute, Euphranor's death to sing. 
 
 Fond wilt thou be his name to praise. 
 
 For oft thou heard'st his skilful lays ; 
 
 Isis for him soft tears has shed, 
 
 She plac'd her ivy on bis head ; 
 Chose him, strict judge, to rule with steady reins 
 The vigorous fancies of her listening swains. 
 
 AVith genius, wit, and science blest. 
 
 Unshaken honour arm'd his breast. 
 
 Bade him, Avith virtuous courage wise. 
 
 Malignant Fortune's darts despise ; 
 Him, ev'n black Envy's venom'd tongues commend, 
 As scholar, pastor, husband, father, friend. 
 
 For
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 173 
 
 For ever sacred, ever dear, 
 
 O much-lov'd Shade, accept this tear ; 
 
 Each night indulging pious woe, 
 
 Fresh roses on thy tomb I strew. 
 And wish for tender Spenser's moving verse, 
 Warbled in broken sobs o'er Sydney's herse ; 
 
 Let me to that deep cave resort. 
 
 Where Sorrow keeps her silent court, 
 
 For ever wringing her pale hands, 
 
 While dumb Misfortune near her stands, 
 With downcast eyes the Cares around her wait, 
 And Pity sobbing sits before the gate. 
 
 Thus stretch'd upon his grave I sung. 
 
 When straight my ears with murmur rung, 
 
 A distant, deaf, and hollow sound 
 
 Was heard in solemn whispers round — 
 ' Enough, dear youth ! — tho' wra])t in bliss above, 
 * Well pleas'd I listen to thy lays of love.'
 
 174 SELECTION FROM 
 
 RANELAGH HOUSE 
 
 A SATIRE IN PROSE. 
 
 IN THE MANNER OF MONSIEUR LE SAGE.* 
 
 Deum immortalenij quod Theatrum est illud, 
 quain varius Stultoium Tumultus ! 
 
 Erasmcs. 
 
 To Monsieur Le Sage in the Elysian Fields. 
 
 Most facetious Sir ! 
 
 I beg leave to inscribe the following little piece to you, 
 from whom the idea of it was borrowed. Happy would it 
 have been for the cause of wit, if you had lived in Great 
 Britain at a time when there are such copious subjects 
 for the exercise of satirical talents. I suppose you are at 
 present blest with the company and conversation of 
 Lucian, Menippus, and Swift, and perpetually laughing at 
 human affairs, and the unaccountable vanities of mankind ; 
 which I assure you encrease yearly, with the addition of 
 some strange folly that even you could have no conception of. 
 
 * The reader will recollect the age of Dr. Warton when he peruses this 
 imitation of Le Sage. Few young men of twenty-two have a mind equal to 
 so strong and just a satire. 
 
 Among
 
 DR. WARTON'S POETICAL WORKS. 175 
 
 Among which there is not a greater than the itch of scrih- 
 bhng, which seems to have seized all the young fellows in 
 tliis Kingdom, and of Avhich I am afraid the following 
 Satire is an instance. I shall think it the greatest honour, 
 if it can extort a laugh from you when you read it, and 
 am, with the utmost gratitude, 
 
 Your Imitator 
 
 and Admirer, &c. 
 
 RANELAGH HOUSE. 
 
 A SATIRE. 
 
 PiiiLOMiDEs is a gentleman of spjightly wit, and ver;f 
 solid judgement, but a little too satirical in his temper. 
 His favourite study is the knowledge of men and manners; 
 and having a strong sense of the ridiculous, his conversation 
 chiefly consists in painting the follies and foibles of man- 
 kind, which he does in a very lively and entertaining man- 
 ner, only his remarks are sometimes too bitter and severe ; 
 and he is apt to give the worst interpretations of the 
 motives of actions seemingly virtuous and benevolent. He 
 has at present chambers at Lincoln's-Inn ; where, instead of 
 Bracton and Lyttleton, he delights in reading Lucian, 
 Cervantes, and Rabelais, and other authors who have de- 
 scribed
 
 176 SELECTION FROM 
 
 scribed human actions, characters, and passions, particu- 
 larly old iNIoiitagne, his ci>ciple and friend Peter Charron, 
 Brujere, and the Duke de la Rochefocault's Maxims. Add 
 to these another French writer, the inimitable Le Sage, 
 Avhose works he styles, The Mirror of IMankind. As he 
 was one evening reading Le Diable Boiteux of that cele- 
 brated author, and was just come to that passage where 
 the merry demon, who was just released out of the magi- 
 cian's bottle, uncovered all the tops of the houses in jNladrid, 
 that Don Cleofas might see the most secret actions of men, 
 he could not forbear crying out in a rapture — What an 
 excellent devil was this! How happy was Don Cleofas in 
 hearing his humorous observations ! "What Avould I give 
 to be taken to the top of St. Paul's, as he w'as to that of 
 St. Saviour's at Madrid, to see London untiled, and all 
 the most secret vices and practices of the most artful hypo- 
 crisy discover'd and display 'd ! — He had scarce ixtter'd these 
 Avords, Avhen he felt something tap him upon the shoulder, 
 and looking round, he saw Asmodeo himself, of whom he 
 had been speaking, with the same long visage and vene- 
 rable mustachios, the little fiery eyes, the turban with 
 beautiful feathers in it, the wdiite satin cloak, and crutches, 
 Avith which he apjjeared to Don Cleofas. Do not tremble 
 so much (began the little demon) my good friend Philo- 
 mides ; 1 have been no stranger to your ardent Avishes to 
 be acquainted with me : 1 know hoAv greatly you envy Don 
 Cleofas. -And though 1 cannot conveniently transport you 
 
 to
 
 DR. WARTON'S WORKS. 177 
 
 to Madrid, yet I Avill carry you to an entertainment much 
 nearer, and shew you more extravagant and ridiculous 
 follies than the Spanish scholar ever beheld. I often go 
 thither to divert myself, and shall this evening be much 
 pleased, if you will give me your company. But first, for 
 certain reasons, I must change my person and habit; dur- 
 ing which operation I must only beg you to shut your eyes 
 a moment, as you know a M-ell-bred man always does, when 
 he is admitted to visit a lady in bed, mIio is going to shift 
 herself. Philomides, not quite yet recover 'd from his 
 astonishment, obey'd him : You may now look up, said 
 the Devil, and see me array'd like a grave barrister at 
 law, a shajic 1 often assume : observe my full-dress black 
 coat, Avith these long sleeves, these roli'd stockings, 
 these square-topt shoes, this long flowing Avig, and this 
 important froAvn upon my face, and tell me if I am not a 
 venerable figure. Philomides by this time recover'd his 
 .spirits, and told him he had gravity enough for a Bencher 
 of forty years standing. Ixt us lose no time, cry'd the 
 Devil, but hasten away to the temple of Luxury, the theatre 
 of Madness, the habitation of Folly, which you will ; I 
 need not tell you I mean Ranelagh House. By the way 
 Philomides enquir'd of several particulars relating to the 
 other world. And among other curious matters was in- 
 formed, that when the late Earl of O d arrived at 
 
 Hell, he was doom'd to undei-go the same torments as 
 
 Sejanus and Wolsey, but that he fi)und a method to bribe 
 
 A A Minos
 
 178 RANELAGH HOUSE: 
 
 Minos and ^acus, and escaped half his punishment; 
 that Mr. Pope took his phice in the Eljsian fields not 
 among the Poets but the Philosophers, and that he ^vas 
 more fond of Socrates's company than Homer's ; and 
 that Sir Walter Paleigh was perpetually lamenting the 
 degeneracy and cowardice of the English, of which he 
 Avas informed by several ghosts that descended into the 
 other w^orld after the battles of Fontenoy and Falkirk. 
 Upon these topics the Devil entertained Philomides as 
 they past along. 
 
 As soon as they enter'd the Amphitheatre in Ranelagh 
 Gardens, by Beelzebub's beard, said the Devil, 1 am glad 
 to see so many of my votaries assembled here. Here's 
 food for laughter ! Let us get up into yonder gallery, from 
 Avhence Ave may survey each single person as they walk by 
 us in this great circle, and I Avill describe to you their lives 
 and characters as they pass. 
 
 Let me intreat you, said the Devil, as soon as they 
 were seated, to cast your eyes on that fat lady with an 
 impudent masculine air : she is the foundress of those 
 assemblies called routes, at the origin of which all Hell 
 rejoiced ; and she has contributed to destroy the health 
 and fortunes of more Avomen, than I or the most malicious 
 spirit can boast. She had fifty-eight Avhist tables at her 
 house last Sunday night ; three Countesses and one Baron 
 
 Avere
 
 A SATIRE. 179 
 
 ■were totally ruined. She has built a noble and spacious 
 room, \vhif:h is entirely dedicated to card-playing. An ex- 
 quisite busto of the renowned Mr. Iloyle is placed over the 
 chimney, crown d with laurel, and under it is the following 
 inscription : ' This is the great genius, who first discovered 
 to the world the profound mysteries of the game of Whist.' 
 You may observe two ladies walking with her, one of them 
 has a very melancholy disconsolate countenance, occa- 
 sioned by her being oblig'd to pawn her jewels, and even 
 her watch, for play debts; and the other, who looks so weak 
 and sickly, lately miscarried in an agony of grief for losing 
 the odd trick. There follows them a nobleman richly drest; 
 the price of his embroider'd waistcoat would bribe a judge. 
 What think you of the person he is walking with, and bowing 
 so obsequiously to, who looks as haughtily, and steps as 
 stately as Cleopatra. She is some ambassador's lady at 
 least, answer'd Philomides. No, said Asmodeo, she is 
 one of the Opera singers, on whom this cully of a Peer has 
 settled a thousand pounds a year, and whom he flatters 
 himself is extremely constant to him, tho'Ijust now per- 
 ceived her wink upon a bassoon-player in the orchestra, whom 
 she has engaged to meet privately when his lordship is gone 
 to the House. You may see two men plainly drest, look- 
 ing earnestly, and talking of this happy pair; one is my 
 good lord's taylor, who complains he has not been paid 
 these ten years, and that he was ordered to be turned down 
 stairs the last time he demanded his debt; the other is a 
 A A 2 toyman.
 
 180 RANELAGH HOUSE: 
 
 toyman, who is cursing himself for letting this Statira have 
 a service of very fine Dresden china, which she assured him 
 her Lord would pay for immediately. I cannot let yon- 
 der spruce spark pass by us unobserved ! How soft and deli- 
 cate is his mien ! One would think him one of the ancient 
 Sybarites. I can smell his lavender-water up hither: how 
 effeminately he trips along with his snowy hands hid in 
 a muff! His father could make a great many votes in 
 Cornwall, for which his son, being of a rough and warlike 
 disposition, was honour'd Mith a commission in the army. 
 When he went abroad, his dressing-plate and tortoise-shell 
 combs were esteem'd the most elegant in the whole camp. 
 How often had he like to have fainted the night before 
 the battle of Fontenoy; and as he march'd or rather stag- 
 ger'd (so great was his fear) up to the atta«k, with a great 
 bottle of hartshorn-drops in his pocket, I heard Lim secretly 
 make the following prayer : Grant, O good heavens, that 
 I may escape this fatal day, and I will never more cog 
 the dice at hazard, nor lye, swear, or blaspheme, debauch 
 honest citizens wives and daughters, defraud innkeepers at 
 my quarters, bilk whores or box-keepers, nor rob my com- 
 mon men of their necessary subsistence money. If I must 
 be wounded, let my face escape, and let me receive the 
 fatal blow in my back; but if I get safely off, and drink 
 tea once more with Lady Fanny, I will immediately sell 
 my commission, and buy a new^ altar-piece for Covent- 
 Garden church. — Pray inform me, interrupted Philomides, 
 10 of
 
 A SATIRE. isi 
 
 of the character of that conceited coxcomb, whom I hear 
 talking Itahan so loud. He has the air and dress of a 
 foreigner. lie is indeed ashamed to own himself an Eng- 
 lishman (answered the satirical demon) and bj disuse has 
 forgot his mother tcmgue. He is just returned from travel, 
 and sets up for a great virtuoso. lie imagines he has an 
 exquisite taste in painting, statuary, and medals ; and is 
 inviting his friend to come and see a genuine Otho, whicli 
 I assure you was coined at Rome about two years ago : 
 he is this moment making a panegyric on the charming 
 green rust of his favourite medal, that hinders the inscrip- 
 tion from being read. He is perpetually railing at the 
 climate and manners of his native country ; and pro- 
 nouncing the word Gothic fifty times an hour. He has 
 built a house so much in the Italian taste for shade and 
 coolness, that half his family are dying of violent colds. 
 He imported into this country some very valuable com- 
 modities; viz. a Venetian courtezan, a Cremona fiddle, an 
 headless statue of Helen, a count wlio fled from Florence 
 for murder, five suits of Genoa velvet, the best edition of 
 Pastor Eido, and a cook who makes the best soup in 
 Christendom, and who has had his education in a cardi- 
 nal's kitchen. A little on the right hand stalks a tall, 
 ^ghastly figure ; he is a political writer, and has made liim- 
 self lean by fretting at the measures of the ministry. He 
 has a prodigious quantity of public spirit; and tho' he 
 has no j^roperty, complains of grievances 3.rid taxes. He 
 
 is
 
 182 RANELAGII HOUSE: 
 
 is preparing a very virulent pamphlet, ^^ hich, if it be not 
 printed soon, his landlord will seize at ]\lidsummer next, 
 for the rent of his garret. If his country were to be iliin'd, 
 all he could lose would be a second-hand pair of breeches, 
 and an odd volume of Gordon's translation of Tacitus. 
 However, I foresee this great patriot's heavy complaints 
 Mill be shortly silenced, by his being made a tide-waiter; 
 and then he will think Great Britain in a very flourishing 
 condition. But yonder comes the precise and prudent 
 Erminia: how demurely and soberly she looks! She is 
 the greatest prude that ever hid Fontaine's tales under a 
 cushion. How her face belies her desires! This kind 
 of w^omen are my delight : they add hypocrisy to lewd- 
 ness: they have been compar'd very justly to Hammon's 
 spring, mentioned by Lucretius, whose waters all da}' were 
 as cold as ice, but every night were boiling hot. The 
 youth that is talking to her so fast, and who laughs every 
 moment, is an Oxford scholar, eloped from the Univer- 
 sity. What a terrible agony was his poor tutor seiz'd 
 with when he found him absent! He immediately writes 
 to Sir Andrew in the country: what a bustle this occasions 
 in the family ! My lady swoons, the sisters cry. The 
 butler is dispatch'd to search him out ; with a letter from 
 the Knight to disinherit him if he does not go back in- 
 stantly. The young Baronet will at last return to his 
 chambers and lectures, with an empty pocket, and a head 
 full of gaieties and gallantries ; abuse Doctor Baralipton, 
 
 his
 
 A SATIRE. 185 
 
 his tutor, and curse the pedantry and disciphne of the 
 University. Give me leave, said Philomides, to interrupt 
 you a moment : tho' I must own that your remarks are so very 
 natural and entertaining, that I shall suffer by your silence. 
 Let me hear, I intreat you, some account of the lady who 
 is just passing by us; she is the most beautiful young 
 creature I ever beheld. There is a sort of tender and 
 languishing pensiveness in her face, which adds softness to 
 her features, and melts one's soul: Now I look closer, I 
 think I perceive a tear standing in her eye : 1 am afraid 
 she has some heavy and secret grief that preys upon her 
 heart. And Avhois the wrinkled matron that accompanies her 
 with so much spleen, severity, and circumspection in her 
 face? I dare say she is some old duenna or guardian of 
 this charming girl :, and puts one in mind of the ugly and 
 hideous serpent in Tasso, who kept the entrance into 
 Armida's enchanted gardens. The young creature you are 
 so much struck with (answered Asmodeo) well deserves both 
 your pity and admiration. Her story is briefly this. Her 
 father and mother dying when Julietta (which is her name) 
 was very young, left her in the hands of that detestable 
 hag, her aunt, who has all the bad affections that ever were 
 muster'd together in the human breast. She is covetous^ 
 malicious, and envious ; and never having felt any tender- 
 ness, cannot conceive there is such a thing in the world as 
 disinterested love. An accomplish'd young gentleman 
 often saw Julietta, and by degrees lov'd her to excess, and
 
 184 riANELAGH HOUSE: 
 
 was equally bclovVl by her; Julietta's fortune was large, 
 and unequal to Cyiithio's, who had only a decent compe- 
 tence ; but she often made herself happy with the thoughts 
 of bestowing her twenty thousand ])ounds upon the man 
 she lov'd so dearly. In the mean time comes an old stock- 
 jobber into the country, immensely rich by rapine and 
 plunder, and having purchased an estate near the aunt's 
 house, makes proposals of marriage to Julietta, upon this 
 most excellent motive, because their estates lay conliguous. 
 The mercenary soul of the aunt quickly approves of the 
 match, forbids Cynthio the house, protests she Avill never 
 pay Julietta her fortune (which is in her disposal) if she 
 marries him, and has now brought lier to town, to try to 
 dissipate the thoughts of Cynthio amidst a circle of gaieties 
 and diversions — as if lianclagh House or Yauxhall would 
 cure the heart-ache! or, as your friend Shakespear says, 
 * minister to a mind discas'd.' But perhaps the good aunt 
 judges prudently ; for the stock-jobber has at least tour 
 windows more in the front of his house than Cynthio, and 
 has a service of plate and china, which doubtless are the 
 chief ingredients in the happiness of life. But let us turn 
 from this melancholy and aftbcting object, who is more 
 cruelly sacrificed than Iphigenia was, to a groupe of figures 
 that will make a man laugh, tho' he were just come out of 
 Trophonius's cave. Those six persons you see standing 
 together are, a notoi ious pimp ; an author of a jilay rejected 
 J)^' the managers, railing at the taste of Rich; a sea captain, 
 
 lately
 
 A SATIRE. 185 
 
 lately broke for cowardice ; an attorney, just come from 
 forging a will ; and lastly, a creature who calls itself a free- 
 thinker, who is perpetually ridiculing every thing that is 
 esteemed sacred and valuable by the wisest of mankind, 
 but his wit is so insipid and so weak, that one may say of 
 it as the poet says of old Priam's feeble dart : ' Telum imbelle 
 sine ictA.' You seem to be well versed in classics, said 
 Philomides. Better, I assure you, answer'd the Devil, than 
 many who pretend to publish editions of them, and join their 
 heavy commentaries to the most exquisite pieces of ancient 
 wit ; which procedure puts one in mind of Mezentius his 
 punishment (if you will give me leave to quote Virgil 
 again) : 
 
 ' Mortua quin etiam jungebat corpora vivis.' 
 But let us return to our harvest of fools. — Yonder stands a 
 party whose characters deserve your attention. That pert 
 young fellow Avith a black ribbon round his neck, in a 
 fustian frock with very short skirts, and a very broad-brim'd 
 hat in an affected impudent cock, is a Templar, who having 
 read all the modern comedies and farces, the Spectators, 
 Dryden's prefaces and dedications, and having once 
 squeez'd out a prologue to a play that was damn'd, sets up 
 for a critic and a wit. His cat-call is generally heard the 
 first in the pit ; he is the Coryphaeus of those unmannerly 
 disturbers of the public. He is the most despicable tlnng 
 that ever disgraced humanity. He rises at twelve at noon, 
 saunters to some coffee-house till one, dresses and has 
 B B dined
 
 1 86 RANELAGH HOUSE : 
 
 dined by four, then to the coffee-house again, after that to 
 the play for two acts, after that takes a round thro' all 
 the bagnios and brothels in Covent Garden, kicks whores, 
 and gets drunk with arrack punch, staggers home at three 
 in the morning, quarrels with the watch, and breaks lamps. 
 Heec est vita solutorum. And this is a compleat and exact 
 journal of that kind of animal, which by the bye pretends 
 to have a soul, called a Templar. One of the ladies he is 
 talking to is extravagantly fond of cats and lapdogs; a 
 large hound that she hugs and kisses all day, has the 
 honour to lie Avith her all night. She is a lady of great 
 benevolence to the brute creation. She at this time carries 
 a squirrel in her pocket, and if you observe, has just put 
 in her finger, that the dear little favourite may give her an 
 amorous bite. The other is a prodigious devotee, and a 
 great reader of Thomas a Kempis : she has had thoughts 
 of retiring from the world into some grotto in a desert, and 
 to carry nothing with her but a lamp and a death's head : 
 I wonder to see her here, but I suppose she comes to make 
 'grave reflections on the vanity of all pleasures and earthly 
 amusements. She constantly frequents a church in the 
 City, where there is a handsome young lecturer, who 
 preaches prettily, has a graceful lisping delivery, and 
 abounds in the most smart antitheses, most elegant and 
 ingenious conceits, and the best turned periods imaginable. 
 He never frightens his fair audience with the mentioning 
 any of my fraternity, but, if I may so say, strews the path to 
 1 Heaven
 
 A SATIRE. 187 
 
 Heaven with flowers. But hold a little : by Prosei-pine, I spy 
 yonder the very man I am speaking of; 'tis he with a smooth 
 round face, and a neck-cloth so white and so well plaited 
 under his florid double chin. He preach'd last Sunday in 
 a silk gown, willi a lawn handkerchief in his hand, and a fine 
 diamond ring upon his finger, upon this well-chosen text ; 
 ' And why take ye thought for raiment ?' He bows so Avell, 
 and flatters so smoothly, and has so little spirit or honesty, 
 that he will certainly be a dean. I think I remember 
 the face of yonder gentleman (said Philomides) in many 
 pubhc places ; but certainly he is much alter'd ; how pale 
 is he grown, and how scurvily is he drest ! That is the 
 famous Hippias, answer'd Asmodeo. He is descended of 
 a noble family, and had an ample patrimony, every penny 
 of which he has squander'd away by keeping runnino- 
 horses. He has lately been confin'd in the Fleet prison. 
 How changed is he from the gay creature that loll'd in a 
 gilt chariot and six last year at Epsom — a martyr to 
 grooms and sharpers ! Let us leave him to the vexatious 
 thoughts that must sting him for being a dupe to such low 
 scoundrels, and let us hasten to the polite Harmodio. It 
 is he M'ho seems to be dissolved in an extacy, at hearino- 
 that concerto they are now playing. He is one of the prin- 
 cipal subscribers to the present operas, and a violent enemy 
 of the great and inimitable Handel. lie has no ear for 
 music, and cannot distinguish a gig from an adagio, yet 
 affects to be in raptures at the tasteless unafFectiiig compo- 
 B B 2 sitions,
 
 188 RANELAGH HOUSE: 
 
 sitions, or rather musical rhapsodies of Gliick. He has a 
 greater esteem for the first fiddle at the Haymarket, than for 
 Chesterfield or Lyttleton, or the greatest patriot that ever 
 adorned history. A little forward is a lady curtesying very 
 low to a stern weather-beaten gentleman : you must know 
 she is thanking him, who is a sea captain, for bringing her 
 a cargo of the most curious shells from the East Indies. She 
 has a very large family of children, who are all boarded out, 
 that she may not be disturb'd Avhile her thoughts are em- 
 ploy 'd in laying out designs for shell-work, which in truth 
 she performs admirably well : she has already finish'd two 
 grottos and five chimney-boards ; and is now employ 'd in 
 a most important work, her chef-d'oeuvre, which is to make 
 the fall of Phaeton in shells. I have just spy'd another vir- 
 tuoso. She is a collector of butterflies ; she looks you see 
 but weakly and pale, being just recover'd of a violent fever 
 occasioned by pursuing, in very hot weather, one of the 
 largest and most beautiful butterflies that ever Avas put 
 under glass, and by disappointment at not being at last 
 able to catch the precious little creature. 
 
 Do not you see a young gentleman v.ith a dejected 
 aspect, following with great humility a lady who tosses her 
 head about with violent airs, talks loud, and looks earnestly 
 at every young fellow she meets : she is the queen of 
 Coquettes ; and the young spark her admirer, who has fol- 
 low'd her these two years, may very justly be ranked 
 
 among
 
 A SATIRE. 189 
 
 among the butterflj-hunters. You will think me in a very 
 talkative humour to-day, Philomides; but when I have 
 such a copious subject, as tlie vices and follies I see col- 
 lected together in this place, I own I do not know hoAv to 
 desist. How can I be silent, when 1 see just before my 
 eyes a very worthy Member of Parliament, who was very 
 happy in his wife till the last session, when he first brought 
 her up. to I^ondon, and where she soon forgot her virtue, 
 simplicity, and innocence of manners, was debauched by 
 my Lady Trumpwell into card assemblies, carry 'd to two 
 masquerades, got acquainted with a young Officer of the 
 Guards, with whom she is now walking, and has left her 
 husband at home, who is extravagantly fond of her, in the 
 utmost agitation of mind, sometimes vowing he will turn 
 her out of doors, and give her a separate maintenance, 
 and at others crying out— This is impossible, I feel I still 
 love her. Now I have happen'd to mention masquerades, I 
 will tell you a secret, which I must enjoin you not to dis- 
 cover. You must know then, that H— d-g-r the manager 
 of masquerades, is a devil disguis'd in a human shape. 
 I wonder he did not change his face as well as the rest of 
 his body, but that still retains its primitive diabolicalness. 
 He is called Belial in Hell, and is one of the shrewdest 
 of Pluto's subjects. It is reckon'd that he has been more 
 successful in corrupting mankind, than any devil that ever 
 appear'd upon earth to do misciiief For the sake of 
 mirth, look at the young gentleman sitting yonder in a 
 
 contemplative
 
 190 RANELAGH HOUSE. 
 
 contemplative posture. Observe tbe fine sneer upon bis 
 face. He bas an excellent talent for satire and bumour. 
 He is now wiiting two pieces tbat will be inimitable : tbe 
 first is, A Comparison of tbe Englisb and Hottentots, wberein 
 it is proved tbe latter nation is tbe wisest and bappiest 
 of tbe two; tbe second is call'd — Reasons for enlarging 
 Bedlam, upon a supposition, tbat tbree parts of mankind 
 are mad. Yet be bimself deserves a place among his own 
 madmen for tbinking, as be does, tbat the follies and vices 
 of mankind are to be reform'd by satire and ridicule. But, 
 dear Pbilomides, metbinks I see several people of quality 
 moving towards the doors. I had forgot. myself. I must 
 hasten away- to Court ; it is just time for the drawing-room. 
 I never fail being there. But let me first address my- 
 self to this great assembly in the Avords of my favourite 
 Erasmus : 
 ' Valete, plaudite, vivite, bibite, moriai celeberrimi mystas.'
 
 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 191 
 
 IN OBITUM 
 
 VIRI REVERENDI JOSEPHI WARTON, S.T.P. ETC. 
 
 Nos tamen haec quocunq; modi tibi nostra vicissim 
 Dicemus. 
 
 Absint inanes hlnc Lachrymae procM ! 
 Nullus Dolori Jam Locus ! Arduum 
 Virtutis altae Qui peregit 
 
 Vivus iter, Lachrymis Sepulchre 
 Non indigebit conditus ! — O Tuis, 
 Wartone, nomen Wiccamicis sacrum, 
 O dulce Musis, O bonorum 
 Et Studiis et Amore fido 
 Semper colendum ! Te q^od Honoribus 
 Ditavit amplis, Ingenii Parens, 
 Natui'a: qu6d Doctrina sanctas 
 Exposuit Tibi culta Sedes 
 
 Fontesqu^
 
 192 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 
 
 Fontesque puros : qu6d Tibi Munera • 
 Plen^i profudit larga satis Manu 
 Fortuna : qu(^d Virtus Amicos, 
 Qu6d peperit Tibi Fama Lauvos : 
 producta partis quod " valido frui" 
 Concessit iEtas : donee ad Ultimum 
 Sensini Tibi obrepens Seneetus 
 Vix taeito Pede blanda Ocellos 
 Quiete elausit : (ni!im Laclir3^mis vaeat ?) 
 Hffie propter, ultra Sortem Homini datam, 
 Vita invidendum Te vocamus, 
 Funere Te paritfer beatum ! 
 Adeste Mecum quin, Juvenes pii ! 
 Jucundiori Munere Mortuum 
 
 Nos prosequamur, Nos verendam 
 Carminibus decoremus Urnara. 
 Sed providendum, sint Numeri Viro 
 Digni ; (neque istliic n(^n Labor arduus) 
 Square tanti Quis canendo 
 Posse putet meritos Honores ? 
 Ciere tales vel Citharje Sonos, 
 Quales periti Judicis Auribus 
 Castis placerent, et subacto 
 Ingenio paritcr scientis 
 
 Laudare
 
 ELEGY. ON DR. WARTON. 1^3 
 
 Laudare Chartis, quicquid amabile, 
 Quicquid venustum: nee mintis acrit^r 
 Notare fucati Nitoris 
 Sub Specie Maculas latentes ? 
 Censoris sequi, cui nee in omnibus 
 Culti PoPEii Gratia Carminis, 
 Nee Splendor Ornatusque Lhiguse 
 N^e faciles placuere Musee. 
 At nee malign^ Scripta nhc invid^ 
 Carpsit severus. Lance shd aestimans 
 Culpasque Virtutesqu^ e^dem. 
 Pro Meritis Pretium arrogavit. — 
 V^l Quis Canendo Spiritum et assequi 
 Vim speret istam, noverat intimos 
 Qua Cordis AfFectus movere 
 Fleetere et Arbitrio volentes ; 
 Sell molliores Virgilii Modos 
 Aptare Chordis Angliac/ti Lyrje. 
 Felicit^r tentans, agresti 
 Lusit amabiliter Camoena ; 
 Sen pleniori Numinis igneo 
 Correptus iEstu, Mentis Imagines 
 Eftudit altas, eemulusque 
 Pi N D A K I c o intonuit Furore ? 
 
 C ^' Horrenda
 
 194 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 
 
 Horrenda quali cum Sonitu evomens 
 Et Saxa et Ignes ^tna rotat Sinu ; 
 yhl quantus Orellana fervet 
 Vorticibus reboans profundis; 
 Ille et nivosis mille rapit Jugis 
 Collectam Aquarum Vim, rapidis r«ens 
 Torrentibus, Cursumque in /Equot 
 Praecipitem violentiis urget. — 
 Shd non Camoena) Spiritus et Decor, 
 Doctrina Quicquid vel Pretii ferat, 
 Non eruditae Mentis acre 
 
 Judicium, Ingeniique Acuraen,^ 
 Te chariorem reddiderant Tuis, 
 Wartone; nee Desiderium Tui 
 Ferventius post Te relinquunt : 
 Quam faciles sine Labe More-*, 
 Et mitis almi Pectoris Indoles, 
 Cordisque aperti larga Benignitas, 
 Festivitas urbana. Candor 
 Ingenuus, placidiquc Risus. 
 At qualis O ! Sermonis Amcenitas ! 
 Sive hospitali cum Sociis fruens 
 Mens4 assideres, spargeretque 
 Lingua Sales lepidos faceta ; 
 
 §ententiaar
 
 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. . 195 
 
 Sententias seii Quid Grave posceret 
 Sublimiores : Quae Sapientia, 
 Rerumque Ycrborumtiue Pondus 
 Ferret Opem, dubiasque pra^sens 
 Lites secando solveret ! — Hinc tua 
 Vox blanda Mentes finxit adhuc rudes ; 
 Arrecta sensit, Te monente, 
 InsolitLim Pucrilis iEtas 
 Doctrinie Amorem. Jam videor Mihi 
 Speclare circa Te Juvenum Choro 
 Stipatum, ut olim ; Quam silcnti 
 Ordine composucre Gestus ! 
 Ut Verba captant ! Quo Studio notant 
 Diversa Vultus Signa ! Placent Joci, 
 Frons Ixta, Nutiis et loquacis 
 Blanditiae, tacit^ probantes! 
 Hinc fidum Amicum, hinc Te velut Alterum 
 Patrem colebant ; Quin subito oemulus 
 Accensus Ardor, Gloria^que 
 Corda nova incaluere Flammd. 
 En ! et Labores quam Segetem ferunt ! 
 En ! grata claros Anglia quot Tibi 
 Debere Se exultans fatetur, 
 
 WiccAMic^ Decora alta Famas ! 
 
 CC2 Hi
 
 196 ^ ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 
 
 Hi dCini manebunt, non tua Laudibus 
 Virtus carebit ; N^c Capiti impia 
 Abscindet lijierentem Coronam 
 Invidiae Manus impotentis. 
 
 W. S. GoDDARD,* Col]. "Winton. 1800. 
 
 ELEGY 
 
 fTKITTKN AND SPOKEN BY ME. LIPSCOMB, FELLOW OF NEW COLLECEy 
 THEN A PE-ipOSTOK OF WINCHESTER SCHOOL. 
 
 The noon-tide hour is past, and toil is o'er. 
 No studious cares the vacant mind employ. 
 
 Yet hark ! methinks no longer as before 
 Yon mead re-echoes the loud shouts of joy. 
 
 * The excellent and indefatigable Head Master of Winchester College, 
 under whose direction the school has raised itself to its present flourishing 
 state. The existing prosperity of the Society, and the repeated success of the 
 young men whom it has within these last tea years sent to the University,, 
 strongly mark the tidents and government of those who conduct the 
 seminary, and prove to the world 
 
 - - - quid mens rite, quid indoles 
 ISutritafaustis sub penetralibus 
 Posset. 
 
 What
 
 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 197 
 
 What sudden grief hath seiz'd the youthful band? 
 
 Say, Wykeham's Sons, why reigns this silence round ? 
 Why do ye thus in mute attention stand, 
 
 And listen to the death-bell's awful sound ? 
 
 Ask ye the cause ? 'tis Warton's knell; and lo ! 
 
 The funeral train appears in black array ! 
 Down yonder hill in solemn steps and slow 
 
 The hearse winds on its melancholy way. 
 
 Jicd by affection the sad sight to view, 
 
 The thronging youth suspend their wonted play ; 
 
 All crowd around, to bid a last adieu, 
 
 Or, lost in thoughtful musings, steal away. 
 
 Yes, holy Shade! for thee these tears are shed 
 The sullen death-bell's ling' ring pause between, 
 
 For thee o'er all a pious calm is spread, 
 
 And hush'd the murmurs of this playful scene. 
 
 O name to Wykeham's Sons for ever dear, 
 While thus for thee the flood of tears we pour. 
 
 Thy partial spirit seems to linger here, 
 Blessing aAvhile the scenes it lov'd before. 
 
 Within
 
 198 FXEGY ON DR. WARTON. 
 
 Within these walls, to ev'ry duty true, 
 
 Twas thine to form the studious mind of youth, 
 
 To ope the Fane of Glory to their view. 
 
 And point the way to Science and to Truth. 
 
 And lo ! the plants that grew beneath thy care 
 
 Now in matured age majestic stand, 
 And spread their clust'ring branches to the air. 
 
 And stretch their shadow o'er a smiling land. 
 
 Youth may forget this transitory tear, 
 
 But Manhood feels a deeper sense of woe — 
 
 And sure thy name to them is doubly dear 
 AVlio to thy care their ripen'd honoure owe. 
 
 They heard th' inciting dictates of thy tongue. 
 
 For thou could'st smooth the way thro' Learning's maze, 
 
 Oft on thy words in dumb attention hung 
 Till Emulation kindled at thy praise. 
 
 O mark their grief, e'en now in tender hues, 
 B\' niem'ry trac'd, their days of youth return; 
 
 But ah ! fond meni'ry ev'ry pang renews, 
 
 And points with speechless sorrow to thine urn. 
 
 So
 
 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 199 
 
 So stream their tears ; but thou art thron'cl on high, 
 
 Haply the Seraphs' hallovv'd choir among, 
 Lull'd by soft sounds of sweetest minstrelsy, 
 
 "While Wykeham listens and approves the song. 
 
 O for a spark of that celestial fire 
 
 With which bright Fancy warm'd thy kindling soul ! 
 When erst the full chords of thy living lyre 
 
 Held all the list'ning passions in controvd. 
 
 Alas! tho' vain the wish, tho' weak the lay 
 
 That feebly celebrates a Warton's name. 
 Yet, happy Shade ! there still remains a way 
 
 To raise a lasting monument of fame. 
 
 Be ours the virtues thy example taught 
 
 To feel, preserve, and practise, while we live ; 
 
 Thus only can we praise thee as we ought, 
 The noblest tribute this thy Sons can give. 
 
 Lo! when Affection at the close of eve 
 
 To yonder Fane's dim cloysters shall repair. 
 
 No more with fruitless anguish shall she grieve, 
 But learn the lessons of true -wisdom there. 
 
 There,
 
 200 ELEGY ON DR. WARTON. 
 
 There, wliile she sees thy sculptur'd bust arise, 
 
 Rais'd by the hand of gratitude and love, 
 Virtue shall consecrate her tend'rest sighs, 
 
 And thoughts exalted her rapt spirit move. 
 
 Then Wykeham's Sons, with ardour new imprest, 
 
 Shall breathe one pray'r — that such their lot may be ; 
 
 Prais'd by the wise and good, to sink to rest, 
 
 And mourn'd by tears, such as they shed for thee. 
 
 Many in number, and truly worthy of the subject, were the elegies on the 
 death of .Dr.Warlon. To insert all would have been impossible, to select from 
 his own judgment, the Editor feels, would have been invidious: he has 
 therefore confined himself to the above, as spoken at the first public Wyke- 
 hamical meeting after the event, and conseqnently endowed with the sanction 
 of the Society.
 
 [ 201 ] 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 E IVt I N E N T PERSONS 
 
 Dr^ wart on 
 
 rOR VUBI.ICATION. 
 
 Pd
 
 o 
 
 K.^ ^fy}^(j?L/ 
 
 if^ 
 
 n 
 
 L-
 
 [ 203 ] 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 FROM MK. FENTON TO H!R. WALTON, PRorF.SSOE OF POETRY, AT 
 MAGDAl.iiN COLLEGE, OXFOKD. 
 
 Sir, Jan. 24, 1706-7. 
 
 I THANK you for your last. — I am glad to hear ?>,[r. 
 Phillips will publish his Pomona. Who prints it? i. should be 
 mightily obliged to you, if you could'get me a copy of his 
 verses against Blackmore. As to what you write about mak- 
 ing a collection, I can only advise you to buy what poems you 
 can, that Tonson has printed, except the Ode (n) to the 
 Sun, unless you take it in because I Avrote it, which 1 am the 
 freer to own, that Mat Prior may not suffer in his reputation 
 by having it ascribed to him. Sly humble service to Mr. 
 Sacheverell, and tell him I'll never imitate Milton more till 
 the Author of Blenheim be forgotten. 
 
 I am, Sir, your faithful 
 
 and very humble servant, 
 
 Eli. Fenton. 
 
 (a) " The Ode to the Sun is written upon a common plan, without uncom- 
 mon sentiments; but its greatest fault is its length. No poem should be long, 
 of which the purpose is only to strike the fancy without enlightening the under- 
 standing by precept, ratiocination or narrative. A blaze first pleases, and thea 
 tires the sight." — Johnson's Life of Fenton.
 
 204 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 DEAN SV.-IFT TO 
 
 Sir, London, Dec. 26^ ijii. 
 
 That you may not be surprised with a letter from a 
 person utterly unknown to you, I will inunediately tell you the 
 occasion of it. The Lad}^ who lived near two j^ears in your 
 neighbourhood, and whom you were so kind sometimes to 
 visit under the name of ]\Irs. Smyth, was Mrs. Ann Long, 
 sister to Sir James Long, and niece of Colonel Strangways. 
 She was of as good a private family as most in England, and 
 had every valuable quality of body and mind that could 
 make a lady loved and esteemed ; accordingly she was always 
 
 The above lady is thus alluded to in Swift's letters to Stella : " At noon I 
 went to Mrs. Van, who had this week engaged me to dine there to day, and 
 there I receiv'd the news that poor Mrs. Long died at Lynn, in Norfolk, on 
 Saturday last, at four in the morning; she was sick but four hours: we suppose 
 it was the asthma; which she was subject to as well as the dropsj', as she sent 
 me word in her last letter, written above five weeks ago: but then said she was 
 recovered. I never was more afflicted at any death. The poor creature had 
 retired to Lynn two years ago, to live cheap and pay her debts. In her last 
 letttr she told me she hop'd to be easy by Christmas, and slie kept her word, 
 although she meant it otherwise. She had all sorts of amiable qualities, and no 
 ill ones, but the indiscretion of too much neglecting her own affairs. She had 
 two thousand pounds left her by an old Grandmother, with which she intended 
 to pay her debts, and live on an annuity she had of one hundred pounds a 
 year, and Newburgh "house, which would be about sixty more. I have 
 order'd a paragraph to be put in the Post Boy, giving an account of her death, 
 and making honourable mention of her, which is all I can do to serve her 
 memory." 
 
 valued
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. £05 
 
 valued here above most of her sex, and by the most distin- 
 guisht persons. But by the unkindness of her friends, and 
 the generosity of her own nature, and depending upon the 
 death of a'very old Grandmother, which did not happen 
 till it was too late, she contracted some debts that made her 
 uneasy here, and, in order to clear them, was content to retire 
 unknown to your town, where I fear her death has been 
 hastned by melancholy, and perhaps the want of such 
 assistance as she might have found here. 
 
 I thotight fit to signify this to you, partly to let you know 
 how valuable a person you have lost; but chiefly to desire 
 that you will please to bury her in some part of your church, 
 near a wall, -where a })lain marble stone may be fixed, as a 
 poor monument for one who deserved so well, and which, if 
 God sends me life, I hope one day to ])lace there, if no other 
 of her friends will think fit to do it. I had the honor of an 
 intimate acquaintance with her; and M'as never so sensibly 
 touched with any one's death as with hers ; neither did I ever 
 know apcrson,of either sex, with more virtues or fewer infir- 
 mityes; the onely one she had, which was the neglect of her 
 own affairs, arising wholly from the goodness of her temper. 
 I write not this to you at all as a secret, but am content your 
 town should know what an excellent person they have had 
 among them. 
 
 If you visited her any short time before her death, or know 
 any particulars about it, or of the state of her mind, or the 
 
 nature
 
 206 LETTERS OF 
 
 nature of her disease; I beg you will be so obliging to inform 
 me ; for the letter we have seen from her poor maid, is so 
 imperfect, by her grief for the death of so good a lad\', that 
 it onely tells the time of her death; and your letter ^may if 
 you please be directed to Dr. Swift, and put under a cover, 
 ■which cover may be directed to Erasmus Lewis, Esq. at the 
 Earl of Dartmouth's Office at Whitehall. 
 
 I hope you will forgive this trouble, for the occasion of it, 
 and give some allowances to so great a loss, not onely to me, 
 but to all who have any regard for every perfection that 
 human nature can possess ; and if in any way 1 can serve or 
 oblige you, I shall be glad of an opportunity of obeying your 
 commands. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 J. Swift. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 fb) MR. HAKRIS TO MK. VPTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Oxford, June 7, 1734. 
 
 1 RECEIVED your agreeable epistle a post or two since, 
 
 tho' as it followed me to O.xford, round by London, I did 
 
 not 
 
 (bj The learned and ingenious author of " Hermes/' of wliich, says Bishop 
 
 Lowth, when speaking of disquisitions on Grammar, " Those, who would 
 
 enter more deeply into tliis subject, will Had it fully and accurately handled, 
 
 I with
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 207 
 
 not receive it so soon as I should otherwise have done. As 
 for Arrian, you may be assur'd, as far as my httle reading 
 has assisted me, I shall be very ready to lend you all the 
 help I can. As there is no author who more frequently 
 repeats similar sentiments and expressions than Arrian, so 
 for that reason, there is no one who is a better commentator 
 and explainer to himself. I have a book at home, whose 
 margin is almost filled with references, from one page to 
 another, of the Commentary, and of the Enchiridion. There 
 are likewise some few references to other authors of anti- 
 quit}^ but these are not many, tho' some of them I think 
 are material, and serve very well to illustrate. If any thing 
 of this kind be agreeable to the nature of the commentary 
 you would give us, you may command all or any part of it, 
 as you please. Your commentary being intended not only 
 as a grammatical but a rational and philosophical one, if I 
 might prescribe the method, it should be thus: I Avoukl 
 begin with a preface explaining the general principles of 
 Stoical doctrine, and more particularly those which are the 
 bases of Epictetus, and M. Antoninus fcj. For those crab- 
 
 vvith the grealest aciiteness of investigation^ perspicuity of explication, and 
 elegance of method, iu a Treatise entitled Hermes, bj James HarriSj Esq. 
 the most beautiful and perfectexample of analysis that has been exhibited since 
 the days of Aristotle.!'— See Preface to Lowtu's Grammar. 
 
 (c) A Stoic pliilosoplier, and author of a treatise, entitled ra «aS' eavTov. 
 
 bed
 
 208 LETTERS OF 
 
 "bed doctrines ascrib'd to Stoics, of the equality of crimes fd^, 
 the equahty of misery in all but the perfectly Avise, and 
 such like; I would wholly omit them, or else touch but very 
 slightly on them, observing withall how little of these para- 
 doxes appears in the authors you build on, viz, Epictetus 
 and Antoninus. Having thus prepared your reader by a 
 proper preface, and discharged the duty of a good commen- 
 tator, as to one part of his character, which is to be a sort of 
 master of the ceremonies to his author, in introducing all 
 strangers to his acquaintance ; then there remains nothing 
 but the commentary or annotations. These should be made 
 as short as possible, and may naturally be divided into criti- 
 cal and explanatory : the critical will respect nothing but 
 the mere text. And here I cannot but observe, that if the 
 amendment you offer be good, the world Avill admit it, 
 without two or three pages of similar passages to confirm it, 
 from authors with hard names, Avhich not one in ten ever 
 did, or ever will read. This is to me a vanity in Bentley, 
 which 1 dare say your good taste will not suffer you to 
 be guilty of. For the explanatory notes, they should be 
 
 (d) Queis paria esse feth placuit peccuta, laborant, 
 
 Cum ventum ad verum est : sensus moresq; repugnant, 
 Atq; ipsa utilitas, justi prop^ mater et aeqiii. 
 
 --Si dives, qui sapiens est. 
 
 El sutor bonus, et solus forniosus, et est vex : 
 
 Cur 0])tas quod habes ? HoR. Sat. 3. Book I. 
 
 all
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 209 
 
 all comprised either in small pieces of history, or in the 
 account of a custom or ceremony, where the meaning of any 
 word depends on any such history or custom; or else in 
 references backward and forward to the comment itself, and 
 Enchiridion, to your own preface, and to all the best authors 
 of antiquity. You will pardon me for thus taking the liberty 
 of dictating a method, in which I have acted the part of a 
 schoolmaster, rather than a friend. However you will be 
 so good as to excuse me, when I assure you 1 have only 
 chosen this way of expressing myself, as being the easiest I 
 could find. Had I dress'd up my sentiments in a better 
 manner, I should not have been so intelligible, and that is 
 all which at present I aim at. I heartily and most sincerely 
 congratulate you on being made a member of the worthy 
 family you are now in. The encrease of fortune which you 
 may justly expect from thence will not only add to your 
 felicity, as it will enable you to become more servicealjle to 
 the community; v.hich tho' it be the consequence of a for- 
 tune little dream't of, is yet perhaps a more real advantage 
 arising from it than any which the wisest head in Change 
 Alley ever thought of. When you favour me with a letter, 
 pray direct it to Sarum, where I think to be soon. In the 
 mean time, I rest yours most affectionately, 
 
 James Harris.
 
 210 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. 
 
 My dear Friend, July 24th, 1739. 
 
 Your letter as usual was highly acceptable. Indeed 
 as soon as I see your superscription, I am apt to say with the 
 kings of Brentford, 
 
 " The news is welcome, whatsoe'er it be." 
 I find you mention not a word in either of your last, about a 
 long letter I sent you enclosed to Lord Talbot between my 
 two last; it was a sheet written on all sides, with a collation of 
 your Enchiridion, and of Salmasius, and an old MS. colla- 
 tion, which I lately purchased, Mritten in the margin of the 
 old Venice edition of 1528. This edition is a small quarto, 
 and has the commentary of Simplicius upon it. There are 
 some things of value in the collation : but it is not so much 
 that as to have my labour lost, which grieves me after having 
 kept in " corner close" for many days to compleat the 
 business. If you enquire, it may not yet perhaps be upon 
 duty in my Lord's confectionar}-. I think Markland's con- 
 jectures will, be worth perusing, because he is allow'd to be 
 a scholar. They will however be of less importance I 
 believe in Arrian than any where else, because few of our 
 scholars have even a glimpse of the Stoical Philosophy. 
 They set out with an opinion, that it is all contradictory 
 
 nonsense :
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. on 
 
 nonsense : so no wonder that is never understood which is 
 from the beginning contemned. However, you are right, for 
 all this, not to neglect any assistances which come in your 
 way, and something may be suggested, which you never 
 thought of before. 
 
 I have lately received a letter from your collegiate Hole, 
 who indeed writes like a modest and sensible man. He has 
 thought me worthy to peruse his notes on the new edition 
 of the Offices, which he is about to publish. I shall assist 
 him as far as my abilities will go. My brother George, who 
 knows him intimately, speaks greatly in his praise, and 
 George is no flatterer. 
 
 I was much pleas'd to find in Taylor's (e) preface to 
 Lysias, that he intended also to pubhsh Demosthenes. Before 
 I received your letter, I went to collating, and have finished 
 the four Philippics ; these, if you will tell me how to direct to 
 
 (e) The following elegant and affectionate compliment was paid by the 
 wr.ter of this letter to his two friends after their death: " Nor must I fLet 
 Dr. Taylor, residentiary of St. Paul's, nor Mr. Upton, prebendarv of Rochester 
 The former, by his edition of Demosthenes (as far as he lived to c"arry it) by his 
 Lys.as, by his comment on the Marmor Sandvicense, and other critical pieces • 
 the latter, by his correct and elegant edition, in Greek and Latin, of Arrian's 
 Epictetus (the fii-st of the kind that had any pretensions to be called complete) 
 have rendered rfiemselves, as scholars, lasting ornaments of their country! 
 These two valuable men were the friends of my youth, the companions of my 
 soca as well as my. literary hours. I admired them for their erudition; I 
 loved them for their virtue. They are now no more. 
 
 '' His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani 
 Munere. m." 
 
 Harris's Philological Inquiries, 
 P art I. Chap. 6. 
 ^^2 him.
 
 212 LETTERS OF 
 
 him, I will send them, and if from the specimen he thinks 
 the rest worth having, care shall be taken of having it per- 
 formed. Taylor is a man of sense, and a scholar, but there 
 is a crabbedness in his stile from an affectation of phrases, 
 and a pedantic way of triumphing over his brother commen- 
 tators, which I could Avish away : this last he apologizes for 
 himself in his preface, but in my opinion he had better not 
 have made such apology necessary. 
 
 ********* 
 I shall hope to see you this summer ; till which time write 
 often, I beseech you : and believe me 
 
 Yours ever affect. 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 FROM MR. WARTON TO HIS SON JOSEPH. 
 
 Basingstoke, Aug. jd, 1743. 
 
 I THANK my dear Son for both his letters. In that of 
 the eighth inst. you tell me that you are to go to Cud- 
 desden the very next day, whereas old Mr. Jackson Avrites 
 me word from thence, that he has paid you only five guineas 
 (pounds he means) but is willing to pay the remainder 
 whenever it is asked. His letter bears date the 1 9th of July. 
 I design therefore to go and receive it immediately. His 
 13 'son
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 213 
 
 son left me the 1 8 th of April last. You do not mention your 
 battels in yours of the 17th. Are they paid? I would not 
 have you satisfied with the prospect of more of Robinson's 
 exhibitions than the very first, pray secure that ; for you may 
 depend on it, what was told you of future chances was be- 
 cause you have competitors. Tis but a month now before 
 you lose your room : look out another (some friend's in the 
 College, if possible) without delay. 
 
 If you could take your degree in Michaelmas term, it 
 would be much better (on account of R/s exhibition) than 
 staying till Lent. Pray stand the first vacancy. I cannot help 
 being sollicitous about this, for some reasons lately found 
 out. Tell me your thoughts soon ; and how you last out as 
 to money. I will do my utmost to supply you, but cannot 
 specify the time. However, be chearful, you shall never 
 want encouragement as far as is in the power of, 
 My dear Joe, 
 
 your entirely affect. Father, 
 
 T. War TON. 
 
 I beg you to write speedily and particularly.— All here 
 are well, and joyn in love and service. Recollect 
 
 Qui studet optatam cursu contingere mctam, 
 Multa tuht fecitq; Puer.
 
 2U LEITERS OF 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 FROM DR. WAETON TO HIS BROTHER, 
 
 Dearest Tom, Basingstgke, Oct. 29, 1746. 
 
 I HAVE been hindered by an infinite deal of business 
 from writing to you soonex*. This moment I have received 
 your Ode, for which I give you a thousand thanks ; I am 
 extremely pleas'd with it, and think it very poetical and cor- 
 rect, as far as I can judge by twice reading it: one or two 
 little alterations to the epithets may be made, such as " Ivy 
 mantled" because there is ivy darkened in the Ode to 
 Despair; and /air is repeated several times, as also n polish' d : 
 but these are trifles. You judge right in saying that I should 
 like the fourth and sixth stanzas, they are as poetical as any 
 thing I ever read : your transitions are very judicious, espe- 
 cially to your descriptions of the ravages of the Goths: but 
 of this more minutely hereafter. 
 
 ********* 
 I have now another scheme to communicate to you, of 
 which I desire you not to speak till I have further consider'd 
 it. Since you left Basingstoke I have found a great many 
 poems of my Father's, much better than any we read together. 
 These I am strongly advised to publish by subscription, by 
 Sir Stukely Shuckburgh, Dr. Jackson, and other friends. 
 There are sufficient to make a six shilling octavo volume, 
 and they imagine, as my Father's acquaintance Avas large, it 
 
 would
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 215 
 
 would be easy to raise two or three hundred pounds; a very 
 solid argument, in our present situation. It would more 
 • than pay all my Father's debts. Let me know your thoughts 
 upon this subject ; but do not yet tell Plampton, or Smythe, 
 who would at first condemn us, without knowing the pru- 
 dential reasons wl;iich induce us to do it. 
 
 ***** 
 
 * 
 
 Do not doubt of being able to get some money this winter ; 
 if ever I have a groat, you may depend on having twopence. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 I wish you had been with me last week, when I spent two 
 evenings with Fielding and his sister, who wrote David 
 Simple, and you may guess I was very well entertained. The 
 lady indeed retir'd pretty soon, but Russell and I sat up with 
 the Poet till one or two in the morning, and were inex- 
 pressibly diverted. I find he values, as he justly may, his 
 Joseph Andrews above all his writings : he was extremely 
 civil to me, I fancy, on my Father's account. 
 
 I have by this long letter endeavoured to make up the 
 deficiency of not writing before. Accuse me of any thing 
 but want of affection; since our melancholy loss our attach- 
 ment to each other should, if possible, be stronger. We 
 daily expect the new Vicar, who, I believe, is Mr. Hench- 
 man ; lucky enough for us, as he Avas a friend of my dear 
 Father's. My Mother and Sister join in love. 
 
 Yours ever most affect. 
 
 J. Warton.
 
 216 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 CUANCELT.OR IIOADLY TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Sir, Chelsea, March 20th, 1753. 
 
 I AM quite asham'd that I have not sooner acknow- 
 ledge! the receipt of your kind present (f). I take for 
 granted, that you have reserv'd some setts to pay a compli- 
 ment to a few friends (amongst whom I have little plea, 
 but great pleasure to be enroH'd) or I wou'd not so easily 
 have submitted to so valuable an obligation. 
 
 I breakfasted t'other day with our great little friend 
 David, and gave your service to him, as you desir'd me ; and 
 he beg'd I wou'd return the compliment, when I shou'd 
 write to you. — If you resolve to do any thing in that way of 
 writing which we were lately upon, and think that my little 
 talent may be of any service to you, I desire that you will 
 freely make use of it in any manner you please. 
 
 I remain, with my good wishes for success in all your 
 undertakings (which I don't doubt will be worthy your inge- 
 nuity and scholarship). 
 
 Sir, 
 your oblig'd humble servant, 
 
 J. Hqadly. 
 
 (f) Warton's Virgil.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 217 
 
 LETTER VIIL 
 
 TROM DE. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, June 7th, 1753. 
 
 I BEGIN with heartily wishing you joy of being made 
 Actual. I am sorry you will not be able to come till July, 
 but then surely you will make amends by a long stay. Yours 
 yesterday was very entertaining. Your Ode to Contempla- 
 tion possesses true poetry, and a great deal of fine imagina- 
 tion ; but I am not sure whether it is proper to write Odes 
 in long blank verse: Lyrics muft certainly be metrical; 
 however call it an hymn, and all will be well. 
 
 What think you of the poverty of Poets ? I send by this 
 post another on plagiarism, on original writers, and the bor- 
 rowings of Pope. 
 
 ********* 
 I want to see Charlotte Lenox's (g) book. Give my compli- 
 ments to Bedingfield. I am glad he is emerging into life 
 from Hertford Coll. Prosecute your scheme on Spenser 
 with vigour. Dearest Tom, 
 
 Yours most affect. 
 
 J. Warton. 
 
 (gj This eminently learned lady translated the Enchiridion of Epictetus, 
 and the Greek Theatre of Le P^re Brumoy. 
 
 F p
 
 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 DR. YOUNG TO DE. V.ARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Dec. 21, 1753. 
 
 I AM deeply concerned that I cannot serve you ; it 
 
 would give me much more than common deUght to have 
 
 been any way instrumental to your happiness, for I know 
 
 and love your amiable worth; but indeed my connection 
 
 with Mr. is very slender. I have not seen him these 
 
 six years ; I hope therefore you will excuse me ; and do not 
 suppose me to be 
 
 " Dissimulator opis propriae, mihi commodus uni," 
 
 for it is not the case. You have indeed the very best 
 wishes of my heart ; but as I am your truly sincere, so am 
 I your sadly impotent friend, and, dear Sir, 
 
 oblig'd humble servant, 
 
 Ed. Young. 
 
 My hearty love and best service to your good Mother.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 219 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 FKOM DR. JOHNSON TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, March Sth, i;54. 
 
 I CANNOT but congratulate you upon the conclusion 
 of a work (h) in which you have born so great a part with 
 so much reputation. I immediately determined that your 
 name should be mentioned, but the paper having been 
 some time written, Mr. Hawkesworth, I suppose, did not 
 care to disorder its text, and therefore put your eulogy 
 in a note. He and every other man mention your papers 
 of Criticism Avith great commendation, though not with 
 greater than they deserve. 
 
 But how little can we venture to exult in any intel- 
 lectual powers or literary attainments, when we consider 
 the condition of poor Collins. I knew him a ^qw years ago 
 full of hopes and full of projects, versed in many languages, 
 high in fancy, and strong in retention. This busy and 
 forcible mind is now under the government of those who 
 lately would not have been able to comprehend the least 
 and most narrow of its designs. What do you hear of 
 him ? are there hopes of his recovery ? or is he to pass the 
 remainder of his life in misery and degradation ? perhaps 
 with complete consciousness of his calamity. 
 
 You have flatter'd us, dear Sir, for some time with hopes 
 
 (ItJ The Adventurer, 
 
 F F2 of
 
 220 LETTERS OF 
 
 of seeing you ; when you come you will find your reputa- 
 tion encreascd, and with it the kindness if those friends 
 who do not envy you; for success always produces either 
 love or liatred. I enter my name among those that love, 
 and that love 3^ou more and more in proportion as by 
 writing more you are more known ; and believe that as you 
 continue to ditfuse among us your integrity and learnings 
 1 shall be still with greater esteem and aftection, 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obedient 
 
 and most humble servant, 
 
 Sam. Johnsox» 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 FROM DR. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, May Sth, 1754. 
 
 We returned home but last night, and the first thing 
 I saw was your letter, Avhich gave me the highest joy and 
 pleasure. I make no doubt at all but you will sell the 
 500 speedily, and would have you attack a second edition. 
 What if you struck Fletcher while the sale is hot, and sold 
 him the copy for 1 00 guineas ? or will you keep it still — 
 judge yourself. Guess what a hurry I write in, for May 
 gives me but six minutes, as he calls in passing. Shall I 
 
 carp
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 221 
 
 carp at a word or two in your Spenser ? When you speak 
 of Johnson, you say, this Disquisition will be discussed; 
 it is surely Suljcct — to discuss a Disquisition cannot be 
 right — You use lessa^, p. 1 73, speaking of Milton ; a word 
 Johnson blames — Is it not Raleigh's and not Sidnei/'s Sonnet 
 on Spenser ? In the translation of Du Bos, have you 
 rightly translated esprit, p. 238, by understanding — esprit 
 is the most equivocal word in the French language, and 
 here signifies applying to the imagination. So I believe, 
 but am not quite sure. See how free I make ! 1 will at 
 more leisure go thro' the whole — for I am sure you'll be glad 
 of any observations, and to have the whole as correct as 
 possible. I shall ardently expect you the 27th in the 
 evening. We are all well. 
 
 I am most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. Warton. 
 
 LETTER XII, 
 
 FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME, 
 
 Dearest Tom, May i6th, 1754. 
 
 Mil. May did not deliver yours till Saturday last, and 
 I would not answer till I could 4o it to purpose, and effec- 
 tually. I like the subject of your sermon very much, and 
 dare say you'll finish it accurately, for depend on it your 
 
 audienqe
 
 222 LETTERS OF 
 
 audience will be critically nice, and the Bishop take notice 
 of it. 
 
 With respect to the last head of it — what Lowth observ'd 
 on that subject was this — That many natural causes were 
 at present co-operating to the diftusion of Christianity; 
 such particularly as the vast enlargement of Commerce and 
 Navigation in modern times to both East and West Indies ; 
 by which its sounds were gone out into the ends of the 
 world — Such again, the invention of an admirable art 
 (Printing) by which the communication of knowledge of 
 every sort is communicated and preserved — for with true 
 knowledge true religion ever resides, &c. — Such the indis- 
 putable improvements in all parts of Natural Science; by 
 which the more that is known of the Universe, and the 
 more final causes discovered, the more is the Bible account 
 of things justified and confirmed : an instance of which a 
 late excellent and much lamented Prelate, of deep pene- 
 tration and incomparable judgment, has left us a lasting 
 example in his Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion. 
 — (Pray mention this work of Bishop Butler, which, as 
 they were intimates, and as it really deserves, will please 
 Seeker). Such again is a certain spirit of mildness and 
 benevolence, beginning daily to extend itself — War is less 
 barbarous than formerly — no persons taken captive — add to 
 which, that among ourselves charity is extended, and peo- 
 ple begin to lose all that aboniinable rancour against 
 their brethren that happen to be of different parties and 
 1 1 sentiments.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 2S3 
 
 sentiments. Add again — that, in the hands of Providence, 
 even the rehgion of Mahommed (so he pronounced it long) 
 by strictly inculcating the doctrine of the unity of God, 
 keeps many nations from idolatry, and consequently is an 
 easier state to be convinced of the truth of that religion 
 -which the Son of that God, whom they now worship, 
 delivered to men. All these hints you are to arrange and 
 work up, dwelling on the two chief things. Commerce and 
 Printing, as conveyances in the hands of God of his 
 Religion, and as such, remarkable but not enough noticed 
 events. Under the article of the extent of Commerce and 
 consequently Knowledge, by opening the minds of Travel- 
 lers, &.C. Lowth mentioned slowli/ and emphatically a most 
 remarkable text of Daniel, full to your purpose, which 
 I would have you use and introduce, as not having been 
 sufficiently regarded ; chap. 1 2, v. 4. Many shall run to and 
 fro, and knordedge shall be created. These hints may be 
 useful. Work them up orderly, and I dare say you'll make 
 it a good sermon, as it is an excellent subject. 
 
 You have now received my last about Huggins. I have 
 the Reviews and Magazines about Johnson. His preface 
 is fine. I am sorry not to tell you definitively whether you 
 must see London the first Aveek iai June. I have the 
 Duke's consent under his oron hand. I now speak in 
 time, and greatly fear that I shall not have much copy by 
 the 15th of June — the moving (i) is troublesome, and the- 
 (i) From Wynslade to Tunworth. 
 
 workmen
 
 224 LETTERS OF 
 
 workmen must be looked to. We will try and be there ift 
 about three weeks. Talk with Jackson therefore provi- 
 sionally. I hope to hear from you to-morrow. Can't you 
 defer sending the play to Hawkins, and bring it with you, 
 and more especially as you're now too busy to peruse it 
 properly. Pray write. 
 
 I am most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. Warton, 
 
 LETTER xm. 
 
 MR. DODSLEY TO DE. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Pall Mall, Sept. 29, 1754. 
 
 That I am an insufferably bad correspondent, all my 
 friends, with too much reason, complain: and I am afraid 
 I sometimes sin this way beyond forgiveness. However, I 
 have in my own mind made great resolutions of amend- 
 ment : and when one considers how delightful it is to talk 
 to an absent friend, it is amazing how one can possibly be 
 guilty of the crime of neglect. But the practice of every 
 virtue is delightful, and yet the world continues to be a 
 wicked world : so true it is that man is an heap of con- 
 tradictions. One good thing however attends this neglect 
 of writing to one's friends too punctually, which is, that one 
 sometimes gets almost to the bottom of the first page in 
 
 making
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 225 
 
 making an apology. I was extremely sorry we could not 
 spare time to call on you in our return from Portsmouth ; 
 our party was Mr. Giffard and his wife, and I and mine; 
 and when women are in the way (don't let Mrs. Warton 
 see this) a man can never do what he ought. I prodi- 
 giously admire your character of Mr. Bedingfield, who you 
 say has actually refin'd his taste to a degree that makes him 
 dissatisfy 'd with almost every composition ; don't you think 
 then that he is in almost the same situation with Horace's 
 recover'd madman ? What are you doing ? and what is 
 your Brother doing ? I hear he has laid aside all thoughts 
 of ApoUonius. I think he is right: but I would not have 
 him lie still. I am just going to put my fourth volume of 
 poems to press, and wish he would send me a corrected 
 copy of his Pleasures of Melancholy, and Triumphs of Isis. 
 And have you nothing to send me .'' Whitehead's play 
 does not come on this winter, there is no room for it. 
 Glover's lioadicea comes on in November. And Garrick 
 is engag'd for a play of a Mr. Crisp in February. I have 
 never thought of mine (k) since, and probably never shall. 
 Let me first see what will be said to my Agriculture, which 
 is now finish't, and will be published in November. Com- 
 pliments to Mrs. Warton and your Brother. Sha'nt we sec 
 him or you, or both, in town this winter? 
 
 I am ever yours, 
 
 R. DODSLEY. 
 
 (kj Cleonej a tragedy. 
 
 Gg 
 
 «b
 
 226 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 MR. SPENCE TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Nov. 2d, 1754. 
 
 What will you think is become to me, that I have 
 not thanked you for your kind letter in all this time ? Why, 
 to tell you the very truth, I have either been out upon 
 some journey, or full of visitors at home, for this whole 
 summer. I had first a long journey into the North ; two or 
 three days after my return hither, I was invited to Mr. Her- 
 bert's, in Brook-street, for a fortnight : and on my road from 
 thence met with a message to desire that I wou'd attend 
 Lord Lincoln to Cheltenham Wells, in Gloccstershire ; that 
 took up five or six weeks ; and when that was over. Cap- 
 tain Rolle (to whom I inclose this, because I don't know 
 where to be sure of you) was so good as to come hither. 
 So all my time has been entirely taken up very agreeably 
 indeed ; but I am sorry it has prevented me of the plea- 
 sure that you and your Brother wej-e so good as to design 
 me, and has made me seem ungrateful so long. 
 
 Yours gave me a great deal of sincere pleasure, on all 
 accounts; for I think the University has done honor to 
 itself, in giving honor to such a man. As my summer has 
 been so much taken up, if this place shou'd he at all in the 
 way of you or your Brother, or rather both, it would be a 
 S kind
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 227 
 
 kind and charitable tiling to look in upon one in the 
 winter. I am his and your oblig'd humble servant, 
 
 J. Spence. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 FROM MR. DODSLEY TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Nov. 
 
 I SENT last night, directed to you in a parcel for some 
 of your booksellers, my poem on Agriculture ; which begs 
 your acceptance. But that an illiterate Muse should be at 
 all regarded in the Capitol of Learning, would be a wild 
 expectation; however as she is an innocent country girl, 
 and quite a stranger, I hope you will be civil to her, and 
 excuse her awkwardness and want of breeding. If she is not 
 dash'd at first, and put quite out of countenance, she may 
 in time improve. So, trusting her to your candour and 
 politeness, 
 
 I remain affectionately 
 Yours, 
 
 R. DoDSLEY. 
 
 GG2
 
 228 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 (1) DK. WISE TO ME. WAETON. 
 
 Sir, Enfield, Dec. 14th, 1754. 
 
 I HAVE considered on what 3-0 u mentioned to me at 
 the President's, and think that it would be more apropos, 
 and more to Mr. Johnson's good hking, if the University 
 honours were sent him before his book is pubhshed, that 
 he may be able to write himself A. M. in the title page. I 
 wish you would hint this to him as soon as you can, and 
 enquire in what forwardness his work is. I shall hardly be 
 in Oxford till after the holidays no^v coming on ; but when 
 I return, will sollicit the affair to the utmost, and draw up 
 the form of Diploma, unless you choose to do it. It is in 
 truth doing ourselves more Honour than him, to have such 
 a work done by an Oxford hand, and so able a one too, 
 and will shew that we have not lost all regard for good 
 letters, as has been too often imputed to us by our ene- 
 mies. Be so good as to acquaint me, by a line, what 3-ou 
 have done ; and give the note to Mussendine, who will 
 take care to convey it hither any Wednesday or Saturday 
 by the butterman, and I shall find it here at my return. 
 
 I am, yours, tScc. 
 
 F. Wise. 
 
 (I) An eminent antiquarian ; and formerly of Trinity College, Oxford.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 229 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 DR. JOHNSON TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Dec. 24111, 1754. 
 
 I AM sat down to answer your kind letter, though I 
 know not whether I shall direct it so as that it may reach 
 you ; the miscarriage of it will be no great matter, as I 
 have nothing to send but thanks, of which I oAve you many, 
 yet if a few should be lost, I shall amply find them in my 
 own mind ; and professions of respect, of which the pro- 
 fession will easily be renewed while the respect continues : 
 and the same causes which first produced can hardly fail to 
 preserve it. Pray let me know however whether my letter 
 finds its way to you. 
 
 Poor dear Collins — Let me know whether you think it 
 would give him pleasure if I should write to him. I have ! 
 often been near his state, and therefore have it in great com-; 
 miseration. 
 
 I sincerely Avisli you the usual pleasiu'es of this joyous 
 season, and more than the usual pleasures, those of con- 
 templation on the great event uhich this festival comme- 
 morates. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate, 
 
 and most humble servant, 
 
 Sam. Johnson.
 
 230 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 MR. WARTON TO HIS BEOTHER. 
 
 Dearest Jo. Tiin. Coll. April 10, 1755. 
 
 I WISHED to have stayed longer Avith 3^ou at Tiapp's, 
 but it was impossible. The x\riosto is expected by D. 
 Prince on Saturday night ; it being ordered for Queen's 
 library. Where is the connection ? I am thinking that 
 Thomson, who, you know, is a dabbler in Italian, has 
 recommended it : I mean proposed the buying it. Dodsley, 
 it seems, had actually published the fourth volume with 
 Hervy's poem, and had sold several copies with it in; 
 upon which, being threatened with a messenger, he can- 
 celled it in the remaining copies. The Dictionary is ar- 
 rived ; the preface is noble (th J: he tells the world, that 
 he performed the work " in sickness and in sorrow, in 
 distress and inconvenience ; not lulled in the soft obscurities 
 of retirement, or sheltered in academic bowers ; without the 
 assistance or the patronage of any: as I shall gain or lose 
 nothing by censure or applause, I dismiss the work from 
 my hands whh frigid tranquiUiti), careless of either." There 
 is a grammar prefix'd, and the history of the language is 
 pretty full ; but you may plainly perceive strokes of laxity 
 and indolence. They are two most unwieldy volumes. I 
 
 (m) Preface to Johnson's Dictionary. 
 
 have
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 231 
 
 have written to him an invitation. I fear his preface will 
 disgust, by the expressions of his consciousness of superi- 
 ority, and of his contempt of patronage. The Rawlinsonfw^ 
 benefaction wo'nt do for Johnson, which is this — A pro- 
 fessorship of 80L per ann, which is not to take place these 
 forty years — A fellowship to Hertford Coll. which is too 
 ample for them to receive agreeably to Newton's Statutes ; 
 and a fellowship to St. John s College. Neither of the last 
 are to take place these forty years. His papers and curi- 
 osities are left to the Bodleian, among which there are 
 valuable things. And those of his books, to the same, 
 which are not there. Afterwards St. John's is to chuse 
 from them those they have not ; and the remainder (which 
 will be a sufficient library) is for Hertford College. Lega- 
 cies, &c. paid, the residue of his money to St. John's. 
 His heart is to be kept in spirits in St. John's Archives. 
 'Hawkesworth is to have 200 guineas for the Life only. 
 As soon as possible send us just copy enough for the 
 remains of this half sheet, that what is jiow composed 
 may be worked off. We have settled matters about 
 the 15th of June, &c. I will come and work at Spenser 
 through the vacation. 1 hope to get out at Trinity, but we 
 have the chance of a vacant scholarship, which may detain 
 me a little. It is reported that the N. Int 1 have taken 
 
 (nj Dr. Rawlinson, an eminent English antiquary, who founded an Anglo- 
 Saxon professorship, now filled by Mr. Ingram, of Trinity College. 
 
 accom-
 
 cs'i LETTERS OE 
 
 accommodations, &c. for their grand entr^^ and expected 
 chairing next week. 1 suppose it is up with the old. When 
 Huggins arrives (o), I will transmit to you what he says 
 
 of us, if he has dared to attack. B ow's pamphlet is 
 
 allowed to be wrote with some candour ; but it is said to 
 be an unfair representation of the text. I expect to night 
 a solemn letter from Johnson. My love to dear ]\Iolly and 
 the little ones. I am, dear Jo. 
 
 Your most aftectionate Brother, 
 
 T. Warton. 
 
 (o) Hiiggins was a very indift'erent translator of Ariosto. He was violently 
 ofleiided with Mr. T. ^^'arton, whom he had engaged in the translation, for 
 observations on Spenser's Fairy Queen, reflecting in his idea on Aiiosto. In 
 consequence of which, he sorely to his own detriment cancelled that part of 
 {he poem which had been executed by Mr. W., and published a pamphlet 
 equally stupid and abusive on the occasion. 
 
 Two very ridicubus circumstances attended this undertaking. Mr. Hug- 
 gins engaged Baretti as an Aristarchus, to whom for some time he paid 
 the utmost deference; Baretti, however, being very deficient in punctuality, 
 Huggins asked him " if he had no watch." " None," replied the Italian : 
 "Then," says H." I will lend you one." In a short period alter this arrange- 
 ment they quarrelled, and Baretti quitted hini in disgust: the watch, however, 
 unfortunately for the translator, accompanied him. 
 
 ^\ hen the work was finished, Huggins sent to Smollet, who at that time 
 managed the Critical Review, a fat buck ; consequently the work was highly 
 applauded : but the history of the venison becoming public, Smollet was 
 much abused, and in a future number of the Critical Review retracted his 
 iipplause.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 233 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 DK. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Winslade, May aotli, 1755. 
 
 As I see it is impossible for 3'ou to leave Oxford time 
 enough to do our business at this vacation, I lay aside all 
 thoughts of going to town now, but must beg you to meet 
 me Avithout fail the very beginning of August or sooner. 
 It is without doubt imf>racticable for you to leave your 
 pupil in such circumstances, and you are in the right to 
 stick close to him. So we defer this matter for the present. 
 What I said or should have said of Butler Avas this : — 
 
 It redounds highly to the credit of Christianity, genuine 
 Christianity I mean, that it is better understood and more 
 widely ditFused in proportion as true knowledge and useful 
 science are advanced. All the late improvements in 
 natural philosophy evince the being of a God and the 
 necessity of a revelation ; and tho' the design of a revela- 
 tion must necessarily be to instruct men in Ethics rather 
 than in Physics, (and in that) to teach them how to act 
 rather than to reason, yet every discovery is pregnant with 
 proofs of one first cause creating all things by Jesus Christ. 
 The admirable Analogy of Religion, natural and revealed, to 
 the course and constitution of nature, will ever remain a 
 most illustrious proof of the penetration and pietij of its 
 II II excellent
 
 234 LETTERS OF 
 
 excellent and justly lamented avithor — a treatise that con- 
 tains arguments the most convincing as well as new that any 
 age or nation can boast. 
 
 It was unlucky if you mentioned to Payne 50 instead of 
 100. Doubtless Jackson may forget to be the printer, 
 •which would be eligible on all accounts. Barton called 
 not. I can't get to Tun worth this fortnight, but Avhat I am 
 doing will make an excellent house. Thank 3'ou for 
 your account of Swift. The kind of notes you mention 
 was judicious and useful. I have the pleasure to tell you 
 that I have got the Duke of B.'s consent under his o'un 
 hand. The Pomfret statues will be a fine subject. I have 
 spent an elegant day with Gawton, at Tilney-Hall, where 
 he is major-domo for his cousin, Mr. Ellis. I am reading 
 the World, a present I hope from Dodsley. There reigns 
 throughout a sad sameness of subjects of high life. I 
 rejoice you have satisfied yourself in your sermon, and 
 dare say you'll deliver it well. Tho' I will not expect now 
 a letter by Sunday's post, yet I must insist on one by next 
 Wednesday's. I am not idle with respect to Pope. Moll}^ 
 «Scc. send love. 1 am, dearest Tom, 
 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 J. AVarton.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 035 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 BE. WILUS fpj TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Sir. 
 
 Hall, Aug. i2th, 1755. 
 13EING returned home I have routed all my books 
 over to find the letter wrote by Dr. Bathurst about the 
 Monasticon, but cannot find it, and so suppose I gave it 
 away, tho' to wliom I cannot recollect. But I think verily 
 you will find it among Bishop Tanner's MSS. in the Picture 
 Gallery, in the schools, in his presses-as I remember 
 the Bishop gave it me, as he did also several monastical 
 collections, of which I enclose you one, which is at your 
 service. Indeed I wear out apace, and these antiquity 
 amusements lose their relish. I have also lookt into my 
 grandfather's two books of letters wrote to him from 
 eminent men, but do not meet with the least scrap of 
 Dr.Bathurst, or any correspondence on either side. My son 
 Harry, Batchelor of Physick, Student of Christchurch, had 
 some of his great-grandfather's manuscripts, which I never 
 had again. Dr. Willis's books, 6cc. were sold after his 
 decease, and my father had none of them. One Mr 
 Hemmings, a relation of mine, and Doctor Symonds, who 
 was Dr. Willis's apothecary, had several of the Doctor's 
 
 II II 2 
 
 papers ;
 
 £.36 LETTERS OF 
 
 papers ; and I lodging at ]\lr. Hemmings' widow's house, 
 in 1706 or 1707, found several of the Doctors MSS. there, 
 which lay rotting ; and these I have here I begged and 
 bound up. Will you fix a time and take a ride, over hither ; 
 you should see any collections in my c\istody : and could 
 I serve you or any gentleman in your College, in this or 
 any other respect, it would be a great pleasure to him 
 who is, with zealous wishes of all prosperity to your 
 society, and best respects and thanks for all favours vouch' 
 safed. 
 
 Your most obhged humble servant, 
 
 Browne Willis. 
 
 My humble respects to JMr. Wise, when 3fou see him, 
 
 and tell him I shall be glad to receive a line from him ; 
 
 service also to Mr. President, and all other gentlemen of 
 
 your College. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 DR. YOVNG Cq) TO DK. 'WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Nov. g, 1755. 
 
 You do me an honour. I shall not fail to keep your 
 secret. I heartily wish you success in this and all things. 
 
 (q) In return for the first volume of the Essay on Pope, dedicated to 
 Dr. Young. 
 
 If
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 237 
 
 If this or any other occasion calls you to town, I am but 
 four hours from you; and you Avill be most welcome to, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your oblig'd humble servant, 
 
 Ed. Young. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 IK. DODSLEY TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Paii Mall, j\piil 8, 1756. 
 
 Your Essay is published, the price 5s. bound. I gave 
 Mrs. Cooper directions about advertising, and have sent to 
 her this afternoon, to desire she will look after its bei no- 
 inserted in the evening papers. I have a pleasure in telling 
 you that it is lik'd in general, and particularly by such as 
 you would wish should like it. But you have surely not 
 kept your secret : Johnson mention'd it to Mr. Hitch as 
 yours — Dr. Birch mention'd it to Garrick as yours — And 
 Dr. Akenside mention'd it as yours to me — And many 
 whom I cannot now think on have ask'd for it as yours or 
 your brother's. I have sold many of them in ray own shop, 
 and have dispers'd and push'd it as much as I can ; 
 and have said more than I could have said if ray name had 
 been to it. Hampton's Polybius is very highly spoken of 
 here ; and if one may judge from the preface (which is all 
 
 I can
 
 238 LETTERS OF 
 
 I can pretend to judge of) deserves all that can be said 
 of it. I hope Winchester agrees with you in all respects, 
 as it will always give me pleasure to hear of your health 
 and happiness. My compliments to Mrs. Warton; and 
 believe me to be, with great sincerity, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 affectionately yours, 
 
 R. DoDSLEY. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 I. JOHNSON TO DR. WAKTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, April 15111, 1756. 
 
 Though when you and your brother were in town you 
 did not think my humble habitation worth a visit, yet I 
 will not so far give way to sullenness as not to tell you that 
 1 have lately seen an octavo book which I suspect to be 
 yours, though I have not yet read above ten pages. That 
 way of publishing without acquainting your friends is a 
 wicked trick. However I will not so far depend upon a 
 mere conjecture as to charge you Avith a fraud which I 
 cannot prove you to have committed. 
 
 I should be glad to hear that you are pleased with your 
 new situation. You have now a kind of royalty, and are 
 to be answerable for your conduct to posterity. I suppose 
 
 you
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 239 
 
 you care not now to answer a letter, except there be a 
 lucky concurrence of a post clay Avith a holiday. These 
 restraints are troublesome for a time, but custom makes 
 them easy with the help of some honour and a great deal 
 of profit, and 1 doubt not but your abilities will obtain 
 both. 
 
 For my part, I have not lately done much. I have been 
 ill in the winter, and my eye has been inflamed, but I 
 please myself with the hopes of doing many things Avith 
 which I have long pleased and deceived myself. 
 
 Wliat becomes of poor dear Collins ? I wrote him a 
 letter which he never answered. I suppose writing is very 
 troublesome to him. That man is no common loss. The 
 moralists all talk of the uncertainty of fortune, and the 
 transitoriness of beauty ; but it is yet more dreadful to con- 
 sider that the powers of the mind are equally liable to 
 change, that understanding may make its appearance and 
 depart, that it may blaze and expire. 
 
 Let me not be long without a letter, and I Avill forgive 
 you the omission of the visit ; and if you can tell me that 
 you are now more happy than before, you Avill give great 
 pleasure to, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate 
 
 and most humble servant, 
 
 Sam. Johnson.
 
 240 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 MR. GARRICK TO DR. WAKTOK. 
 
 Dear Sir, Hampton, June 15th, 1756. 
 
 I SAW a friend of mine yesterday, who told rae, that 
 you was in town, and therefore I take the liberty to ask a 
 favor .of you, and to say, how proud and pleased I should 
 be to see you at the little retirement I have at this place. — 
 But to the favour — a most ingenious book was pubMsh'd 
 this last winter, call'd an Essay upon the Genius and 
 JVritings of Pope, in which I had one of the most elegant 
 compliments paid to me that could be paid to an actor fr^. 
 
 Now, Sir, as the author of that book is yet unknoM-n, 
 and as it is much easier for you geniuses, than we under- 
 strappers in literature to discover your brethren ; I shall 
 take it as a particular favor, if you have found out and are 
 acquainted with the author of the said Essa}^ that you will 
 present my best respects to him, and let him know how 
 much I think myself oblig'd to him, and that I am most 
 sincerely his and your 
 
 Most obedient humble servant, 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 
 CrJ " We therefore of Great Britain have perhaps more reason to congra- 
 tulate ourselves, on two very singular phenomena : 1 mean, ^hakespear's being 
 able to pourtray characters so very different as Falstalf and Macbeth, and 
 Garrick's being able to personate so inimitably a Lear or an Abel Drugger. 
 Nothing can more fuliy demonstrate the extent and versatility of these two 
 original geniuses." — See VVakton on Pope, Vol. I. sect. 3d.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 241 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 MR. CAMPBELL TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Red-Lion sheet, Holborn, 
 Sir, July 15, 1756. 
 
 I RECEIVED your Life of Sir Thomas Pope, from Mr. 
 Dodsley, who told me that he would let you know immedi- 
 ately, that it was in my hands, and that I had promised it 
 should be inserted in the Biographia: but I did not trust 
 to that : I wrote you the same thing by letter, which no 
 doubt miscarried, as I know by experience letters to 
 Oxford sometimes do. To secure this from the like fate, 
 I have armed it with a proper frank, which I presume will 
 protect it from every accident. I see, Sir, you have taken a 
 great deal of pains in that life, of which, I will take all the 
 care imaginable. The fourth volume is now drawing hear 
 to a conclusion, at the press. I think I cannot go lower 
 than the letter (J) or (K), so that this of Sir Thomas Pope 
 will come into the next volume. If you can think of any 
 life that will be acceptable to yourself, or grateful to the 
 University, I shall take care and hand it to the press with 
 much satisfaction. As to the kind offer you make me, I 
 shall not fail to remember it, whenever I stand in need of 
 materials from Oxford ; but at present, I am so busy about 
 the book (s) I am to publish by subscription, that till it is out 
 (s) Hermippus redivivus. 
 
 I I of
 
 242 LETTERS OF 
 
 of my hands, I can think of nothing else. I remain, Sir, 
 
 with the most perfect esteem and respect, 
 
 Your most obhged and 
 
 obedient humble servant, 
 
 John Campbell. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 LORD LYTTLETON TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Sir, Hill-Street, Nov. 25, 1756. 
 
 I RETURN you many thanks for your obliging congra- 
 tulations, and shall think it an honor to my scarf that 
 you will wear it. If you will send me the proper form for 
 your appointment as my chaplain, I will sign it as soon 
 as received. I believe it must be on stampt paper. It is a 
 great pleasure to me to have any opportunity of shewing 
 you that I am, with a very sincere regard and esteem, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient 
 
 humble servant, 
 
 liYTTLETON.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 243 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 FRdM DR. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Torn, 
 
 I HAVE gone diligently through all the Memoires de 
 Literature, and see nothing particularly respecting the epi- 
 gram ; but I find in the second volume, and indeed in all 
 of them, so many things to your purpose, that you ought to 
 consult them immediately. Certainly they are in the 
 Bodley and all other libraries. How goes on the degree ? 
 do not forget me. You must wish me joy of being 
 appointed, in a most genteel manner, chaplain to Lord 
 Lyttleton ; to whom, as a man of virtue, and ever a 
 defender of religion, I think it a real honour to be chap- 
 lain. My scarf is broad. I must beg you to go directl}'^ to 
 Wop. Puniell with the inclosed receipt, and he will pay you 
 five pounds that Taylor has sent him, and which was sent 
 for Brickenden, whom you know I paid. I beg you would 
 not fail to receive it, because I shall greatly want it in 
 London, and slmll rely on it accordingly. On looking, I 
 don't find the receipt, but speak to Brickenden to give it 
 you under his hand, or say that you saw or know that he 
 received it, for you must have it of Purnell. 
 
 Ever yours, 
 
 J. Wakton. 
 I I 2
 
 244 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 MR. BEDINGFIELD C^J TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear ^Yavton, March 3cl, 1757. 
 
 I AM extremely obliged to you for your two letters : I 
 own I never had so clear a notion of the Fronte (uj licet 
 gemina, as you have given me, though I always imagined 
 it related to the different collections of Latin and English 
 poems being bound up in one volume. I was almost cer- 
 tain that I had seen the Ode in manuscript, tho' your being 
 of a contrary opinion, when in town, somewhat staggered 
 me. I think that you are mistaken in imagining that this 
 Ode was first printed by Tonson in his edition of all MiltonV 
 Poetical Works, for I have seen it in the collection of 
 Milton's Poems, which, as it came out during his life, 
 Milton I take for granted printed himself in the year 
 
 (t) Author of the Education of Achilles, and other poems in Dod&ley's 
 Collection, 
 
 (u) " Gemelle cnllu simplici gaudeiis liber, 
 Fronde licet gemiua. 
 Wc should read Fronte, according to the Bodleian manuscript, and the sense 
 required by the context. But yet Fronde appears in every edition hitherto 
 published. Milton's volume of Poems, 1645, has a double front or title page ; 
 both separate and detached from eacli other, the one at tlie beginning, pre- 
 fixed to the Latin, and the other about the middle, to the English poems* 
 Hence the volume is liber gemellus, a double book, as consisting of two dis- 
 tinct parts, yet cultu simplici, under tiie form and appearance, the habit of 
 a single book."— -Note to Warton's Milton. 
 
 73 or
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 245 
 
 73 or 74, Avliere it is inserted with some others not to 
 be found in Mosely's edition of 1645, which I have now 
 before me. 
 
 Perhaps ere this comes to hand, you will see by the 
 newspapers that poor More, whom we met so lately at 
 Dodsley's, is dead. I read it this morning in the papers. It 
 was scarcely a fortnight ago, that Gataker came to me in 
 his name to propose my being engaged with him in his 
 intended Magaj^ine. When the proposal was made I could 
 not help smiling, as I recollected his telling you and 
 Joseph in confidence that he wanted a dull plodding fellow, 
 of one of the Universities, who understood Latin and 
 Greek. 
 
 * You will think me a man of no curiosity (whatever I 
 may be for Latin and Greek) when I assure you with great 
 truth that I have not yet seen Mr. Foote's comedy (as he 
 calls it) of the Author. I hear every body that goes laughs 
 very much, but with me 
 
 " Non satis est risu diducere rictum." 
 Besides, the character of Cadwallader is not, I am told, so 
 diverting as it was when you heard it read. 
 
 When you write next to your brother, give my compli- 
 ments, and tell him that I fancy he has forgot to send 
 me (as he promised to do) the Visions of Qucvedo in 
 Spanish, and another book. I see every day advertised an^ 
 Oratiuncula spoken in the Convocation House, with critical 
 Notes, &c. I have ask'd more than one Oxford man the 
 
 ixjeaning
 
 246 LETTERS OF 
 
 meaning of it, but find nobody vho knows any thing of 
 the matter; if it is worth knowing, I should be glad to hear 
 it, or any thing else from you which will help to continue 
 our correspondence, I am. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 Rob. Bedingfield. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 CHANCELLOR IIOAULY TO DR. WARTO.V. 
 
 Dear Sir, Chelscv, April cut, 1757, 
 
 I YESTERDAY Called both upon little David the ^ing, 
 and the great (Giant) Hogarth, to both of whom I paid 
 your respects ; to the one bj- giving him your letter, and to 
 the other by reading your conscientious acknowledgement 
 of your error with regard to his pictures of Paul and Moses, 
 and your promise of amende honorable. The former gave 
 no particular answer but what all your feeling acquaintance 
 join in, expressions of honour and regard for your good 
 heart /f>s/, and secondarily head. The latter says you have 
 more than conquered any resentment he might have har- 
 bouied, by your handsome acknowledgement, and your 
 amende hcnorable is a supererrogation he neither expected 
 
 or
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 247 
 
 or desired (x). He begs you to accept of tliose tv.o 
 prints, which I will bring with me, of the pictures 
 alluded to, and they will give you ocular demonstratiou 
 of your mistake. The very reason and only one of his 
 making an imitation of Rembrandt on the same subject, 
 was to shew^ the world both how he had industriously 
 avoided all images of that sort in his Paul before Felix 
 particularly, and in general that his ambition in all his 
 works was to be an exact Imitator, and not a Burlesquer 
 of Nature ; they being all intended as her portraits, 
 never her caricatures. He will be very glad to see you 
 when you come to town ; and convince you that the 
 greatest masters of antiquity have been guilty of the foolish 
 oversight mentioned by you, and that he never was: 
 particularly Titian in one of his grandest works. Timidity 
 
 (x) How ill does this temperate confluct agree with the attack Hogarth 
 certainly made in one of his paintings, and a subsequent conversation with 
 Gairick, sent in a letter to Dr. Warton — from which the following is aii 
 extract; " I was with Hogarth this morning, and alarmed him much with :t 
 dreadful account of j'our attack upon him. He grew very uueiisy as I related 
 the pretended manner in which you had shewn your resentment — Confusioa 
 and shame overspread his face — He was much hurt. At last I told the real 
 method you had taken to revenge your injuries. This if possible hurt him 
 more for what his peevishness had done ; and he, thoroughly disconcerted, 
 offered to destroy the plate in which your name is mentioned, for he declared 
 that he wonld not be overdone in kindness." How odd and inconsistent does 
 it appear that this plate is not mentioned in the conference with Hoadly : 
 can we suppose Mr. Hogarth capable of an attack on Dr. W. after that con- 
 ference ? This would be forming but a very bad opinion of his disposition ; 
 yet Garrick's letter was not vyriUen till January 1762, and this conversatioa 
 took place in April 1757. 
 
 is
 
 248 LETTERS OF 
 
 is not the single passion expressed in the figure of the 
 infant I\ loses, but hte to his mother-nurse also — Very 
 different ideas from archness, nothing of which is in the 
 fio-ure; and he desires only that so good a critic as you are, 
 should judge in painting by your eijes and not by your ears ; 
 by the object itself in the picture, and not by report.— 
 Hogarth has got again into portraits, and has his hands full 
 of business, and at an high price. He has almost finished 
 a most noble one of our sprightly friend David Garrick and 
 his wife : they are a fine contrast, David is sitting at a 
 table smilingly thoughtful over an epilogue or some sucli 
 composition (of his own you may be sure), his head sup- 
 ported by his writing hand, and Madam is archly enough 
 stealing away his pen unseen behind. It has not so much 
 fancy as to be affected or ridiculous, and yet enough to 
 raise it from the formal inanity of a mere portrait. There 
 is an admirable head of Dr. Hay of the Commons, which 
 if I were like I would not have my picture drawn : I should 
 not like to meet that figure alive in the fields going to 
 Chelsey, for fear of lying that night in a ditch 
 
 Witli twenty gaping gashes on my crown. 
 Adieu. 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 J. HOADLY,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 249 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 DR. LOWTH TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 ^^^^ Sir, Sedgefield, Oct. aoth, 179;. 
 
 I HAVE just rcceiv'd a letter from the Warden of Win- 
 chester College, who tells me that you are so good as to 
 interest yourself in Wm. of Wykeham's affairs, and have 
 undertaken to procure an engraving of his arms from the 
 seal of New College and of the crosier. I think it proper 
 to inform you of the manner in which I propose ^to make 
 use of them, that we may rightly understand each other, 
 and prevent mistakes. The arms I designed to add to a 
 genealogical table of Wm.'s kindred. The table is actually 
 engraving jjy some person employed by Mr. Dodsley, and 
 I have desired him to order a proper space to be left in 
 the plate to receive them. I chose to have them taken from 
 New College seal, because there is a peculiar circumstance 
 belonging to them there, which I never observed elsewhere, 
 that is, two lions added to the lower part, as it should 
 seem, by way of supporters. I proposed to have com- 
 pleated this by adding the mitre, garter, and motto to it. 
 NoAv if you think the arms on the seal sufficiently curious 
 to stand by themselves as they are, Mr. Green may make 
 an engraving of them exactly from the seal, and of the 
 same size, which is not bigger than half-a-crown, on one 
 K K side
 
 250 LErrESS OF 
 
 side of the crosier, on the same plate : in which case I will 
 add the arms in the common manner, with the other insig- 
 nia, above mentioned, to the table of kindred. If 3'ou 
 think it would be better as I at fii'st proposed, Mr. Green 
 may make a drawing only of the seal, with the insignia 
 added in a neat and elegant manner (the motto in the old 
 black letter) and send it to Ivlr. Dodsley for his engra\'er to 
 add to the table, which he has in hand ; I beg you to deter- 
 mine this, I do not know which to prefer. If there is room 
 for the seal in the same plate with the Crosier, I tliink it 
 may be best in that manner ; if it is in a plate by itself I 
 do not know where to place it. Be pleased to observe 
 that the plate is to be for an octavo volume. The crosier 
 may be very properly referred to from that passage of the 
 will where it is mentioned. He calls, it Bacidus Pastoralis; 
 and I think there should be something of an inscription at 
 the bottom : as Baculus Pastoralis Willmi. de Wykcham, 
 Epi. Wynt. in thesauro Coll. Nov. Oxo "i. asservatus. I wish 
 I had thought of gettmg Mr. Green to go to Winchester 
 to take the drawing of the monument, but I have told Mr. 
 Dodsley not to make use of what Taylor is doing unless 
 it is done very well, and wiU furnish a neat engraving ; if 
 that fails, we may yet employ Mr. Green. 
 
 One thing more occurs to me, whilst I am writing, to 
 
 trouble 3-ou with. There is a word in Wm.'s will which I 
 
 cannot get the meaning of from any glossaries that I have 
 
 met with : if by books or antiquarians of your acquaint- 
 
 1 3 ance
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. £5i 
 
 anceyou can explain it to me, I shall be obliged to you : the 
 passage is " Item (lego) Fonscre meura meliorem operatuni 
 & ornatum cum noveni Balcijs, &.c. XLI. Margaritis." It is 
 a legacy to his successor the Bp. of Winton. He leaves 
 to liim besides, his best book of the pontifical office, his 
 best missal, his largest gold pontifical ring, and his best 
 chalice gilt and enamel'd with the Passion. These are 
 all the circumstances which can give any light into it. I 
 have no doubt but that the right reading is as above. 
 I beg the favor of you to pay Mr. Green, and let your 
 brother know the sum, to whom I can easily repay it. 
 
 To have done at last with my affairs, and give you some 
 account of your own. You know the University has 
 honoured me with a commission, together with Dr. John- 
 son and Dr. Dickens, to let a new lease of your Parnassian 
 estate, the old lease expiring next May ; I hope this affair 
 will very soon be well settled. We are much obliged to 
 Dr. Dickens, who got a very proper person, the Bp.'s 
 steward, to view the estate : he reported the premises to 
 be in very good order, the land in good condition, and the 
 buildings in good repair. The tenant is a gentleman 
 having some estate of his own, who farms it rather for his 
 convenience and pleasure than his maintenance. The 
 report, as to the value of it, agreed with what I had 
 receiv'd before from other hands. We resolved to raise 
 the rent, as far as we could do it without running the 
 hazard of losing a good tenant. It was A7L per annum 
 K K 2 before,
 
 252 LETTERS OF 
 
 before, it is now offered to him at 55/.; I have not yet 
 heard his answer, but suppose he will take it on those con- 
 ditions. I give you this for your own private satisfaction, 
 Dr. Dickens will make his report in full to the Vice-Cban- 
 cellor, when he returns to Oxford. When Ave have taken 
 care of the University's interest, I will take care of yours. 
 I will give you an exact account of all the outgoings for 
 renewal, &c. with the balance of clear profit to the Univer- 
 sity, i. e. (as I take it) to you. I suppose you may here- 
 after expect near one-third more than you have hitherto 
 received. I am. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. LOWTH. 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 FROM DR. MURDOCH TO MR. MILLAR. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 With regard to the alterations proposed to be made in 
 Mr. Thomson's Seasons, having now fully considered that 
 matter, and seen how few and inconsiderable his own last 
 corrections were ; I am confirmed in my first opinion — so 
 much, that I shall retract most of my concessions, and even 
 some of the alterations which I thought I had made for the 
 
 better.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 253 
 
 better. In a word, I can have no hand in any edition that 
 is much different from the small one of 1752, which I shall 
 send you, -wdth as many corrections as seem necessarj', 
 marked on the margin. 
 
 A detail of my reasons would be needless, it being agreed 
 that an author's works should be presented genuine and 
 entire. If he has written well, well : if not the sin lieth,and 
 ought to lye, at his door. It is pity indeed that Mr. T. aided 
 by my Lord L. did not correct and alter many things him- 
 self; but as that went no farther than a bare intention, 'tis 
 too late to think of it noAV, and we can only say, 
 
 Emendaturus, si licuisset, erat. 
 And my Lord L. (y) notwithstanding the generosity 
 and the purity of his friendly design, can never make 
 more of it, without hurting the author and himself. 
 Let us suppose there is an edition such as his Lord- 
 ship proposes, and that one asks, Would I have adopted 
 this variation, or not; and if he had, whether would it have 
 been from a conviction of its being preferable, or out of 
 modesty, and. deference to my Lord's judgement, and 
 taste ? We could not answer such questions,- nor could my 
 
 (y) Joliuson thus s[)eaks of Thomson's Liberty : — 
 
 " The poem of Liberty does not now appear in its original state ; but, when 
 the author's works were collected, after his death, was shortened by Sir George 
 Lyttelton with a liberty which, as it has a manifest tendency to lessen the 
 confidence of society, and to confound the characters of authors, by making- 
 one man write by the judgment of another, cannot be justified by any sup- 
 posed propriety of the alteration, or kindness of the friend. — I wish to sec it 
 exhibited as its author left it." — Life of Thomson. 
 
 Lord
 
 254 LETTERS OF 
 
 Lord himself. And Avliat if, after all, some of ray Lord's 
 alterations should prove bad, ought not his Lordship to 
 avoid that unnecessary risque ? and to foresee that this 
 must produce a second edition by some other critic, and 
 perhaps that a third, -which would end either in a total con- 
 tempt of ]\Ir. T.'s works, or in a restitution of tliem from the 
 copies publish'd by himself (and with so much deliberation 
 and care, that his printers were tir'd to death, as you well 
 remember). Spring, (1. 65.) ended with greatlij independent 
 liv'd. He, in some intemperate fit of zeal turn'd it into 
 ---------- scorn d 
 
 All the vile stores corruption can bestow. 
 In the stile of a party-pamphleteer — and forgetting the 
 character of the Dictator's times. I have therefore altered it 
 from the subscription edition. Of some of my Lord's remarks 
 and emendations, I have given my opinion in the articles, 
 at the end of the copy-book, mark'd A. B. C. &c. But of 
 the two principal alterations I shall say something here. 
 
 The reasons I formerly gave for restoring the conclusion 
 of the Fox-chace, still seem to hold good, notwithstanding 
 my Lord's scruples. Nor is there any necessity to be so very 
 grave and solemn throughout. The very comparisons my 
 Lord draws from painting make against him — as we see in 
 the best masters the foreground stor'd with nurses and chil- 
 dren, boys playing, &c. which have nothing to do with the 
 principal subject, and yet have their natural and proper 
 place in the composition, because they belong to the scene 
 
 that
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. sss 
 
 that is represented. And for authorities ; his Lordship will 
 scarce shew any thing more burlesque and Hogarthian in 
 Thomson than the monks cowls, Sec. flying about in Mil- 
 ton's Limbo of Vanity. The adventure of Mencetes in 
 Virgil's Games : 
 
 Ilium et labentem Teucri, et ris^re natantem ; 
 
 Et salsos rident revomentem pectore fluctus. 
 And in Homer the awkward limping of Vulcan, &c. 
 
 As to the Hymn, if a word or two are alter'd, it needs give 
 his Lordship no pain, if it is compared with that in Milton. 
 There are not, in it all, two hues so bad, for the numbers and 
 sense, as 
 
 " Moon that now meets the orient Sun, now fly'st 
 
 With the fixt Stars, fixt in their orb that flyes." 
 And the tlieology of it, allowance made for poetical expres- 
 sion, is orthodox. 
 
 There remain two things to be mentioned relative in 
 general to the caution with which original writings should 
 be touch'd. One from the life of Virgil as given us by 
 Donatus, Avho, when he found it would be impossible to 
 suppress his unfinish'd ^neis, ordered that at least nothing 
 should be added to it — wliich injunction his friends so 
 religiously observed, that the blank hemistichs remain 
 unfill'd up. Yet those friends were men of taste, whose 
 assistance, had he lived to use it, he would probably have 
 been very glad of The other remark I would make, is on 
 the bad success our commentators and editors have had, 
 
 either
 
 256 LETTERS OF 
 
 either in improving their authors, or advancing their own 
 reputation as critics — witness Bentley's Milton, and the late 
 editions of Shakespeare. Those men being able gramma- 
 rians, were tempted to deal in criticism; which requires 
 what they wanted, a feeling of poetical beauty. Whence it 
 happens that an image or phraze which they cannot convert 
 into very intelligible prose, is declared faulty, and to need 
 their correction. Thus Bentley found nonsense in these 
 divine lines of Milton, 
 
 No light but rather darliness visible 
 Serv'd only to discover sights of woe. 
 Sometimes we see a thoughtless puerility in their emenda- 
 tions, as when the same critic changes secret top of lioreb 
 into sacred. At other times, they wantonly treat us like 
 children, or as a juggler does the multitude : " See, Gentle- 
 men, here is the very best and properest epithet that can 
 be, ear piercing; but j^ou shall see how dexterously I can 
 turn it into th' fear-spersing, &c. &c. Such criticisms are 
 diverting enough, but there is this danger in them, that if we 
 are not on our guard, we may be insensibly seduced to 
 imitate them. 
 
 As to Mr. T.'s diction, of which my Lord's acquaintances 
 so much complain, I would recommend to those gentlemen 
 to read ]\Iilton with care, and the greatest part of their 
 objections would vanish ; for the rest Thomson himself is 
 answerable; and I believe could answer tolerably well, if he 
 were alive to speak for himself. Certain it is that T.'s lan- 
 
 ouase
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 257 
 
 guage has been well receiv'd by the publick, excepting 
 perhaps those my Lord speaks of, who are more dispos'd to 
 find blemishes than capable of feeling beauties; and Avho I 
 think do not much deserve his Lordship's regard. His num- 
 bers and manner have been adopted by good authors; and, 
 since he began to write, our poetry is become more nervous 
 and rich. 
 
 Grammars and dictionaries will always have their due 
 place and consideration : but no man of genius ever found 
 himself distress'd and fetter'd by them. He could always 
 use the liberty that belonged to and became him, without 
 falling into solecisms, or into obscurity; and indeed without 
 this liberty, no language could be enrich'd or improv'd, but 
 must soon be reduc'd to a dead stand, like the stile of law- 
 writings. For particulars I refer you to my remarks at the 
 end of the copy-book; and have only to beg your indul- 
 gence for this crude scrawl, which I have not time to 
 copy over, and to subscribe myself, with great truth and 
 affection, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 P. Murdoch. 
 
 L h
 
 S58 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 MK. COLEMAN TO MR. WARTON 
 
 Dear Tom, June 15th, 175?. 
 
 Many thanks for3'Our intelligence concerning the reso- 
 lution of the delegates. My long dela}^ in acknowledging 
 your last favour will scarce entitle me to an account from 
 you of what has been done in convocation, but if you will 
 be 80 good as to instruct Jackson, he Avill take that trouble. 
 1 am afraid after all that if a fellowship is established, it 
 will be on such a footing as to render my acceptance of it 
 impracticable, supposing the University wilhng to give it me. 
 If much residence or duty be required, it will be quite in- 
 compatible with my other views, nor do I see how any body 
 who proposes to pursue the law can take it on such terms. 
 However this is entirely entre 7ious. I hope to find you at 
 Oxford when 1 appear in my tye wig. You know, I sup- 
 pose, that the Tnscriptiuncs Tiomance, &c. are yours. They 
 have, I find, been sent to all the literati. Dr. Markham, 
 Bedingfield, Garrick, &c. Ihey are very well spoken of; 
 Markham in particular commended them much, and master 
 Francklin is held mighty cheap for his very unclabsical review 
 of them. 1 had it in my head to have got an answer to it 
 crammed into some of the magazines or chronicles, but 
 partly through business, and partly through dissipation, the 
 
 thou oh t
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. ^59 
 
 thought dropt. I was in hopes of seeing you and Joe in 
 town at AVhitsuntide. Thornton is well, and desires to be 
 remember'd to you. I am, 
 
 Dear Tom, 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 G. Coleman. 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 DR. BLACKSTONE (z) TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The very ingenious hypothesis you adopted this after- 
 noon, with regard to the original of pastoral poetry, brought 
 to my mind the following passage in Vitruvius, which, if it 
 has not occurred to you before, you will perhaps agree with 
 me in thinking, is no inconsiderable testimony of your 
 opinion. 
 
 " Genera autem scenarum sunt tria, unum quod dicitur 
 Tragicum, alterum Comicum, tertium Satyricum. Horum 
 autem ornatus sunt inter se dissimiles, disparique ratione : 
 quod Tragicffi deformantur columnis, fastigiis et signis 
 reliquisq; regalibus rebus; Comicae autem sedificiorum priva- 
 torum et menianorum habent speciem, &c. SatyricEe vero 
 
 (z) Afterwards Sir W. Blactstone — the .Judge — and author of the justly- 
 celebrated Commentaries ou the Laws of England. 
 
 i> L 2 ornantur
 
 260 LETTERS OF 
 
 ornaiitur arboribus, speluncis, montibus, reliquisq; agrestibus 
 rebus in topiarii operis speciem deformatis." 
 
 Mons. Perault, in his notes to the translation of this 
 passage, says " J'aurois pu traduire, scenam satijricam la 
 scene pastorale, & vrai sembbblement c'est celle, dont 
 Vitruve en tend icy parler." 
 
 You will excuse the liberty I take, but I could not omit 
 suggesting so ample a confirmation of an hypothesis which 
 gave me so much pleasure. 
 
 I am, with much respect, 
 
 your faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 Wm. Blackstone. 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Jan. 13th, 1759. 
 
 I HAVE received the book of Epigrams, and am greatly 
 obliged to you for it. Shall be glad to know also w hat I am 
 indebted to you on the occasion. Had I known the sum, 
 should have sent it by ]\'Ir. Henchman, the bearer of 
 this. 
 
 Be pleas'd to accept my sincerest wishes for your truly 
 
 laudable endeavours towards the revival, the preservation, 
 
 and the encrease of good taste; not that phantom bearing 
 
 10 its
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. S6i 
 
 its name, imported by Petit Maitres from France, but that 
 real and animating form which guided the geniuses at 
 Athens. lam, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your obliged humble servant, 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 DR. LOWTH TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Bath, April 19th, 1759. 
 
 The favour or your letter, which I received just as I 
 was setting forward for this place, I had not then time to 
 acknowledge; and ever since I have been quite unfit for all 
 correspondence, and have not had the spirits to do it. I 
 was very glad to see that you were fairly engaged in the 
 £d volume ; and hope you will go on with it with alacrity 
 and expedition. The objection to your being further em- 
 ployed in such a work, in your present situation, of which 
 you seemed apprehensive, I dare say will never rise up 
 against you : on the contrary I will venture to answer for it, 
 tliat it will turn out not only to your own personal credit, 
 but very much for the reputation of the place from whence 
 it comes. Pray where did you meet with William the Con- 
 queror's Ode, and Chaucer's accompanying the Duke of 
 
 Clarence
 
 «62 LETTERS OF 
 
 Clarence to Milan, and being personally acquainted with 
 Petrarch ? I should be glad if 3'ou would give us your 
 authorities for such curious matters, — The new edition of 
 William of Wykeham I believe will be out next week. — Pre- 
 sent my compliments to the Warden and Dr. Burton, and 
 believe me e^ er, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 11. LoWTH. 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 DR. KING TO DR. IVARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, St. Mary's Hall, May 26th, 1759. 
 
 You will be so good as to forgive me, that I have not 
 sooner answered your letter, which I received from you 
 when I was at Bath. But as I wrote to your brother 
 immediately, I deferr'd writing to you till I returned to this 
 place, and had mentioned your request to some of my 
 friends. I can't perceive you will meet with any opposi- 
 tion; and your brother informs me, that all those members 
 of convocation, to whom he has applied, are ready and wil- 
 ling to give their consent. Besides, as my Lord Westmore- 
 land will be so kind, immediately after his installation, to 
 propose your degree, I think we need not doubt of your 
 
 success.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 263 
 
 success. As for myself, I desire you to be assured that on 
 all occasions as well as this, you may command all the little 
 interest 1 may have. I loved your father most sincerely 
 and affectionately, whilst he was living, and I now love and 
 honour his memory. But nothing gives me greater pleasure 
 than to find, that both his sons are worthy of him, 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 Your most faithful humble servant, 
 
 W. King. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIL 
 
 MK. CAMPBELL TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Queen-square, Ormond-street, 
 
 Dear Sir, Dec. is, 1759. 
 
 I RECEIVED very safely the Life you were pleased to- 
 send me of Weever, the antiquary, which I read with a 
 great deal of satisfaction, and transmitted it immediately to 
 the proprietor of the Biographia, of which I gave you an 
 afccount by letter, which it seems by some accident has mis- 
 carried. On all occasions of this sort, you may depend on 
 my punctuality, as I have a particular attention, and 
 indeed a peculiar affection for every tiling that comes from 
 you. 
 
 I believe you are well enough acquainted with booksellers 
 
 to
 
 264 LETTERS OF 
 
 to know that they are not very ready in communicating 
 their intentions ; but notwithstanding this I have reason to 
 beheve that there Avill be a supplement to this work; and if 
 your friend will confide the Life of ]\Ir. Lloyd to me, I will 
 take as much care of it as if it was my own. There are few 
 people better acquainted Avith liis works than I am, and of 
 course nobody has a higher veneration for his memory and 
 his merit. He was a man of true learning, and sincerely 
 zealous for the honour of his country. 
 
 I l^rn by letters that arrived by this day's mail, that they 
 look upon a Congress at the Hague as a thing certain, and 
 are actually making preparations for it. The Duke of Bur- 
 gundy is very ill of s(mie disease, for which the use of baths 
 was improperly directed ; in consequence of which the Paris 
 papers say an amputation it is feared will be necessary, but 
 of what part is a secret of state with Avhich they do not 
 think proper to trust us. IMarshal Coniians, not satisfied 
 with destroying the French fleet, has destroyed the reputa- 
 tion of five of his officers, and is in a fair way of destroying 
 their persons, for the King has ordered them to be arrested. 
 I know that all news from London is welcome, and therefore 
 I hope you will excuse this hberty from 
 
 Your faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 John Campbell.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 865 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 CHANCELIOR HOADLY TO DR. WARTON, 
 
 I TAKE it for granted that I am in debt to my good 
 friend Mr. Warton for a packet on the subject which we 
 tali^'d over at breakfast at the College ; which I thank- 
 fully acknowledge. 
 
 I have nothing to impart to you, but my had feelings', 
 which I wou'd not have you and your's partake. I drank 
 the water for a fortnight — I kept my bed for the next fort- 
 night — I have been without strength for more than another 
 — and have a new pain, I fear, coming on behind my left 
 heel, in the tendon of the nimble-footed gentleman in 
 Homer. I am a good man still ahove-hoard, like my biolher 
 Lechmere — Heart-whole ! "Wou'd I cou'd say as much of 
 my head ! tho' that has been free from gout, it is not 
 much the wiser for 2 vols, quarto of bombast, the tooth- 
 drawing lingo of Harte's Gustavus Adolphus — 2 vols, quarto 
 of Davila's Civil Wars of France — Female Spectator — 
 2 vols, of tlie new Plautus — which entertains me much — 
 These and other accidental reading administer'd by Miss 
 Ridding (to speak in the style of Plautus and Hoadly), 
 with quadrille in an evening for my poor deaf wife, to 
 whom sound is senseless, and reading aloud a nullity, have 
 fill'd my time at Bath ; as to writing — Yes — Fecjt Indig- 
 M M natio
 
 ejee LETTERS OF 
 
 natio Versum, as you'll see on the other side. I heard 
 that the absurd Earl of Warzcich merely thro' the name^ 
 ■vvas reported to be mine, and much believed ; so, sent 
 David these verses (a). 
 
 We join in compliments and all good wishes to you, the 
 late Professor, Mrs. Warlon, and al! your family. Remem- 
 ber us to ,your good Ally, whose old age we rejoice to hear 
 is still so green. The same to the Dean and his fiunily^ 
 when you meet him some attic evening in the Close. 
 
 I am, dear Sir,. 
 
 Smcerely yours, 
 
 J. IIOADLY.. 
 
 • (a) Author, how coald'st thou make great Warwick doat, 
 Aud pin a housewife's dust-clout to his coat ; 
 Then in such trim expose him on the stage 
 Th' applauded tool of a degenerate age: 
 How bring thy linsey-woolsey stuff from France,. 
 And quilt his tragic robe with thin romauce. 
 And point of honour— such as ne'er was shewa 
 Since Prettyman was wedded to old Joan *. 
 History herself had drawn tliy tiagic plan 
 Pure and consistent through, as it began ; 
 The characters distinct, the action one. 
 The moral perfect, and the story known ; 
 But thou — full wisely dost thou hide thy head 
 Until tki/ Wancick cease the stage to tread. 
 
 • See the argument of the last act of the Rehear<aL
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 267 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Salisbury, Feb. illh, 1760. 
 
 I HAVE great pleasure in sending you the book you 
 desire to borrow of me, and the more so, as I find your 
 request has respect to your intended edition of Theocritus. 
 With the helps that you tell me of, you will I dare say 
 make it a very valuable edition, especially when enriched 
 Avith your own illustrations. I could wish you would 
 add about a score of the unpublish'd Greek epigrams, 
 now preserved in the Bodleian Library, such as your good 
 taste would know to, distinguish for their elegance and sim- 
 plicity above the rest. 
 
 An addition of this kind would be highly acceptable to 
 the man of letters, and give your book a distinguished 
 character, when compared to other editions. 
 
 Mrs. Harris desires her compliments. You will believe 
 me to be. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 When you have done with the book, please to return it 
 by the same conveyance. 
 
 M MS
 
 2^8 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 MR. BONNELL THOKNTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Tom, May 9th, 1760. 
 
 Your application Avould have all the ^veight with me- 
 you could have desired, if it had not come after so strong 
 an one for the contrary interest, that I am in a manner 
 engaged to come down if thought necessary. However, I 
 am glad that it furnishes me with so just a plea for 
 remaining neuter ; especially as it is the time of our West- 
 minster School election, which I never miss attending, if- 1 
 can help it. I am sorry to find you and your friend Mr. 
 Price, of Woodstock, are of different inclinations in this- 
 affair ; for it was by him, through my intimate, Waller, that 
 I promised Mr. Nowel first. Lloyd (though not at present 
 writing). 1 may say desires his compliments, for he in- 
 tended to make them in form some time ago to you, by 
 sending you his Epistle to B. T. Esq. (your humble servant) 
 if he had been sure it would have reached you either at 
 Winton or Oxon ; but in this uncertainty he trusted that 
 the fame of it would, by tempting you to enquire after it,, 
 make the present of a copy for present use in some manner 
 unnecessary. However, I may venture to promise, in his 
 name, that two (there are no royal paper ones) handsome 
 copies, elegantly done up in marble covers, cut leaves, &c. 
 
 shall
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 269 
 
 shall travel down to Oxford in Jackson's next parcel — one 
 for yourself and the other for his brother — must I say ? — 
 Usher. 1 have really no news to tell you, but that I intend 
 to pay you a visit in about a week. 
 
 Yours most heartily, &c. 
 
 B. TUOKNTON, 
 
 LETTER XLI. 
 
 MK. COBDEN fbj to MK. WARTON. 
 
 Good Sir, Acton, Sept. 13, 1760. 
 
 As you have undertaken to give some account to the 
 world of Dr. Bathurst, our worthy President, and in his 
 time the most ingenious person in the University of 
 Oxford ; I heartily wish you success, and should be glad if 
 I could contribute any thing to promote it ; but tho' I have 
 reason to think he had been an excellent governor, from the 
 flourishing estate of the College, yet when I came under his 
 care, he was almost blind and quite superannuate, and as I 
 feel myself much in the same condition I can hardly hope 
 to communicate M'hat shall be worthy yom- notice or 
 acceptance. Whilst I was a commoner in that society, 
 I endeavour d in verse at a description of the elegant 
 
 (bj Author of a volume of poems 011 various subjects. 
 
 chapel.
 
 270 LETTERS OF 
 
 chapel there, which is a short abridgement of the History of 
 the New Testament, form'd by his model, and rais'd by his 
 munificence, which I took the liberty to inscribe to him : it 
 is bound up with other performances in a quarto volume; 
 a copy of which I formerly presented to the libraries of 
 Trinity, New College, and AAiuchcstcr College, which I 
 hope were received. I. wish that trifle could be of any 
 service to you, and am, Sir, 
 
 Your sincere friend 
 
 and humble servant, 
 Edward Coeden". 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 
 DP.. BIRCH (c) TO MR. -WAKTOX. 
 
 Rev. Sir, London, Oct. 30, 1760. 
 
 It would be a great satisfaction to me to have it in 
 my power to give the least assistance towards any work 
 undertaken by a gentleman who has already obliged the 
 public so higlily by his writings. 
 
 "What has occurred to me upon the subject of the learned 
 Bathurst, in examining the registers of the Ri-yal Society 
 and my own History of that Society, is as follows : 
 CcJ £ec.etary aud Treasurer to the Royal Society. 
 
 The
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 271 
 
 The Doctor, who appears, from Dr. Wallis's Letter to Dr. 
 Thos. Smith (publbh'd in Hearne's Appendix to his Preface 
 to Peter Langleys Chronicle, vol. i. p. 161) to have been 
 a member of the Philosophical Assembly which met at 
 Oxford several years before the Restoration, was elected 
 into the Royal Society on the 19th of August IG63, and 
 beino- then present was admitted into it. 
 
 March 30th, 1 66 i, he was chosen of the Committee- 
 for collecting all the Phaenomena of Nature hitherto ob- 
 served, and all experiments made and recorded. 
 
 Oct. 29, 1666, the Council of the Society ordered, 
 that Dr. Bathurst and Mr. Isaac Barrow should be dis- 
 pensed with, as to half of their weekly payments of one 
 shihing. 
 
 March S, 1681-2, Francis Aston, Esq. Secretary of the 
 Society, read to the Council a letter from Dr. Plot, giving 
 an account of his having solicited Dr. Bathurst, as well as 
 other members of the Society, for their arrears ; and that 
 Dr. Bathurst and Mr. Smith hoped that they should not be 
 obliged to the weekly contribution ; but that Dr. Bathurst 
 would speedily present to the Society ten pounds. And ia 
 the 2 2d of the same month of March, Mr. Aston read to 
 the Council a letter from Dr. Bathurst, in answer to one 
 from Mr. Aston, about the Doctor's arrears due to the- 
 Society, in which letter he sent ^ bill of ten pouuds to be 
 paid to the Treasurer of the Society. 
 
 In.
 
 272 LETTERS OF 
 
 In the table of benefactions fixed up in the Council of 
 the Royal Society is this article : 
 
 Ralph Bathurst, D.D. 1705 - - - - ^C-^O. 
 1 am, with the greatest esteem, 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 Your most humble 
 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 Tiios. Birch. 
 
 LETTER XLIIL 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Salisbury, April 28th, 1761. 
 
 I HAVE run through your brother's Life of ]3r. 
 Bathurst, with many of the pieces annexed, as carefully 
 as I could, considering the shortness of the time. 
 
 I must do the author justice, that, by anecdotes and a 
 sprightly stile, he has contrived to animate his subject 
 beyond what one wovdd thought had been practicable. His 
 own verses prefixed are admirable ; so are those of Bathurst 
 to Hobbes, and his English ones to the Protector, had it 
 not been for the low creeping diction of the last distich. 
 His oration about incorporating the Barbers is highly 
 humorous ; the Programma about preaching \vilhout book, 
 
 so
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. <>73 
 
 so rational as not to be answered ; tlie three medical 
 questions very ingenious, and in particular the second. 
 
 In the oration about the Barbers, I remark two errata : 
 p. 98, Dictioni, when it should be Ditioni; and p. 100, non 
 tantum do novo, when it should be non tarn de, &c. The 
 story of the quarrel between A. Wood and South is excel- 
 lent, and both the joke and the resentment well worthy of 
 two such malevolent animals, 
 
 P. 153 of the Life, the explanation of a Latin distich of 
 Milton is founded on a curious fact, not known before. 
 What comes in the page folloAving about Spenser, Shake- 
 spear, and Johnson, is equally new and curious, particu- 
 larly the fact of Shakespear's knowing something of Ijatin. 
 The fact, p. 103, of breaking Baliol College windows, I 
 could wish had been omitted, as being an effort of that 
 dotage, when the man was lost, and the character extinct. 
 I am greatly pleased with the letter to Langbaine upon 
 Dugdale's Monasticum ; 'tis an elegant vindication of that 
 sort of study, to which perhaps not many of its admirers 
 are equal, if we except the author and editor, and a few 
 more that, added to this science, possess taste into the 
 bargain. 
 
 I have written much more than I intended. You will 
 forgive me, and believe me to be, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 James Harris. 
 Nn
 
 S74 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 DE. LOWTH TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Dmhatn, June 2Slh; 1751. 
 
 The favour of yours of the 17th is but this day come 
 to my hands. I can give you no satisfactory information 
 •with regard to the case which you refer to me. I remember 
 I read a lecture the first term after my election, tho' it came 
 pretty quick upon me, being elected in Easter tenii ; as I 
 suppose I did likewise the first term after in}' re-election : 
 but my practice ought to be no precedent for you; for 
 I assure you I did it because I was not aware of any 
 such exemption or privilege as you mention. I congratulate 
 you and the public on your re-establishment in your office ; 
 and hope I may one day have the pleasure of being one 
 of your readers, tho' I cannot have that of being one of 
 your audience. 
 
 Accept of my best thanks for your kind present of your 
 Life of Bathurst, and the pleasure it has given me in the 
 perusal; and believe me. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obliged and 
 
 affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. LowTn. 
 My wife desires her compliments to you ; and I beg mine 
 to Mr. Wheeler.
 
 EIMINENT PERSONS. * 275 
 
 LETTER XLV. 
 
 [E. WHEELER TO MR. WA 
 
 ETON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Trin. Coll. Aug. 1 7th, 1 761 . 
 
 I WRITE to you to acquaint you that the Vice Chan- 
 cellor, upon hearing (I suppose) that the Cambridge people 
 are to give in to their Inspectors their Epithalaniiums (d) 
 by the first of next month, has appointed the 1 0th of the 
 same month for the delivery of ours. Notice of this was 
 sent out a few days ago; and he has spoke to me already 
 upon the business, and at the same time enquired after you, 
 and said he should acknowledge it as a particular favour if 
 you could make it suit your convenience to come hither by 
 the 10th of September, (or before, as you shall think proper) 
 to act as one of the Inspectors. He has prevailed upon 
 me, by reason of the scarcity of people here at present, to 
 thrust myself into the number, as a member of Magdalen. 
 The others are the two Proctors, as before, one of the 
 Censors of Christ Church, and Pye of NeAv College, if they 
 can be found, and have no particular exceptions to the 
 office. Pyc, at present, is not in town. I thought it pro- 
 per to give you the earliest notice of this, that you might 
 know how to act accordingly. I beg my compliments to 
 your brother, and am, Sir, 
 
 Your's &c. 
 
 B. Wheeler. 
 
 (dj On the Muriiage of the present Khr^. 
 
 N N 2
 
 376 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XLVI. 
 
 MR. ^VilEK!,EK TO MU. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Tnn. Coll. Sept. 28, ly^i. 
 
 1 RECEIVED the favour of your's, and should have 
 answer'd jour other letter sooner, but was in daily expec- 
 tation of receiving from you Mr. Chichester's copy, which 
 you seemed to promise. By saying nothing of it in this, 
 I am afraid you tacitly intimate that you have not had time 
 to write more than your own. Pardon me for talking in 
 this stile; but my concern for the honour of little Trinity 
 makes me hope that you will not Avrite for yourself only. 
 
 With regard to the Collection, it goes on now very 
 briskly. Indeed it is what I could not have said this day 
 sennight ; for the Proctors having been absent move than 
 a week before, to attend the Address, and the two other 
 Inspectors not being at home, nothing could be done till 
 the beginning of last week, when we had a meeting, (Pye 
 only absent) and chose out of a pretty large cargo, which I 
 had received at different times, a number of copies sufficient 
 to keep the press employed the whole week. So that I have 
 gone thro' the correction of five sheets, most of which are 
 worked off. Copies come in better than I expected, con- 
 sidering the deadness of the times; but the two Colleges most; 
 deficient are New College and Christchurch ; Jones having 
 not brought so much as one copy from his College. We 
 
 began
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 277 
 
 began (as usual) in the middle of the book, with the letter 
 (M), and are now printing ofF (T), having left a gap of Q 
 and R, that the deficient Colleges n^aj not be clustered 
 together. 
 
 With regard to the type and letter-press, you will find 
 them disposed to much better advantage, than in the last 
 collection. Distances I have insisted upon using, and 
 much better paper, tho' (for the necessity of binding in velvet, 
 which is of a certain size) of the same bigness as before. I 
 had likewise given orders, before I received your letter, to 
 reject all italics universally, and use a capital running title; 
 there are thererefore no italics, but in the names of the 
 writers. I was pleased to find the same articles insisted on 
 in your letter, and read them to Daniel Prince, for furthp'i- 
 confirmation. 
 
 Your own copy will not be wanted till you come, as 
 the Collection will not be closed till that time, having been 
 retarded for the reasons above mentioned, and the dilato- 
 riness of the two Colleges spoken of, who must necessarily 
 appear, tho' (if we consider that out of fifty copies sent 
 between them to the last collection there were not above 
 ten good ones, I speak between friends) we might do without 
 them. 
 
 Thus have I given you a minute account of things. My 
 compliments to all friends. 
 
 I am yours, &c. 
 
 B. Wheeler.
 
 fi78 ' LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XLVri. 
 
 DK. AVAKTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Oct. 17th, 1761. 
 
 Last Friday the Warden, the Dr. and I received a 
 most polite invitation from Lord Effingham to dine with 
 him, which we did, but the Warden was engaged. Pie had 
 suited and classed his company politely — Wiccamists. We 
 had Lord Bruce, two Pentons, Hooper, Drax, Hanhaniy 
 CornuaU, Pitt and Phelps ; these last asked, but gone to 
 Shatfield Sea wath the Duke of York. He intended it as 
 a compliment to the College, and it was rer}^ polite. After 
 dinner, that very evening came the route for the camp regi- 
 ments, and orders to break up, which Lord Effingham read, 
 viz. — On Tuesday next the South Gloster to march to Bris- 
 tol — North Gloster to Biddeford — Berkshire to Reading and 
 Oakingham — setting out Tuesday — The Hampshire, Wed- 
 nesda}', to Devizes — the Wiltshire, Thursday, to Salisbury, 
 and no mention at all made of the Dorsetshire, which we 
 much wonder'd at. I hope your vile day gave you no cold: 
 you don't mention that it did. I am got pretty well, but 
 have a sad pain in my stomach every evening. I have been 
 out and in school, &c. the whole week. — I will send up the 
 Pope as soon as I can get it, but poor'Thorjie is not 
 xeturned, and I verily fear will go into a consumption. I 
 1 have
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 279 
 
 have been very diligent these five days about Virgil, and 
 have touched up the Georgics in a vast variety of places — 
 principally respecting the connexions, which wanted, and 
 other gouty expressions. I see on the whole there is a great 
 quantity of alterations. Pray Avrite. 
 
 Dearest Tom, 
 I am most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. Warton. 
 You shall have Phelps's verses in time. 
 
 LETTER XLVIII. 
 
 DR. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Winton, Dec. 3d, 1761. 
 
 I RECEIVED the Oxford verses, and answer your last 
 by Dr. Barton, Avho desires to carry it. Our scheme to 
 Sarum is now therefore fixed and unalterable. The verses 
 are many of them good. Above all, is not Spe?ice's a noble 
 copy, so proper and happy is the introducing our old Saxon 
 connexions. They were written and indeed owned by Dr. 
 Lowth, so says Sturges, &c. here. Phelps's verses are much 
 talked of here. Guess how I enjoy what is said of them. 
 The Warden, &c. don't seem to suspect any thing. By the 
 way, the Warden is much pleased with them, and with 
 
 yours;
 
 2S0 LETTERS OF 
 
 yours ; so is the Dean and Sturges with both these. Now I 
 must tell you Dr. Burton carps at the Latin ones in many 
 places. In Mr. Lyttleton's is at the very beginning a ter- 
 rible false concord. I shall speak to some of the Lispectors, 
 quoth the Doctor, llice ?.\xh n'tgro — a fcniinine, doubtless; 
 and no exception can we find to the contrary of its being 
 the masculine gender: and also again in Pcnruddocke's 
 (whose name much surprized me) is dices swo.s. What is the 
 meaning of t-liis, or what authority? In the Dean of Christ 
 Church is liceat limsse — which the Doctor says is a fahe 
 tense, and should not be the perfect — What think you ? Who 
 made Pcnruddocke's — truly the Warden says you did. Dr. 
 Fanshaw's are something well — Williams's the Doctor likes — ■ 
 the Cossack in ^Villiams's is good, not the rest. We think 
 the Wiccaraists have this time beat entirely the Westmin- 
 sters — there are also in number 19 Wiccamists. I wish a 
 small letter was written on the superiority of, the Oxford to 
 the Cambridge verses, which is manifest enough. Adieu, 
 and write. I am 
 
 Most aflectionately your's, 
 
 J. Warton.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 28 1 
 
 LETTER XLIX. 
 
 HON. HORACE WAI.POLE TO MR. ■VVARTON. 
 
 Sir, Stiawbcriy-liill, Aug. 21st, 1762. 
 
 I WAS last week surprized with a very vinexpected pre- 
 sent in 3'our name; and still more, when, upon examining 
 it, I found mj'self so much and so undeservedly distinguished 
 by your approbation, I certainly ought to have thanked 
 you immediately, but I chose to defer my acknowledgments 
 till I had read your volumes very attentively. The praise 
 you have bestowed on me, debars me, Sir, from doing all 
 the justice I ought to your work: the pleasure I received 
 from it Avould seem to have grown out of the satisfaction I 
 felt in Avhat, if it would not be ungrateful, I should be 
 humble enough to call flattery; for how can you, Sir, approve 
 such hasty, superficial writings as mine, you, who in the 
 same puisuits are so much more correct, and have gone so 
 much deeper? for instance, compare your account of Gothic 
 architecture with mine; I have scarce skimmed the subject; 
 you have ascertained all its periods. If my Anecdotes should 
 ever want another edition, I shall take the liberty of refer- 
 ring the readers to your chronicle of our buildings. 
 
 With regard to the Dance of Death (ej, I must confess 
 
 (ej The Dance of Death in the church-yard of the Predicants of the 
 
 suburbs of St. John, at Basil, is ahvays ascribed to Holbein, and is shewn to 
 
 strangers through a grate : and yet, as Vertue observed, om- painter had un- 
 
 O o doubtedlv
 
 282 LETTERS OF 
 
 you have not convinced me. Vertue (for it was he not I that 
 first doubted of that painting at Basil) persuaded me by the 
 arguments I found in his MSS., and which I have given, 
 that Holbein was not the author. The lattcr's prints, as 
 executed by Hollar, confirmed me in that opinion : andj^ou 
 must forgive me if I still think the taste of them superior to 
 Albert Durer. This is mere matter of opinion, and of no 
 consequence, and the only point in your book, Sir, in which 
 I do not submit to you and agree with you. 
 
 You will not be sorry to be informed. Sir, that in the 
 library of the Antiquarian Society there is a large and very 
 good print of Nonsuch, giving a tolerable idea of that pile, 
 which was not the case of Speed's confused scrap. I have 
 myself drawings of the tv.o old palaces of Richmond and 
 Greenwich; and should be glad to shew them to you, if at 
 any time of leisure you would favour me with a visit here. 
 You would see some attempts at Gothic, some miniatures of 
 scenes which I am pleased to find 3'ou love — Cloysters, 
 screens, round towers, and a printing house, all indeed of 
 baby dimensions, would put you a little in mind of the age 
 ofCaxtonf'/^ and Wj'nkenf'^^. You might play at fancying 
 
 (loubtedly no hand in it. Pope Eugenia* I \^ appointed the council of Basil 
 in 1431, and it sat there fifteen years; during which time a plague raged that 
 carried off all degrees of people. On the cessation of it, the work in question 
 was immediately painted, as a memorial of that calamity. Holbein was not 
 born till 1498. — See Anecdotes of Painting, Vol. I. 
 
 (fj The first who introduced the art of printing with fusile types into 
 England ; and publisher of " The Recuyell of the history of Troy," the first 
 known book printed in the'English tongue. 
 
 I'gJ Wyuken de Worde. 
 
 yourself
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. C83 
 
 yourself in a Castle described by Spenser. You see, Sir, by 
 the persuasions I employ, how much I wish to tempt you 
 hither! I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 HoR, Walpole. 
 
 P. S. You know to be sure that in Ames's Typogr. Anti- 
 quities are specified all the works of Stephen Hawes. 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF BISHOP WARBUKTON TO DR. BALGUY, 
 PREBENDARY OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL. 
 
 Prior Park, October 7, 1762. 
 
 When you see Mr. T. Warton, pray tell him with what 
 new pleasure I have read his improved edition of his Observa- 
 tions 07i the Fairy Queen, Avhich 1 had formerly read with the 
 highest satisfaction. He says truly, p. 234. v. 2. that taste 
 and imagyiation make more antiquarians than the zmrld is 
 willing to allorc He is a noble instance of this trutli ; and 
 if he goes on so, he will rescue antiquarian studies (the most 
 amusing in the world, and not the least useful) from the 
 contempt of certain learned blockheads, and the stale ridicule 
 of ignorant wits. Above all, there is nothing 1 more wish 
 002 than
 
 234 LETTERS OF 
 
 than an edition of my favourite Chaucer from his hand: 
 nor Avould it be indifferent to an antiquary of taste to have 
 "Wood's Antiquities of Oxford, as he ^\ rote him in his own 
 English, given to the public for the reason Mr. "NVarton 
 speaks of in his Life of Bathurst. It would be infinite pity 
 not to go on in illustrating antiquity; since he is certainly 
 the first antiquarian of taste and spirit that we have seen 
 since Spchnan and Scldon. I will venture to point at two 
 slips, that he should set rigiit in the next edition, v. i. p. 29. 
 In Richard I.'s licence for holding tournaments, he explains 
 Warring ford by [IJalliiigfurdl ; he shoukl have said "NVaing- 
 ford, 6 miles south of Stemford ; between which tv.o places 
 there is a large heath proper for those exercises. -Again, 
 p. 19-i, Ciiir boinlli he explains b\' tarred h-ather ; he should 
 have said tarred leather hardened in boiling oil, to make it fit 
 foi- that part of the knight's armour. — Pray let ine know whe- 
 ther he publishes his Theocritus by subscription. 
 
 You uiay remember I told you I had an account to 
 settle with Walpolc, for his pp. 106-7, in the 1st of his Anec. 
 of Paint. Lord Mansfield told me at Gloucester that he had 
 denied to every body on his honour that he meant me, and 
 professed his great regard, &c. If he has bought off my 
 resentment to his own satisfaction, I have no reason to 
 quarrel at the price, how small soever it may be thought, 
 from this influence. Beheve me to be, 
 
 Dear Sir, (Sec. 
 
 "VV. Glo'jcesteh,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 285 
 
 LETTER LI. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DK. WARTOX. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 NoTHivG should have prevented my waiting on you at 
 the time of your repealing verses, a time I particularly love, 
 but my hcing obliged to attend Parliament the day before, 
 on the last matter of consequence, I mean the vote for the 
 supply of an additional million ; on this occasion we had all 
 the great sjieakers up, and upon the whole a very entertain- 
 ing debate. 
 
 Foster's book on accents I have seen, and tliink it a very 
 ingenious performance. He has certainly brought together 
 all in a manner left in antiquity upon the subject, and has 
 shewn it to respect acute and grave, not long and short. 
 But then, as to the application of this to any method of pro- 
 nouncing we know, here I am afraid we are as much in the 
 dark as ever. 
 
 Lord Karnes's book on the Elements of Criticism, I should 
 be glad at your leisure to hear a little what you think of. 
 He is a man of character, and has done me the honour to 
 commence a correspondence witlj me. I was too much en- 
 gaged in London to read, and 1 must confess I was a little 
 hurt to find him condemn some of the finest pails of Vivgi\(h) 
 
 (hj See Elements of Criticism, Vol. I. chap, i . and coinpaie with Dr. Warton's 
 criticism on the Georgics. 
 
 and
 
 286 LETTERS OF 
 
 and Horace f'/j, and which are in the highest degree defensi- 
 ble; and that for no other reason than because thej' did not 
 coincide with a sj'stem of his own invention. However, as 
 I said before, I should be glad to know your sentiments. 
 
 I am sorry I cannot see you at Sarum, and envy you the 
 pleasure of your journey through Wales. "What joy to a 
 man of taste from a scene so romantic ! 
 
 "What you tell me of my Son gives me the most real satis- 
 faction. There is nothing I have so much at heart as the 
 formation of his character, with every accomplishment that 
 may adorn it, that while others exceed him in wealth and 
 honoure, he may exceed tJiejn in what is far more valuable, 
 and far more his own. 
 
 My compliments, and that of us all, attend Mrs. "^^'^arton 
 and Mr. Thomas Warton : — when he has done with those 
 books of mine, and not before, I should be obliged if he 
 would return them. 1 rest, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your much obliged humble ser\-ant, 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 (i) See ill the same author. Vol. I. chap. i. on Connection — Vol. II. 
 sfi^iou 4th, on the Melody of Hexameter Verse.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. s«7 
 
 LETTER Lir. 
 
 DR. BALGUY TO DE. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, B. Sheffield, 3d Feb. 1 763. 
 
 I HAVE the same favour to ask of you for Mr. Drake, 
 which I obtained last year. He will be at school, if nothing 
 extraordinary happen, on Wednesday next; and it is not 
 his own fault, that he was not there a fortnight sooner. I 
 have trusted him with my study, during my absence; on 
 supposition he can make any use of it consistently Avith the 
 rules of your family. 
 
 The little time I can spend on books here is intirely de- 
 voted to the Fairy Queen, and the Observations on it; and I 
 find myself still young enough to receive great pleasure from 
 both. But if I could see Mr, T. W. I would strongly recom- 
 mend it to him to take a journey to York; where I think he 
 has never been, as he takes no notice of that Cathedral. It 
 was built at four different times; is very highly finished ; and 
 cannot fail of exemplifying, or of correcting, his remarks. oja 
 the different stages of Gothic architecture. 
 
 I observed one very trifling thing, in which I differ from 
 him, viz. the etymology of Una(k). I can scarce doubt, as 
 there arc many marks in Spenser of his knowledge of that 
 
 (k) Our author's residence in Ireland furnished him with the name of Una 
 or Oonah. He migiU at the same time intend to denote by Una singular and 
 uoparalleled excellence. — SeeWARToN on Spenser, Vol. II. i &, 4. 
 
 1 1 kind.
 
 £88 LETTERS OF 
 
 kind, that he borrowed the names Una and Duessa from 
 the cant of the Pythagorean philosophers. These people, 
 according to Plutarch, held two principles ; — the source of 
 truth and good they called the Oue ; the source of falshood 
 and evil was Tao : and some of the Platonists, I believe, 
 talked in the same manner. 
 
 Having neglected for some time to M-rite to Mr. Hurd, I 
 know not how he is employing himself; but it is credibly 
 reported that he is at work again for the press. Mr. 
 Mason is within less than ten miles of me; but I have 
 not yet seen him. Some say he is writing a Comedy; 
 others, that he is going to be married. The reports fjiay 
 be both true; but I think it rather more likely they should 
 be both false. 
 
 I ought to beg pardon for all this trifling with a man who 
 has so little leisure for trifling as yourself But I was glad to 
 lay hold on any pretence for a little imaginary conversation 
 with you, as I have no immediate prospect of any other. I 
 think however you are pretty regular in your excursions at 
 Whitsuntide ; so that, if I should not see you sooner, we 
 may then be likely to meet at Bath. 
 
 Miss Drake joins in compliments and good wishes to 
 Mrs. Warton and yourself with, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most faithful and 
 
 obedient humble servant, 
 
 Tno. Balguy. 
 
 I beg my humble service to Dr. Burton.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. as9 
 
 LETTER LIII. 
 
 DR. WARTON('/j TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Tuesday, March 8th, 1763. 
 
 This moment the dear children have all been inoculated, 
 never persons behaved better, no whimpering at all — I hope 
 in God for success, but cannot avoid being in much anxiety. 
 We remove on Saturday next, long enough before there is 
 any danger from infection. But I don't talk of the time; 
 I have done it. I am far from well myself, but not so as to 
 keep in ; but of this more another time. Pray write to me 
 very often — I shall want the assistance of your letters. — 
 Most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. WARTOIf. 
 
 LETTER LIV. 
 
 DR. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, 
 
 You may imagine I never passed such a day as this in 
 my life! grieved to death myself for the loss of so sweet a 
 
 fl) This and the two following letters, though on a domestic subject, are in- 
 troduced as indicative of that naturally aHectionate disposition, and feeling 
 heart, which so strongly characterized every action ot Dr. Warton. 
 
 Pp child,
 
 £90 LETTERS OF 
 
 child, but forced to stifle my feelings as much as possible for 
 the sake of my poor "Wife — She does not however hit on or 
 dwell on that most cutting circumstance of all, poor Nanny's 
 dying as it were by our own means, tho' well intended 
 indeed ; yet surely very lamentable is that particular consi- 
 deration — by an illness of our own giving to the poor child 
 — this only between me and 3'ou ! — Among other difficulties 
 we are forced to conceal it from the cliildren, especially 
 from Jo. who is backwarder than the rest, and has been in 
 fear of it, and cried several days past ; and to see the suspi- 
 cious faces of Tom and Jack, who lay in the room last night, 
 is affecting enough. — I have settled all Avith Mr. Silver, for 
 the poor dear child to be buried io-morrow night in the 
 Cathedral at nine. I write this, even tho' I shall see you at 
 nine to night — till then, adieu. 
 
 Yours most affectionatel^s 
 
 J. Wartox. 
 
 LETTER LV. 
 
 DK. WARTON TO UIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Thursday, April a2d, 1763. 
 
 All our little sick flock came here on Saturday, as 
 
 proposed, and continue well, Jo. having quite missed his ague, 
 
 and gathering strength. As to poor MoUij, at times, she is in 
 
 1 the
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 291 
 
 the utmost affliction still, and laments herself most miserably, 
 and insists on it that slie shall never again recover her 
 spirits or peace of mind : the only thing I have hope in is 
 time, and I must make a point to give her all sorts of amuse- 
 ments in the holidays. But at present do not know how or 
 ■where. My own malady continues much the same, or rather 
 better ; and I have had a hundred dismal apprehensions 
 concerning it. However I must hope if I can hope. And 
 indeed to own a truth to you, I can by no means myself, 
 tho' I dare not tell my poor Wife so, get out of my head, or 
 divert my thoughts from, the dear little charming girl we 
 have so unluckily lost. You knoAV how to make allowances 
 for weaknesses of this sort, if they are such. You I hope 
 Avill come to us as soon as you can, which will be the 
 greatest comfort and pleasure, and we will meditate some 
 scheme or other. Pray write as soon as you can. — Our 
 prisoners begin to go in flat-])ottom boats from Southamp- 
 ton. We have no news. Adieu. 
 
 Dearest Tom, 
 I am ever most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. Wakton".
 
 292 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LVI. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Pall-Mall, June 30th, 1763. 
 
 By the letter you sent me yesterday, you are 1 see 
 resolved not to be a friend by halves ; you have made my 
 Son happy in his expectations, and have taken effectual 
 means that those expectations should not be disappointed. 
 I hope he will with gratitude acknowledge the friendship; I 
 for my own part do it most sincerely. 
 
 This place at present affords as little news as the most 
 remote quarter of the country. None at present are left 
 here, but the Boards and the Law, and tlie latter will soon 
 disperse to their several circuits. 
 
 The conduct of the Court of Portugal to our countrymen, 
 who saved them, has been scandalously mean. An English 
 Officer, who maintained a post wuth a small force against 
 the whole Spanish army, and thereby preserved one of the 
 richest provinces in Portugal, had sent him for a present 
 from the Government five and twenty moidores, Avith a lame 
 excuse that the necessities of the Government would not 
 permit them to send more. The Officer wdth a becoming 
 magnanimity returned the money, adding that he was sorry 
 for the necessities of the State, and that, if they pleased, 
 
 there
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 293 
 
 there was the like sum of money of his, at their service, in 
 the hands of his agent. 
 
 My AVife begs her comphments to Mrs. Warton. I rest, 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your much obliged friend and humble servant, 
 James Harris. 
 
 LETTER LVII. 
 
 MR. WARTON TO HIS BROTIIEK. 
 
 Dearest Jo. ■ ■Wednesday, 10 o'clock. 
 
 I HAVE this instant received yours — Harris l^ias not 
 been with me yet — You are however in time, and "happy 
 am I to find the subject of your letter so agreeable in all 
 respects, as the appearance of Thomas alarmed me not a 
 little. Only the two last pages of my speech remain to be 
 writ over fair. I am highly satisfied, and hope you will, 
 when you see it. We have eight speakers per day — Many 
 particulars I cannot tell you now for haste — for the Presi- 
 dent and officers are all out holdhig courts, and I am left 
 major domo. Lord Northampton is to be Higli Steward 
 — the trouble I have had in preparation is infinite — but 
 hope all will be repaid if it goes off well, as I doubt not. 
 Think of me at four next Thursday, on which day we dine 
 
 in
 
 S94 LETTERS OF 
 
 in Queen's Hall with the Chancellor, \vho is to be ia 
 Queen's lodgings. 
 
 Harris has just brought me the Hymnus (m) — thej are 
 absolutely the best Latin verses I ever read, both truly 
 classical and poetical. He is to rehearse them to me 
 to-morrow morning at seven, in the Theatre. You have 
 done him and us infinite credit. — Love to Molly. 
 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 T. "Warton. 
 
 LETTER LVIII. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, PaU-Mall, July sd, 1763. 
 
 I HAVE received your verses, and think them admi- 
 rable ; a happy temperature between the Lucretian rhyme, 
 and the Virgilian. I wish my Son may do them justice in 
 the repetition, and that not only for your sake but his own, 
 since the better he performs his part, the more will your 
 merit reflect its lustre upon him. 
 
 Tho' I have not so much time to pay my address to 
 
 (m) Hymnus ad Pacem, a copy of verses written by Dr. Warton for the 
 present Lord Malmesbury (then Mr. Harris) to speak in the theatre. Ko 
 copy absolutely correct could be procured, and the Editor thought himself by 
 no means justified in inserting any other. 
 
 the
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. £95 
 
 the Muses as I had, I do not wholly neglect them. My 
 two volumes are both reprinting, and Mr. Stewart has pro- 
 mised nie a design to prefix to each treatise ; one of which 
 designs, and a very elegant one it is, he has already 
 sketched out for my Hermes. 
 
 I have seen, but not perused, ]\Iarkland's edition of thp 
 Supplices of Euripides, to which he has subjoined his 
 ingenious treatise (printed once before) concerning the firUi 
 Declension of the Greeks and the third of the liatins. 
 
 Mr. Toup, an ingenious clergyman of Cornwall, who not 
 long since pifblished an excellent Collection of Conjectures 
 and Amendments on Suidas, is now about to favour the 
 world with another pamphlet upon the same subject. 
 
 I have shewn your verses to Mr. Stewart the Athenian 
 — he joins with me in praise of their taste. For corrections 
 I can suggest none. 
 
 Airs. Harris's and my compliments attend Mrs. Warton. 
 I rest, dear Sir, with great truth. 
 
 Your very afieclionate 
 
 humble servant and friend, 
 
 James HarPlIs.
 
 196 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LIX. 
 
 HORACE WALPOLE TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Stian-berry Hill, Oct. 9th, 1764. 
 I SHOULD be ver}' ungrateful, Sir, if I did not exe- 
 cute with much pleasure any orders you give me. My 
 knowledge is extremely confined and trifling; but such 
 information as I can give you, will always be at your 
 service. 
 
 The most authentic picture of ]\rargaret Queen of Scot- 
 land is a whole length at Hampton Court. I have a small 
 copy of the head by Vertue. She has a round face, blue 
 eyes, and brown hair, not light. 
 
 The original of her sister Mary (with her second husband, 
 Charles Brandon), which Vertue engraved while Lord Gran- 
 ville's, is now mine ; her face is leaner and longer than in 
 the print ; her eyes blue, like her sister's, and her hair 
 rather more dark. Vertue believed that the small head by 
 Holbein, which I have, and was Richardson's, and which is 
 engraved among the illustrious heads for Catharine Howard, 
 is the portrait of this Queen Mary ; but it has no resem- 
 blance to the large one, which is unquestionably of her. 
 In the two first pictures I mentioned, Margaret is much 
 superoi- to Mary in point of beauty, tho' I think neither 
 of them handsome ; nor is any sense in either face. The 
 
 picture
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 297 
 
 picture supposed of Catharine Howard has much expres- 
 sion, but little beauty ; the print resembles it very imper- 
 fectly. I am, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Hou. Walpole, 
 
 LETTER LX. 
 
 FROM MR. SPENCE TO DK. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, juu. iqth, 1765. 
 
 I HAVE had the pleasure of passing these Christmas 
 holy days with my dear little friend Charles Massingberd ; 
 and am half sorry to part with him, tho' he is to bring this 
 to you. He has talked so much of your goodness to him, 
 that he has often given me a great deal of pleasure ; and 
 indeed I never doubted of his doing justice to my recom- 
 meudation, when he first waited on you. I rejoice to see 
 in him all his usual good nature which he then had, together 
 with the polish and improvements acquired since he has 
 been with you: he has been tlie delight of the whole familj^ 
 and we shall all miss him exceedingl3\ 
 
 I have been very busy for some time in preparing poor 
 
 Mr. Holdsworth's Notes and Observations on Virgil, for the 
 
 press; and they would have been printed in the summer 
 
 Q Q that
 
 298 LETTERS OF 
 
 that is coining on, had not I fortunately been promised a 
 new set of liis papers, from a relation of his at Dartmouth; 
 ■which I hope to receive when I go from hence to London; 
 Avhere if you should be so good as to favor me with a line 
 or two, they would find me, about a month hence, at Lord 
 Lincoln's, in the Exchequer. 
 
 "Will you give me leave to remind you of the queries I 
 formerly beg'd answers to, and to repeat them in a post- 
 script. I suppose most of them may be answered by once 
 tumbling over the College Register, and if any are diflicult^ 
 1 beg they may be looked on as not askt. I am ever. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your obliged and 
 
 affectionate humble servant, 
 
 J. Spence. 
 
 Li what year and on what day did Dr. Mews, Bishop of 
 Winchester, die? 
 
 On what day or about what time did Mr. Carman, 
 Chaplain of Winchester College, die? 
 
 What the ages of Burton senior, Coke senior, Norden, 
 K3'mes, and Edmunds, on the College books ? 
 
 What the times of Edward Young, Edward Holdsworth, 
 and William Harrison's entrance into the College, and leav- 
 ing it ?
 
 EMINENT PERSONS, 299 
 
 LETTER LX I. 
 
 MR. GERARD HAMILTON (tl) TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 My dear Sir, Feb. 12th, 1765. 
 
 I WAS extremely concerned that I had not the happi- 
 ness of seeing you when you was last in town, and when I 
 understood you was so obliging as to call upon me ; I wish'd 
 then to have the pleasure of conversing with you upon a 
 subject on which I must now take the liberty of writing to 
 you. Some years since you was so kind as to recommend 
 Mr. Burke (0) to my attention, to whose conversation I 
 have been indebted for all that entertainment and improve- 
 ment which you then assured me I should receive from so 
 very litterate and ingenious an acquaintance. The variety 
 of pursuits in which Mr. Burke is at present engaged makes 
 it impossible for him to be with me either as constantly as 
 I could wish, or as his friendship has inclined, or his leisure 
 permitted for some years past. Tho' my political engage- 
 ments will, I fear, always prevent m}^ paying a very close 
 attentiou to any litterary pursuits, they never can extinguish 
 my love of them. 1 entertain, my dear Sir, the highest 
 
 (n) Tlie supposed author of Junius, generally known by the designation of 
 single-speech Hamilton. He had requested Ur. Warlon to recommend an 
 excellent scholar and man of taste, under whose auspices he might regain and 
 improve his knowledge in classical literature. This and the sixty-third letter are 
 •written in consequence of the Doctor's compliance with the request. 
 
 (o) The truly great Edmund Burke. 
 
 Q Q S opinion
 
 soo LETTERS OF 
 
 opinion of your taste for letters, and your judgment of men ;. 
 and the favor I have to ask of 3',ou is, that if in the circle 
 of your acquaintance, you know of any man quahfied like 
 Mr. Burke ; who. in addition to a taste and an understanding 
 of ancient authors, and whal generally passes under the luiuie 
 of scholarship-, has likewise a share of modern knowledge, and 
 has applied himself in some degree to the study of the law^ 
 you would be so obliging as to inform me by wliat means I 
 may become acquainted with him. It is not, 1 believe over- 
 rating my owa influence, when I mention to you, that I 
 should hereafter be able to place a person of this descrip- 
 tion in the possession of a situation, and immediately in the 
 possession of an income, which would neither be insufficient 
 for him as a man of letters, or disreputable to him as a 
 gentleman. I know, my dear Sir, how needless it is to 
 make any excuses for the trouble I am giving you, or to 
 repeat the professions of that esteem which I entertain for 
 you, in which no one has been more uniform, or can be 
 more sincere, than 
 
 Your most faithful friend 
 
 and obedient humble servant, 
 
 W. G. HAMILTON^
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. soi 
 
 LETTER LXII. 
 
 MR. H. WALPOLE TO DR. WARTON.. 
 
 Sir, Arlinglon-street, March i6tl), 1765. 
 
 You have shewn so much of what I fear I must call 
 partiiihty to me, that I could not in conscience send _you the 
 trifle (pj that accompanies this till the unbiassed public,, 
 who knew not the author, told me that it was not quite 
 unworthy of beiiig offered to you. Still I am not cjuite sure 
 Ivhether its ambition of copying the manners of an age which 
 you love may not make you too favorable to it, or whether 
 its awkward imitation of them may not subject it to your 
 censure. In fact, it is but partially an imitation of ancient 
 romances ; being ralher intended for an attempt to blend 
 the marvellous of old story Avith the natural of modern 
 novels. This was in great measure the plan of a work, 
 which, to say the truth, was begun without any plan at all. 
 But I will not trouble you. Sir, at present w ith enlarging on 
 my design, which 1 have fully explained in a preface pre- 
 pared for a second edition, which the sale of the former 
 makes me in an hurry to m nd out. I do not doubt. Sir, but 
 you have with pleasure looked over more genuine remains 
 of ancient days, the three volumes of old Poems and Bal- 
 lads : most of them are curious, and some charming. The 
 
 (p) Sent with the Castle of Otranto. 
 
 dissertations
 
 302 LETTERS OF 
 
 dissertations too I think are sensible, concise, and unaffected. 
 Let me recommend to you also the perusal of the Life of 
 Petrarch, of which two large volumes in quarto are already 
 published by the Ahhh de Sade, Avith the promise of a third. 
 'Ihree quartos on Petrarch will not territy a man of your 
 curiosit}', tho', without omitting the iiiomoirs and anecdotes 
 of Petrarch's age, the most valuable part of the work, they 
 might have been comprized in much less compass : many 
 of the sonnets might liave been sunk, and almost all his 
 translations of them. Tho' Petrarch appears to have been 
 far from a genius, singly excepting the harmonious beauty of 
 his words, jet one forgives the partiality of a biographer, 
 tho' jNlonsieur de Sade seems as much enchanted with 
 Petrarch as the age was in which he lived, whilst their 
 ignorance of good authors excuses their bigotry to the res- 
 torer of taste. You will not, I believe, be so thoroughly 
 convinced as the biogi'aphcr seems to be, of the authentic 
 discovery of Laura's bod}', and the sonnet placed on her 
 bosom. When a lady dies of the plague in the height of 
 its ravages, it is not very probable that her family thought 
 of interring poetry with her, or indeed of any thing but 
 burjing her body as quickly as they could; nor is it more 
 likely that a pestilential vault was opened afterwards for 
 that purpose. I have no doubt but that the sonnet was 
 prepared and slipped into the tomb when they were de- 
 termined to find iier corpse. When you read the notes 
 to the second volume, you will grow very impatient for 
 
 Mons.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. so3 
 
 Mons. de St. Palaye's promised history of the Troubadours. 
 Have we any manuscript that could throw light on that 
 subject ? 
 
 I cannot conclude, Sir, without reminding you of a hope 
 you once gave me of seeing you in town or at Strawberry 
 Hill. I go to Paris the end of JNIay or beginning of June, 
 for a few months, where I should be happy if I could exe- 
 cute any literary commission for you. I am. 
 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient and 
 
 obliged humble servant. 
 
 Hob. Walpole, 
 
 LETTER LXIIT. 
 
 MR. GERARD HAMILTON TO DR. WARTOK. 
 
 Dear Sir, Hanover Square, April i6th, 1765, 
 
 A^ unexpected absence from town during the recess 
 of Parliament prevented my being favoured with the 
 receipt of your very kind and very satisfactory letter till 
 this morning, which should not otherwise have remained 
 so long unacknowledged. After what you have said to me 
 in regard to the qualifications of Mr. Chambers (qj, I cer- 
 
 fq) Afterwards Sir Robert Ciiambers, and Chief Justice in India; a man of 
 solid and useful talents in his profession, of the most consummate and un- 
 tainted integrity, and great general kaovvltdii;e as a scholar. 
 
 tainly
 
 50+ LETTERS OF 
 
 tainly shall not think any farther enquiry necessary, but 
 shall conclude, as I ought to do from the concurrence of 
 your testimony and Mr. Warton's, that he is exactly what 
 he has been represented to me. I consider myself as under 
 very great obligations to your brother for the offer he has 
 made me, and shall be exceedingly happy to have so deli- 
 cate a negociation in such good hands ; and particularly so 
 as I think some difficulties may occur, wliich will require a 
 degree of conduct to get over, I need not I am sure 
 mention to you how much it is to be desired, that I should 
 have at least a few interviews with Mr. Chambers, before I 
 make him anv ofTei-s of a preference in my friendship, and 
 he probably will think it full as necessary belbre he accepts 
 them. AVhatevcr may be his merit or his accomplishments, 
 there are a multitude of little circumstances, difficult per- 
 haps to be explained, but easy to be conceived, with which, 
 before a connection is formed, one wishes to be acquainted, 
 and of which a personal knowledge alone can enable one to 
 form any judgment. AVhat I should prefer, and what I 
 apprehend there can be no difliculty in accomplishing, is, 
 that I might have an opportunity of seeing JMr. Chambers, 
 before he is in any manner apprised of what has past 
 between us in regard to him; and I should think that any 
 proposal \\hich might afterwards be made would come 
 much more acceptably if it seemed to arise from an opinion 
 I had conceived of his talents in consequence of an acci- 
 dental acquaintance ; rather than from the information of 
 1 1 others,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 305 
 
 others, and from a plan which had been previously adjusted. 
 For this purpose, if your brother will permit me (and if no 
 opportunity should naturally offer itself, and none I believe 
 will, of seeing that gentleman in TiOndon in the course 
 of a few weeks) I will take the liberty of paying a visit to 
 him at Oxford, which, if nothing else should be the conse- 
 quence, will I am sure be productive of my passing two or 
 three very agreeable days. — ^It may not perhaps be gene- 
 rally known that Dr. Blackstonc will be made a Judge upon 
 the first vacancy, and the condition of this promotion is 
 that he should endeavour to obtain the Vincrian profes- 
 sorship for Chambers; but by the state of University poli- 
 tics, of which, though I am ignorant, your brother proba- 
 bly is not, I understand there is an apprehension that this 
 project will be defeated. How far Mr. Chambers may 
 chuse to sacrifice the chance he has of obtaining this object, 
 or how far, if he did obtain it, the duties of it might inter- 
 fere with the purposes to which I wish to apply him, being 
 unacquainted both with the disposition of that gentleman 
 and the nature of that employment, I do not presume even 
 to conjecture. If his wishes are to be a man of letters and 
 of retirement, and to emancipate himself only from the 
 slavery of pupils, from whom, as far as I have observed, 
 nothing very considerable has ever been obtained, except in 
 the profession of the church, I should think it would be in 
 my power to satisfy him. But if he means to be a man 
 of ambition, of business, and of activity, it possibly may not. 
 R R Permit
 
 306 LETTERS OF 
 
 Permit ine now, my clear Sir, to return an answer to the 
 latter part of your letter ; with respect to which you will 
 find me full as anxious as about the former. If I under- 
 stand your idea, it is this — Could a prebendary of Rochester 
 or Bristol be secured for Dr. Burton, he would resign, and 
 there would be a certainty of 3'our succeeding him. I am 
 not myself in a situation to make a direct ref^uest to any 
 part of Administration. My inclinations, my opinions, and 
 my prospects, having led me to decline the offers which 
 have been made to me ; but what I should propose is this, 
 and which, if you approve, I will take any part you shall 
 direct ; and endeavour, that what I want in influence shall 
 be made up in activity. If the attainment of the prefer- 
 ment for Dr. Burton, and your succeeding him as Master, 
 could be represented to Lord Northington, not merely as 
 your personal point, but as the point likewise of all the 
 principal men Avho have been educated at Winchester 
 within these few last years, and if it could be managed that 
 a number of us were to apply collectively to him for such 
 an object as you mention, which is of no great magnitude, 
 I think it Avould not be easy for him to refuse us. I have 
 frequently known points of this sort carried by these means, 
 which could not be effected by any other. The person who 
 confers a favour which is thus solicited, seems to obhge 
 many by a single act. They, who solicit it, apprehend 
 that, by being granted to a number, it does not take off 
 from the pretensions each individual of that number may 
 
 have
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 307 
 
 have separately and by himself. If you approve of this 
 plan, I will apply to Lords Bruce, Eglingtoun, and such 
 others as I think most likely to promote the success of it. 
 I avoid mentioning to you how very eftectual the slightest 
 application from Lord Bute would be; not only because 
 it must have occurred to you, but because, if I recol- 
 lect rightly, you once drop'd to me a hint of obtain- 
 ino- a prebendary of Winchester through that channel; 
 and I conclude you are unwilling to exhaust upon the 
 present occasion an influence which you think may be 
 reserved for better purposes. This, my dear Sir, is what 
 at present occurs to me. I see distinctly, and feel exceed- 
 ingly for the very awkward situation to which you may be 
 reduced, unless what you propose can be accomplished; and 
 have suggested what I think the most likely method to ac- 
 complish it. You cannot make me happier than by point- 
 ing out any way in which I may contribute to facilitate 
 what you wish, or convince you of the real sincerity and 
 esteem with which I am 
 
 Yours most faithfully 
 
 and affectionately, 
 
 W. G. Hamilton. 
 If Mr. Chambers has published any work, you Mill be 
 so good as to point it out to me. 
 
 R r2
 
 308 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LXIV. 
 
 FROM DR. WAETON TO HIS BROTHER. 
 
 Dearest Tom, Marston;, near Derby, June 3cl, 1765. 
 
 Our journey has been pleasant beyond description, I 
 only Avish it could have been possible for you to have con- 
 tinued with us. It remains now to give you a slight sketch 
 of it, and name the diiferent places in the route : — From 
 Lincoln to Newark (we thought of you in the rain) ; to 
 Tuxford; to Doncaster, there we met Avith Mr. Shuttle- 
 worth's family, and both travelled and supped with them^ 
 by invitation, and slept at Ferry^Dridge— Thence to York ; 
 there the first day we saw the Cathedral, which exceeds all 
 our churches ; staid a second day (the 29th of May) ; went 
 to full service, heard Mr. INIason in residence preach, was 
 found out by him, who drank tea with us the same after- 
 noon, and insisted on our supping with him — He is the 
 most easy, best natur'd, agreeable man, I ever met with, and 
 I'll tell you another time how we came known to him — 
 He is Praecentor; has an excellent house, elegantly furnished ; 
 that very evening he expected Mr. Gray to sup with him, 
 on his journey Northward; but, alas ! he did not come — He 
 desir'd many compliments to you. From York to Leeds 
 (a vast town) ; and thence to Wakefield, where we were 
 kindly received by Mrs. T. — with whom we staid one whole 
 
 day:
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 309 
 
 day : from thence, by Mr. Mason's direction and exlioi ta- 
 tion, to Sheffield, an entertaining" place — and then through 
 the wildest country, but the best roads, to Matlock Bath — 
 of all earthly places the most exquisite and romantic, and be- 
 yond any possible description — staid one day — from thence 
 to dinner at this place, Mr. Mundy's, where we stay two days, 
 and set out a three days journey, on Friday morning, for Mr- 
 Richardson's. Mr. Mundy's house is a most excellent one, 
 and I need not tell you how cordially we are received. With 
 the best love of my Wife, I am, 
 
 Dearest Tom, 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 J. Warton, 
 
 LETTER LXV. 
 
 JOHNSON TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, 001.9111,1765, 
 
 Mrs. Warton uses me hardly in supposing, that I 
 could forget so much kindness and civility as she showed me 
 at Winchester. I remember likewise our conversation about 
 St. Cross. The desire of seeing her again will be one of 
 the motives that will bring me into Hampshire. 
 
 I have taken care of your book ; being so far from doubt- 
 ing your subscription, that I think you have subscrib'd 
 
 twice :
 
 310 LETTERS OF 
 
 twice : you once paid your guinea into my own hand in 
 the garret in Gough Square. When you hght on your 
 receipt, throw it on the fire ; if you find a second receipt, 
 you may have a second book. 
 
 To tell the truth, as I felt no solicitude about this work, 
 I receive no great comfort from its conchision ; but j^et am 
 well enough pleased that the publick has no farther claim 
 upon me. — I wish you would write more frequently to, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 Sam. Johnson. 
 
 LETTER LXVI. 
 
 MR. MEKRICK TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Reading, Dec. 2i3t, 1765. 
 
 As INIr. Holmes, when he was last at Reading, began 
 an index to Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras (published in 
 Fabricius's Bibliotheca Graica), I should be glad to receive 
 back lamblichus's Life of the same philosopher, by the Win- 
 chester carrier, having so many assistants in that kind of 
 exercise that I am somewhat at a loss for books proper to 
 be put into their hands. Dr. Gregory Sharpe has lately 
 informed me that a young gentleman under his care is 
 ready to undertake any work that I might recommend to 
 3 him.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 31 1 
 
 him. A youth of eighteen, now in Reading, has tran- 
 scribed the whole of Xenophon's Cyri Expeditio, in order 
 to an index, and has entered upon Thucydides, for the same 
 purpose, as I have advised him not to cut in pieces his 
 collections from Xenophon till his return to London. 
 Another young man here has attacked Harduin's folio 
 edition of Themistius ; and the senior youths of Magdalen 
 School in Oxford are jointly composing an index to the 
 first volume of Dr. Battie's Isocrates. Could the first 
 volume of Dr. Taylor's Demosthenes be procured in sheets, 
 I should hope that four or five of the young gentlemen 
 at the head of Winchester School might very willingly 
 (instead of some other exercise) take each a share of the 
 volume, and when it was transcribed, miglit join in form- 
 ing an index to it. I have received from Mr. Harris, the 
 author of Hermes, and from Dr. Lowth, strong expressions 
 of approbation on the subject of this exercise ; but how far 
 it may be consistent with other more important employ- 
 ments established in any particular school, I can by no 
 means say. 
 
 Give me leave to observe to you (what I knew not when 
 I took the liberty of addressing you publicly) that experience 
 has shewn us a Avay of saving much time (perhaps more 
 than half of the Avhole time required) in transcribing an 
 author for an index, by first transcribing all the words of 
 a page, and then getting down the number of the page 
 
 and
 
 312 LETTERS OF 
 
 and line after each word of the page, instead of adding the 
 number immediately as each word is written. 
 
 I beg to be kindly remembered to ]Mr. Holmes, and am, 
 with all wishes of happiness to you, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your very affectionate humble servant, 
 
 J. Merrick. 
 
 LETTER LXVII. 
 
 DR. WARTON TO HIS BROTHER, 
 
 Dearest Tom, Win. Jan. 22d, 1766. 
 
 I HAVE caught a moment to converse a little longer 
 with you on paper: — Akenside enquired much after 3'ou; 
 thought highly of Lowth's letter, but that he had been a 
 little coarse in places: Lord Lyttleton seemed to wish Lowth 
 had gutted the letters, and given the substance of them, but 
 not the real correspondence: Garrick was furious about 
 publishing the letters. I only dined with Johnson, who 
 seemed cold and indifferent, and scarce said any thing to me ; 
 perhaps he has heard what I said of his Shakespear, or rather 
 was offended at what I wrote to him— as he pleases. Of 
 all solemn coxcombs, Goldsmith is the first; yet sensible — 
 but affects to use Johnson's hard words in conversation. 
 
 We
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 313 
 
 "We had a Mr. Dyer, who is a scholar and a gentleman. 
 Garrick is intirely off from Johnson, and cannot, he says, 
 forgive him his insinuating that he withheld his old editions, 
 which always were open to him, nor I suppose his never 
 mentioning him in all his works. Coleman I saw at Gar- 
 rick's; there has been a coldness, but cured now. His 
 Comedy comes on in a month. — I called neither on Coleman 
 or Thomson, but Avish'd, had time permitted, to do it. — •* 
 Akenside has highly commended the late Oxford pamphlet 
 on Shakespear — Whose is it ? — I hope soon to hear from 
 you. 
 
 Most affectionately yours, 
 
 J. Warton. 
 
 LETTER LXVIII. 
 
 DR. FARMER TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Eman, Nov. 19, 1766. 
 
 I AM very glad that Joshua (r) is safe arrived at Ox- 
 ford, — his notes I suspect will not figure greatly, but you 
 will smile at his identification of Homer and Solomon: Pope 
 (if I remember right) has a hint at this curious performance, 
 tho' others have doubted it's existence. 
 
 The old Theocritus is at your service, if it be worth having. 
 
 (r) Joshua Barnes. 
 
 S s I forgot
 
 514 LETTERS OF 
 
 I forgot to note in it tliat the usually accurate Fahridus led 
 me into a mistake about it, except I have misquoted him. 
 There was an edition at Rome, 1516. We have in the pub- 
 lic library a most beautiful copy of the 1st edition, Aid. 
 1495; and among the archives Harry Steven's Poeta? Gr. 
 Principes, with many ]\IS. notes (on Theocritus among the 
 rest) by Isaac Casauhon; Avhether they are exhausted in his 
 Lect/ones Theocritica-, I could not make out upon a slight 
 examination — so cursedly are they written; if however you 
 have time, I think 1 can get a particular friend of mine 
 (our Greek Professor) to examine into this matter. Isaac's 
 name is a tower of strength, whatever becomes of Joshua's. 
 
 Prof. Taylor's Lectures on Theocritus are in the hands of 
 a Rev. Mr. Driffield, of Chelsworth near Hadleigh, Suffolk. 
 Some years ago he talked of printing them — but that seems 
 to be bloAvn over: I cannot find an}' body at present that 
 has any acquaintance with him — Suppose you throw away 
 a letter at him yourself. 
 
 Don't imagine that I shall be impertinent enough to say 
 anything more about Editors and Commentators, which you 
 are certainly sufficiently acquainted with. Pray remember 
 to translate "EAi? in the 1st Idyllium by a less ambiguous 
 word than Capreolus — by which unfortunate one Master 
 Creech is detected of translating from the Latin. 
 
 With respect to the History of Enghsli Poetry, I flatter 
 myself I can be of much more service: let me know your 
 plan, &c. and command me as you please. "^Vhen I have 
 
 a little
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 315 
 
 a little more time to spare, I will make you out a pretty 
 large Spenserian pacquet. 
 
 You talk of being idle in the summer — I wish I had been 
 so too — my business has been solely swearing at engraven. 
 Poor Shakespcar lies upon the table. 
 
 Your's most aftectionately, 
 
 (Raptim) R. Fakmeu. 
 
 P. S. This scrawl has lain by these two days, to wait for 
 a note to Mr. Huddesford — but I am now determined, with 
 Master Dogberry, " if I was as tedious as a King, to bestow 
 it all on your Worship." You may remember, that we 
 talked of a transcript of names from the Latin of Leicester 
 MSS. but I think we may be contented with the preamble, 
 about the Classes^ or somewhat to that purpose — for these 
 sort of things have grown upon me marvellousli/ : but I must 
 trouble one of you to look at Dugdale in the Ashmoleatii 
 6502. 12 F 2. Page 327. When I looked at his account of our 
 Abbey, I thought it proved in the Monasticon — but if my 
 memoranda be right it is not. This therefore (or what part 
 of it, you or cither of you think proper) 1 could wish to have 
 copied by my former amanuensis. I remember it is very 
 legible. Can 1 ask like^vise, at somebody's leisure, for a 
 peep at the said Dugdale MSS. Angl. 292. N". 6491. 
 
 S 8 S
 
 316 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LXIX. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WAETON. 
 
 ' Dear Sir, Committee Room, May 8, 1767. 
 
 I HAVE a thousand thanks to return you for your kind 
 letter, and for the elegant verses that came with it, in 
 which I think the author has shewn his genius both in the 
 invention and versification. The verses on the same subject 
 by Mr. Ansty have much merit also, and prove what I have 
 always been convinced of, that every real genius is equal to 
 the sublime and serious as well as to the humorous and gay. 
 Hence Shakespear, Plato, Cicero, and a hundred more, 
 prove the truth of this opinion. 
 
 I can send you little public news, the practice of the times 
 beino- to put off and procrastinate. We have talked about 
 the two Indies, and regulations relative to them, these four 
 months, yet nothing hitherto has been done with either. To- 
 day we deliberate on East India matters, where Government 
 and the proprietors seem at open war. Government sent 
 them a proposition that they should not divide above 1 per 
 cent. — they immediately. upon this voted a dividend of 12 J 
 per cent. 
 
 Dr. Morel is about to give an edition of Eschylus's Pro- 
 metheus; 'tis said too he will publish Nicander, with the 
 notes of Bentley, a work belonging to Dr. Askew. Dr. 
 
 Sharp e.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. sir 
 
 Sharpe, Master of the Temple, has just finished his edition 
 of Hyde's work, de Rehgione Veterum Persarum, to which 
 will be added several Tracts of Hyde, as yet unpublished. 
 A handsome dedication is prefixt, to Lord Bute. — In the 
 exhibitions of pictures — a portrait of the Queen and her 
 daughter, by Coates, is universally admired — the historical 
 pictures of West, both for colouring and design, are excel- 
 lent — so are the candle-light pieces of Wright of Derby — so 
 are two large battle pieces by Casa Nova, and the land- 
 scapes of Zuccarelli and Wilson. 
 
 Present my own, my Wife's, and Daughter's, compliments 
 to Mrs. Warton ; and believe me to be, dear Sir, amidst the 
 hurry of a Committee where I am now writing, as much as 
 in my library enjoying my speculations. 
 
 Yours most sincerely, 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 My Son is well at' the Hague, but soon proceeds 
 into Germany. — If you write, I am still at St. James's- 
 Street.
 
 318 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LXX. 
 
 MR. TOUP TO MR. WARTOIf. 
 
 Dear Sir, St. Maitin'sj 21st April, 1767. 
 
 I HAD the favour of yours of the 7th Eeb. last, con- 
 <:erning the IMS. but it has not yet come to hand. I sup- 
 pose you have put your amanuensis to Mork again. I am 
 sorry I should give you so much trouble. — I am glad to hear 
 of your edition of Theocritus. — I had some thoughts once 
 of publishing that author myself — But I wanted that 
 assistance which the Bodleian will amply afford ^ou. I 
 have been looking over my papers, and find Mr. Reighc 
 has been before me in some of my suspicions. However I 
 hope I shall find some things which may merit your attention, 
 and be no discredit to the University, of which I was once a 
 member. AVhat I have to say on one or two of the Idylliums, 
 I will chaw up in the form of a letter, which you may add 
 to tlie foot of your notes, or preface, just as you think fit. 
 It may contain perhaps seven or eight pages — So that you 
 will let me know M'hen you put your notes to the press, that 
 I may send it up in season. 1 should be glad to know like- 
 wise what MSS. of Theocritus you have consulted, and 
 what other assistances you have met with in the libraries of 
 Oxford. Have you consulted Dr. Askew about it? He 
 wrote me lately that he had in his library 300 Greek MSS. 
 I but
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 319 
 
 but whether any of Theocritus 1 know not. I wish he would 
 oive us a catalogue of them. He is a learned man, and I 
 hear my late friend Dr. Taylor has left all his papers to his 
 care, in order to finish his edition of Demosthenes ; but, I 
 fear, Dr. Askew has something else to do. — I shall thank 
 you for a letter at your leisure, for really I am in pain about 
 the Epigrams, not on your part, but for fear they have mis- 
 carried. I am, Rev. Sir, with great respect, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Jo. To UP. 
 
 You will be so good to add the Scholia and Notes to 
 
 the copy: and I should be much obliged for a further 
 
 account of Mr. St. Amand, whom I am quite unacquainted 
 
 with. 
 
 LETTER LXXI. 
 
 MR. TOUP TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, St. Martin's, July 30, 1767. 
 
 I HAD a letter from Mr. Nourse the bookseller, dated 
 the 20th inst. in which he wrote me that he had sent you 
 a copy of my Critical Epistle: so that I hope you have 
 received it by this time. I suppose Mr. Fletcher had the 
 care of it. It contains a good deal of Greek learning, which 
 will be entertaining enough to such as have any taste for 
 
 those
 
 1520 LETTERS OF 
 
 those things, and to such onl3^ "When you have read it, 
 you will give me your thoughts ingenuously about it. 
 
 I was in hopes ]\Ir. St. Amand might have collated afresh 
 tlie Paris J\ISS. of Longinus, which Bishop Pearce chiefly 
 follows. It is wrote in such a character that I much ques- 
 tion whether the former collection may always be just and 
 accurate. 1 wish we had one from St. Amand, whose ability 
 and fidelity might be depended on. 
 
 When you Avrite me next, [ should be obliged if you 
 would favor me with your thoughts of the late pompous 
 edition of the Oxford IMarbles — how many volumes, at 
 what price, by whom sent out. If well executed, I should 
 be willing to purchase them. 
 
 I wonder the University has never thought of republishing 
 Hudson's Geographi Minores. They are become very scarce, 
 and so scarce that I never was able to procure a copy, tho' 
 I have seen them in some libraries. They might be re- 
 printed with additions, according to the method pointed 
 out by the late learned Mr. Wasse. 
 
 I must beg your pardon for being so tedious, and am, 
 with great respect, Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged 
 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 Jo. Toup. 
 
 P. S. I shall take care to send my notes on Theocritus in 
 season.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 3i:i 
 
 LETTER LXXII. 
 
 LORD LYTTLETON TO DP. WARTON, 
 
 Deur Sir, Hagley, Aug. 15, 1767. 
 
 As you know how much I value your approbation as a 
 critic, I need not tell you that your letters give me great 
 pleasure. It particularly pleases me that you distinguish 
 that part I labour'd most, the account of laws, manners, 
 arts, learning, &c, during the times of which I write. I 
 could have made it more amusing, if I would have treated 
 it more superficially ; but if the Historic Muse will search 
 for truth among the ruins and cells of Gothic antiquity, 
 some dust and cobwebs will stick to her, and she will not 
 look so fine as if she had been only gathering flowers, or 
 skimming cream. The most entertaining period of my 
 history is still to come, viz. that which contains Earl Strong_ 
 bow's achievements in Ireland ; the conquest of that island 
 by King Henry the Second, or (to speak more accurately) 
 the submission of it to him; the revolt of his wife and 
 children; his victory over the rebels; the King of Scotland's 
 captivity, and the subjection of his kingdom to the sove- 
 reignty of England in consequence of that event; the 
 relapse of Henry's eldest son into another rebellion, and his 
 death-bed repentance; the loss of the Holy Land, and the 
 Crusade for the recovery of it against the great Saladin ; 
 T T and
 
 322 LETTERS OF 
 
 and lastly, the new treasons of Henry's children against 
 him, which caused his death. Tiiese bright parts of my 
 subject, which will be comprehended in the last volume, 
 admit of more eloquence, and a higher dignity of style, than 
 any of the foregoing; and, if God grants me health and 
 leisure, I hope I shall finish that volume to your satisfaction 
 in about a twelvemonth from this time. The greatest delay 
 will be from what I have still to write concerning the courts 
 of justice, and the criminal law of that age, at the end of 
 my fourth book. The investigation of these matters is 
 tedious and difficult; but I must go through it, or leave the 
 work incompleat. The favourable judgment you pass on 
 what is already published will not a little animate me to 
 proceed in my task. I hope your Brother is well, and shall 
 be proud if his suffrage agrees with your's; for he too is a 
 critic of whose approbation 1 am very ambitious, cither for 
 my verse or my prose. But I give notice to you both, that 
 you will find some inaccuracies, not only of the press, but 
 the style, in the first edition, corrected in the second, which 
 I hope will soon come out. I am, with great truth and 
 esteem, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Lyttleton.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 523 
 
 LETTER LXXIII. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Sai-um, Sept. 7, 1767. 
 
 I AM greatly obliged in the favour of your letter, and 
 am much pleased with the news it brings me as to my 
 young man. I hope he will be careful as to behaviour, on 
 which subject he shall not want advice from me. 
 
 Nor am I less pleased with Avhat you tell me more imme- 
 diately interesting to yourself — the tranquillity with which 
 your late College transactions have gone off, and the justice 
 and equity which have done you so much credit in your 
 election. 
 
 I hope for the future the dignity, and I may add (tho' it 
 be an odd word) the gentility of the school will still be 
 maintained upon a parity Avith its two sisters ; and this I 
 say, being fully convinced we have charity-schools enough 
 already, without sinking so respectable an institution as 
 that of Winchester into that inferior and plebeian class. 
 
 I have no literary news to send you, tho' shall be most 
 thankful for any that you shall at any time be so good to 
 send me. Toup is a most admirable scholar, a second 
 Bentley for sagacity and erudition — he was not to blame, 
 when he took the motto that he did to his last book — ^the 
 door ought certainly to be shut upon the profane, and so 
 TT 2 it
 
 324 LETTERS OF 
 
 it certainly will, for never can they pass those tremendous 
 barricadoes of Greek that defend all the avenues. 
 
 I was unfortunate in not seeing your Brother when in this 
 neighbourhood, as I was then absent upon my tour to Hag- 
 ley. We spent five or six days there most luxuriously with 
 its elegant and excellent owner — we feasted all da}-, but not 
 like aldermen — his cook provides well for the body, but 
 other cooks may equal her ; his own mental repast no one 
 can provide but himself, 
 
 O ! noctes, casnfeq; De^m. 
 Accept from ]\Irs. Harris and my Daughter their compli- 
 ments^ jjresent theirs and mine to IVIrs. Warton and your 
 Brother. Believe me with great truth. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your very affectionate humble servant, 
 
 James PIarris. 
 
 We had a letter this day from my Son, who is perfectly 
 well at Berlin, but soon proceeds to Poland. — Billy Earl 
 returned to his friends in health and spirits last Saturday. — 
 Lord and Lady Temple have just left me, and are gone to 
 Stow.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 325 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 
 
 HORACE WAbPOLE TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Sip, Slrawbeny-hill, Oct. 30th, 1767. 
 
 I SHALL be very thankful for a transcript of the most 
 material passages in Mr. T3eale's pocket-book, and of Hol- 
 lar's letters, if you will be so good as to employ any person 
 to transcribe them, and let me know the expence when they 
 are done. It is unlucky, with regard to the former, that 
 Mr. Beale's article is printed off, and several other subse- 
 quent sheets, for the second edition. And I must not 
 expect that so trifling a work should go any farther. The 
 sight of the pocket-book will, however, gratify my own 
 curiosity, tho' I am much ashamed to give you so much 
 trouble, Sir. You will permit me, I hope, in return, tho' 
 a small one for so many favours, to send you a most sin- 
 gular book, of which I have lately been permitted to print 
 two hundred copies (half only indeed for myself). It is the 
 Life of the famous Lord Herbert of Shirbury, written by 
 himself. You will not find him unworthy of keeping com- 
 pany with those paladins, of whom you have made such 
 charming use in your Notes on Spenser. Pray let me 
 know how I shall convey it to you. I am. Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged and 
 
 obedient humble servant, 
 
 HoR. Walpole,
 
 326 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LXXV. 
 
 UK. MEEEICK TO MU. MARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I KNOW not whether Reiskius (whose edition of Theocri- 
 tus I have not seen) has taken any notice of Isaac Casaubon's 
 remark on the (s) A ev ir^Mraviiu, which I enclose ; if he has, 
 it is possible that he may have rejected it, as it is attended 
 Avith a difficulty or two, which I have attempted to remove. 
 Though I think the passage still somewhat doubtful, yet 
 Casaubon's interpretation appears to me more probable 
 than any other that occurs. 
 
 Mr. St. Amand once in conversation mentioned to me 
 another passage of Theocritus, which he seemed to explain 
 in a masterly manner. If you do not find it among his 
 papers, I will endeavour to recollect his observation, and 
 send it to you. It related to IJyllium the 2d, v. 33, 34: 
 
 Tu AoTey,t, y^ tov bv uda 
 
 Ktvr/(roiig 'Pcc^xf^tcaSu, (t) Kai el'ri Trip utripuXig aXXo. 
 He collected from the Scholiast, and from a passage in 
 Virgil, that the true reading is y oc^ai^ccvlx, Avhich reading he 
 also confirmed from an edition of Theocritus, omitted by 
 
 (s) Id est, TO >J/x^^^ f^ •xpuTanla, , 
 
 (I) Wailoa uses Vaiaiiai^ji., and brings forward the authorities on both 
 sides, in an excellent note. — Vide Warton's Tbeocritusj Vol. II. 
 
 2 Fabricius,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. Z9.i 
 
 Fabricius, and printed, as I remember, in capitals. He sup- 
 posed it to be the first edition of your author. It was I think 
 in quarto. 
 
 In the margin of the London edition of Theocritus, 1729, 
 octavo, I have, at the beginning of the ISth Idylhum, 
 made the foUowing remark with my pen : " Notat Dau- 
 buzius (in apocalyps. 1861) Schoha in hoc Idylhum 
 per incuriam in plerisque Theocriti editionibus omissa 
 esse." Fabricius has, I think, overlooked this omission, 
 in his account of the editions of Theocritus, and of the 
 Scholia. 
 
 The two verses quoted in the Scholia on Idyll, i. 124. 
 Ae^BTspv} ^' &c. are taken from Apollonius Rhodius. Ai-gon. 
 1. 769, 770. 
 
 'lepov (Idyll. 5. 22.) seems to signify Magnum, which sense 
 of 'ispaj I have endeavoured to support in my notes on the 
 Psalms, p. 1. 38. Idyll. 22. 39. "AhXcitfu),AciXXa.i egregie 
 rescribit Ruhrik. in auctario emend, ad Hesych. I,xni^o<. 
 gestus saltantis, Idyll. 10. 35. Vide St. Eergler in Alciphron. 
 L. 1. Epist. 34. page 141. 
 
 Very probably you may already have met with all that is 
 material in what I have written. Give me leave just to add, 
 that Dr. Morell once informed me that he had composed a 
 full index, verborum, for Theocritus : as Homer, Lycophron, 
 Callimachus, and Dionysius Periegetes, have been pub- 
 
 (u) This emendation likewise gives rise to a learned and ingenious note i\i 
 Warton's Theocritus. — Vide Vol. II. 
 
 lished
 
 328 LETTERS OF 
 
 lished with such indexes, it might, I should think, be worth 
 the University's purchase, if you are not aheady supphed 
 with one. 
 
 I beg to be remembered most kindly to all my old friends 
 in the College, and am, dear Sir, with the truest regard, 
 Your faithful humble servant, 
 
 J. jMeTxRICK. 
 
 P. S. I have this evening hit on an expression of Theocritus, 
 which, had I recollected it, I might have compared w ith the 
 scriptural expression, the fat of wheat, in my notes on the 
 Psalms — Tricctvejcti o s-a%u? ovTug, Idyll. 10. V. 47. 
 
 I know not whether the £7r<|i!^(»o-< of Theocritus, which 
 seems to signify in vacuo, has been compared with an ex- 
 pression used by Callimachus concerning Erysicthon: 
 AXX' ore tov jGaSuv oTkov avi^r^xivov ooovjtg, &c. 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 DB. MORELL (x) TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Pardon me, my dear Sir, for not acknowledging before 
 my kind reception at Winchester. I was sorry to be re- 
 minded 
 
 (xj From my friend Mr. John Warton 1 have gained the following 
 anecdote respecting the learned writer of this letter, and which, he informs me.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 329 
 
 minded of it by the Bishop of London's informing mc that 
 you had been ill. I hc^pe in the good old style this will find 
 you better. And what can I say further to one of so short, 
 tho' long-desired acquaintance ? I wish you would give mc 
 a subject. Apropos : I sent the otlier day a conjectural 
 emendation to Dr. Musgrave, in the Ion of Euripides — • 
 where Creusa, informing the old gentleman of the two 
 drops of blood from the Gorgon, (loathful the one, t])e 
 other salutary, rev f^lv 9xvu(ri[/,ov, riv i5" ocKBo-^popov vciruv, he 
 asks her 
 
 (tjJ E;f BV Si Kpoi(rdevf avjov r, %wp(f (pupui ; 
 
 She answers, 
 
 All the books or manuscripts that I have seen, read it, 
 
 avjov Ix^p" Bi^ipopeig. 
 
 was repeatedly asserted by Dr. W. as a fact. ^Vhen Dr. Morell visited Win- 
 chester, he in a casual survey of tiie College entered the school, in which some 
 junior boys were writing their exercises, one of w honi, strucif no less witU his 
 air and manner than the questions he put to them, whispered to his school- 
 fellows, " Is he not a fine old Grecian !" The Doctor, overhearing the expres- 
 sion, turned hastily round, and exclaimed, " I am indeed an old Grecian, my 
 little man! Did you never see my head before my Thesaurus?" The boy, 
 having made an awkward apology, hastily withdrew; and soon findinic two of 
 the Prajpostors, repeated to them the stranger s words, who, aware of the dignity 
 of their visitor, instantly came up, and, introducing themselves, offered in a most 
 respectful manner to shew him the College: he accepted their offer, and after 
 Tisiting every part of it with a view of discovering the information and attain- 
 ments, as well as gratifying the politeness of his guides, parted from them highlj 
 pleased with the attention which had been shewn him. 
 
 (i/) In the quarto Cambridge edition of 1693, the line runs thus : • 
 Eij h Je KpaSiv Taulov ix«f tifipoptif ; 
 
 U u As
 
 330 LETTERS OF 
 
 As I have not yet published my Philalethes (got up at 
 the request of Dr. Davis), you will excuse my not having 
 sent you one. You shall have it very soon, if you will pro- 
 mise me to look upon it merely as a school book, for it 
 
 pretwids to nothing more from, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient and 
 faithful humble servant, 
 
 Thomas Morell. 
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 DR. HAWKESWOKTH TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 ]\Iy dear Sir, Bromley, Kent, 8th March, 176S. 
 
 I SENT you some time ago some blank receipts for 
 my Telemachus, which you was so kind to say you would 
 endeavour to dispose of; such names as by your favour 
 have been added to my list, I beg you would oblige me 
 with in a letter directed hither as soon as convenient, for 
 the book, being now printed, will be delivered to the sub- 
 scribers on the day mentioned in the proposals, the 3 1 st 
 instant, or as soon afterwards as their names can be col- 
 lected. 
 
 I wan sadly mortified not to meet once with 3'ou when 
 you \Y^ last in London -, 1 missed you both at Mr. Rey- 
 
 I I nolds's
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. SSl 
 
 nolds's and Mr. Colman's : shall we never meet till the world, 
 that is now fading round us, vanishes like a dream for 
 ever ! Adieu. I am ever 
 
 AfFectionately yours, 
 
 Jxo. Hawkeswortii. 
 
 LETTER LXXVIII. 
 
 UK. BARNARD TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Jane iSlh, 1768. 
 Believe me, dear Sir, I have not neglected your 
 commands. Upon the receipt of yours I immediately ap- 
 lied to Dr. Askew, and have been in daily expectation of 
 an answer. But as he has not been pleased to take the 
 least notice of my application, it is now proper to send you 
 notice of it, lest you should have reason to accuse me of 
 the same indifference. 
 
 To be plain with you, I do not think his collection a 
 matter of much consequence — his own remarks, I am cer- 
 tain—nor do I recollect that Chancellor Taylor had any 
 thing material upon that author. His namesake, your 
 brother Professor of Trinity, was supposed to have intended' 
 an edition. Driffield, his executor, published proposals 
 many years ago, but, I am inclined to think, without any 
 intention to publish— I have never seen any MS. marginal 
 u u 2 notes
 
 332 LETTERS OF 
 
 notes Avhich were not taken from the animadversions of 
 Scaliger, Casaubon, and Heinsius. What young D'Orville 
 may have in his possession I do not know, but I am per- 
 suaded that it will not be worth while to delay your edition 
 for any other assistance. Yours, dear Sir, 
 
 V/ith great truth, 
 
 E. Barnard. 
 
 LETTER LXXIX. 
 
 MR. PHELPS TO BE. WAETON'. 
 
 Chart. Park, July 24, 1768. 
 
 I HAVE had many falls and risings since we parted 
 at Bath, my dear friend! but the sea-water has been a sheet- 
 anchor to me, and I am ordered by my physician to drink 
 it on till Michaelmas. I find myself surprizingly recovered, 
 since 1 entered into this regimen, and hope that by perse^ 
 
 vering 
 
 To his excellent and learned friend, the Bishop of Gloucester, the 
 Editor is indebted for the following account of Mr. Phelps : 
 
 " Mr. Phelps was a good scholar. Of the just taste he had for simplicity, we 
 may form an idea/rom his admiration of an epigram, which he would often 
 repeat — It is that uuaftected and pathetic epigram in page 13 of the collectioa 
 
 by Johnson, entitled 
 
 El 5 Ava-7Tpayi<iv, 
 and ending with the line which is marked by a most expressive epithet. 
 
 At a camp near Winchester, towards the close of the war which terminated. 
 
 in 1762, Phelps was either adjutant-general, or in some post similar to it.. 
 
 lie travelled with Mr. George Pitt_, afterwards Lord Rivers. 
 
 ColL
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. S33 
 
 verino- in it I shall thoroughly get rid of this tedious ilhiess. 
 I wish much that 1 had it in my power to take Winchester 
 in my way to Herefordshire, to Avhich county I propose to 
 steer in a week or ten days, but hope to hear from you 
 first. 
 
 I shall be much obliged to you if you will send me an 
 account of the Roll as it stands at present, and as it is likely 
 to be at the time of the election, casualties you know 
 always excepted. You will naturally understand by this 
 my desire of knowing whether there is any lad of real merit, 
 who would lose his chance of New College for want of a 
 vacancy. You may very 2>robably have seen in the papers, 
 that I am appointed Provost INIarshall General to the 
 Leeward Islands: this is an employment the emoluments 
 of which are of a nature not to vacate my fellowship; but 
 which puts me in such a situation that I cannot, according to 
 my own way of thinking, continue to eat William of Wyke- 
 
 Coll. Winlon. Regist. 
 
 Riciirdus Phelps, de Eye, Com. Hereford. 
 Bapt. 7 Sept. 1720. 
 Adui. 1 Jul. 1733. 
 Coll. Nov. Regist. 
 Ric. Plielp. Aug. 29, 1740, A. B. Bis peregrinator et in sacri-j ordinibus 
 tantum Deaconus, arteni Militarem e.veicens, et sub Rege Conductitius ad, 
 400I. per an. advitam Londinensem totum se contulit Collegii socius existen|^ 
 Coll. Nov. Regist. 
 
 July 14, 1769^ 
 Ric. Phelps K — i. e. resigned." 
 Warton in his Theocritus styles Mr. Plielps Ductus quidam amicus: and io 
 ihe goodness of Iiis heart the above letter bears ample testimony, 
 
 ham's
 
 334 LETl^ERS OF 
 
 ham's bread to the prejudice of any young mafi who would 
 do his founder credit. If such is the situation of the Roll 
 that an exceeding clever boy will by this means be provided 
 for, I will make room for hira before the election ; but if 
 that is not the case, I Avill make use of my fellowship, 
 which is intirely iu my own power, to push some lad of 
 merit at the ensuing election. 
 
 I hope you know, my dear friend, that I am not a man 
 of parade, and therefore will more readily comply with my 
 request in keeping the contents of this letter entirely secret; 
 I know you to be a man of thorough honour, justice, and 
 discernment, who will consequently give me the truest light 
 upon this occasion. Remember only that I do not mean to 
 serve mediocrity, unless it is attended with superior merit of 
 the heart : in this last case I would prefer it to the best 
 head that ever stood on shoulders without it. In fine, I am 
 sure that you understand me, and therefore, according 
 to the Italian phrase, voglio levaroi I'incommodo. 
 
 !Most sincerely and aflectionately 
 Yours, 
 
 R. PlIELPS. 
 
 I beg my compliments to Mrs. Warton, and love to Tom : 
 "H^hope he is <]^ite clear of his ague.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 535 
 
 LETTER LXXX. 
 
 HORACE WALPOLE TO MB. WAKTON. 
 
 Sir, Strawberry -hill, Sept. 20lb, 1 768. 
 
 I RETURNED hither but last niglit from a tour into 
 Yorkshire, Derbyshire, &c. and found your letter, from the 
 date of which I fear you will have thought me very rude, 
 and forgetful of the civilities I have received fi'om you. 
 You do me great justice, Sir, in thinking I should be happy 
 to be of use to you, if it was in my power ; and I may add 
 that nobody can think what you desire more proper for you 
 than I do. Your merit is entitled to that and greater dis- 
 tinction, and Averc the place in my gift, I should think you 
 honoured it by accepting it. But, alas ! Sir, my opinion and 
 my wishes aVe both very fruitless. I should not deserve the 
 honour you have done me, if I did not speak sincerely and 
 frankly to you. I have no interest with the Ministry, I 
 desire none, and have shewn by my whole life that I will 
 cultivate none. I have asked no favour for myself or my 
 friends. Being now out of parliament by choice, I doubt it 
 would not help my interest. Mr. Gray's preferment gave me 
 great pleasure ; but I assure you upon my honour, Sir, that I 
 knew not a word of it's being intended for him, till I saw in 
 the papers that he had kissed hands. I believe. Sir, you are 
 
 acquainted
 
 3r)6 LETTERS OF 
 
 acquainted with liim, and he would confirm this to 3'ou. It 
 ■would therefore, Sir, be giving myself an air of importance 
 which I have not, if I pretended I could either serve you, 
 or would try to serve you in this case ; I had much rather 
 you should know how insignificant I ans than have you think 
 me either vain of favour I have not, or indifferent to your 
 interest. I am so far from it, that I will tell you what I 
 think might be a method of succeeding, tho' I must beg you 
 Avill not mention my name in it in any shape. Mr. Stone- 
 hewer is a great favourite of the Duke of Grafton, and the 
 person, that recommended Mr. Gray. If you are acquainted 
 with Mr. Stonchewer, who is a very worthy man, he might 
 possibly be inclined to name you to the Duke, if the place 
 is not promised, nor he unwilling to recommend a second 
 time. Lord Spencer or Lord Villiers, if you know either of 
 them, might be useful too. Excuse my hinting these things, 
 but as I should be happy to promote such merit, Sir, as 
 yours, you will interpret them as marks of the regard with 
 which 1 am, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 Hou. Walpole. 
 
 P. S. The Duke of Marlborough might assist you, Sir, too.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 337 
 
 LETTER LXXXI. 
 
 DUKE OF GRAFTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Sll', Grosvenor-square, Sept. 22dj 1768. 
 
 I SHOULD with great pleasure have laid before the King 
 your request to succeed to the Professorship of Modern 
 History at Oxford, if I had not known that it was His 
 Majesty's intention to confer it on another gentleman. 
 The character you bear in the world, and the just pretensions 
 you have to such a mark of distinction and favour, would, 
 1 am persuaded, have justified any steps I might have taken 
 towards forwarding your wishes on this occasion. I am, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Grafton. 
 
 LETTER LXXXn. 
 
 DUKE OF GRAFTON TO BISHOP WARBURTON. 
 
 My Lord, Grosvenor-square, Sept. 23d, 176S. 
 
 I AM honoured with your Lordship's letter, and am 
 
 sorry that Mr. Warton, whose merit your Lordship so fairly 
 
 states, cannot on this occasion meet with that success which 
 
 X X he
 
 33S LETTERS OF 
 
 he is equally with any one entitled to. Many of His 
 Majesty's servants, who had supported with their votes 
 Mr. Vivian on a former occasion for a professorship at 
 Oxford, joined early their solicitations in his favour for the 
 vacant one of Modern History. This gentleman has under- 
 taken to hold it on terms stipulated by the Vice-Chancellor, 
 as the King had signified his intentions that this office should 
 never any more be held as a sinecure. Though I have not 
 the honour to be personally acquainted with your Lordship, 
 yet allow mc to say that this recommendation, from a per- 
 son so eminent for his great knowledge as well as taste in 
 literature, could not fail of having the greatest weight with 
 me, who have the honour to be, my Lord, with the truest 
 esteem and regard, 
 
 Your Lordship's 
 most obedient humble servant. 
 Bishop of Gloucester. Grafton. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIII. 
 
 BISHOP WARBURTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, PHor Park, Sept. 27th, 176S. 
 
 I BELIEVE this post will bring you two letters together 
 fiom mc — the first was written yesterday; and to-day 
 brought me the inclosed from the Duke of Grafton. 
 
 3 You
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 339 
 
 You will find things go their usual train, to the exclusion 
 of superior merit. The Duke and I give one another good 
 words; they are all I expect from courts; and they are more 
 than courts have any reason to expect from me. The only 
 not unpleasing circumstance in my disappointment is, that 
 it has afforded me an opportunity of shewing how much I 
 am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful friend and 
 
 affectionate humble servant, 
 W. Gloucester. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, St. James's-street, 7th March, 1 769. 
 
 No one being a more sincere well-wisher to you and 
 yours than myself, you may be assured no endeavour of 
 mine shall be wanting to promote what you hint, and in the 
 manner you wish it. 
 
 Lord Pembroke is now at Rome, and 'tis expected will 
 be in Corsica some time this month, and return thence in 
 the summer to Wilton. Twould be most desirable he 
 should speak to me first, which may possibly happen; if not, 
 I will endeavour, if I am able, to give my sentiments from 
 X X 2 myself
 
 340 LETTERS OF 
 
 myself onginal)}^ nor have I the least doubt I shall find 
 an opportunity. 
 
 The Duchess of Grafton's divorce has past the Lords. — 
 Great encomiums are given to Lord Chancellor and Lord 
 Mansfield, for their eloquent and decisive speeches in the 
 Douglas cause, which carried the judgment in Douglas's 
 favour without a division. Five Lords protested against 
 this judgment, the Duke of Bedford, Earls of Sandwich, 
 Bristol, and Dunniore, and Lord Milton. 
 
 The theatrical entertainments have been so crowded this 
 year as to be hardly accessible — the houses are nearer upon 
 a par than they used to be; and Mrs. Yates at one, 
 Mrs. Barry at the other, exceed all the women that have 
 gone before them. 
 
 I have lately obtained from the Vatican a collation of 
 M. Antoninus, from Avhich I hope some signal lights upon 
 that incomparable author. 
 
 Bonada, a critic at Rome, has published a Greek and 
 Latin Anthology, consisting of various inscriptions and 
 epigrams, thrown into classes, with a dissertation from each 
 class, suitable to its subject. 
 
 I saw a gentleman last night, who had read about sixty 
 pages of Robertson's new history, which he much com- 
 mended. I find the author takes up his subject with a 
 general view of Europe during the dark centuries, from the 
 extinction of the Western Empire. 
 
 There is a magnificent history in French of Kamscatska, 
 
 and
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 341 
 
 and the Northern tract, with most elegant cuts, that cost 
 eight guineas. 
 
 Three new vohimes of Voltaire are come out, besides a 
 short piece subsequent. 
 
 Present all our compliments to Mrs. Warton, and believe 
 me to be, with great truth, dear Sir, 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 and most obedient servant, 
 
 James Harris. 
 
 My Son was very well at Madrid, the l6th of last month; 
 and writes he is well pleased with his situation. The Prin- 
 cess of Asturias is pregnant. If she brings a son, they are 
 to have a Bull Feast. 
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 
 
 MR. HARRIS TO CHANCELLOR HOADLY. 
 
 Dear iMr, gt. James's-street, March 14th, 1769. 
 
 I HAVE received your letter, and communicated it to 
 our Dean, who has promised to pay a due regard to its 
 contents, when the subject of a Master is agitated. 
 
 I am glad to hear you give a tolerable account of your- 
 self, but we were all much concerned at our good friend 
 
 Mrs.
 
 5452 LETTERS OF 
 
 Mrs. Hoadly's illness, and most sincerely wish she may have 
 
 no relapse. 
 
 I congratulate you on the man-iage of your neighbour, 
 Miss Chudleigh, to the Duke of Kingston ; they are now gone 
 into the country, but are in a few days to be presented. 
 The ladies give most superb accounts of her wedding gown, 
 flounced all over with point, fringed with pearl. 
 
 Report says, that all the Monks are expelled Portugal, 
 but we Avait for confirmation. 
 
 Last night was j\Irs. Yates's benefit, and never a fuller ; 
 Pit and Boxes thrown together: she acted the part of 
 Electra, in the Orestes of Voltaire, translated on purpose 
 for her. For tone, and justness of elocution, for uninterrupted 
 attention, for every thing that was nervous, various, elegant, 
 and true in attitudes and action, I never saw her equal but 
 in Garrick, and forgive me for saying I cannot call him her 
 superior. She outdid, as our Longinus says, her usual out- 
 doings ; and fame reports her to have had interviews this 
 summer at Paris with the incomparable Madame Clairon. 
 She is soon to act Medea, for the benefit of her husband, 
 when probably the house will be once more equally 
 crowded. 
 
 Talking of Garrick, I am grieved to write he is said to be 
 in a very declining way ; should he drop, the world would 
 lose a superlative genius. 
 
 Bishop Warburton preached before the King last Sunday, 
 on the subject of salt having lost its savour. He applied 
 
 this
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 343 
 
 this to his own country, and shewed how its savour was lost 
 in all ranks, beginning from the common people, and so on 
 to the clergy, the patriots, and the ministers of state ; say- 
 ing something particular and characteristic as to each 
 degree and order. Mason preached at St. James's, early 
 prayers, and gave a fling at the French for their invasion of 
 Corsica. Thus politics you see have entered the sanc- 
 tuary. 
 
 My Son was very well at Madrid, as we heard by last 
 mail. — All here beg their love to you and Mrs. Hoadly. 
 Believe me, my old and worthy friend, 
 
 Yours most truly and affectionately, 
 
 J. Harris, 
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. 
 
 DR. BALGUY TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Lomlon, April 6th, 1769. 
 
 The success of my Sermon has been just what I expected, 
 and what every man must expect, who thinks for himself. 
 My bookseller is wishing I may be attacked by Blackburn, 
 which might (as he supposes) be a foundation for a contro- 
 versy. But in this I should certainly disappoint him ; not 
 having the least inclination to enter the lists against such 
 an adversary. I should be much pleased to know that you 
 
 intend
 
 344 LETTERS OF 
 
 intend to treat this wretched biographer with the same 
 contempt. He may challenge, indeed, the thanks of the 
 public, for the occasion he gives you of printing your 
 second volume; but I hope no part of that volume will 
 be wasted in refuting objections Avhich have met with uni- 
 versal neglect. 
 
 I understand the Oxford professorship remains yet in 
 suspense ; and that the Dean of Christ church is bent on 
 opposing Vivian, and another candidate, whose name 1 
 have forgotten. Both of them are accused of infidelity ; 
 and I am much mistaken if this charge be not pressed 
 against' them in a manner not easy to be resisted. The 
 Bishop of Gloucester was with me last night, and seems to 
 have the business much at heart. He told me he had 
 written to I\Ir. Warton about it ; hoping this incident might 
 prove favourable to his claim : I should suppose the Dean 
 has too much discretion to assert a thing of this kind, with- 
 out good evidence of the truth of his assertion. 
 
 I have no news to give you. The madness of the people 
 still continues; but I hope the 13th instant will restore 
 our quiet, tho', it is to be feared, not without a parting 
 blow. 
 
 The first volume of Robertson is by far the most valuable. 
 But I thought his account of the feudal system trite and 
 tedious : and in some respects erroneous. In the two last 
 volumes, the story of the reformation in Germany is, I 
 think, the best told. But you and I have agreed long 
 
 since
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 345 
 
 since that his manner is essentially bad ; and he has now 
 added a fault he was capable of avoiding, incorrectness 
 of language. Most readers too are disappointed in finding 
 a political and military history, when they hoped for a lite- 
 rary one; or at least for a large mixture of the memoirs of 
 learned men. He could afford but two pages even to 
 Erasmus ! 
 
 I propose to be at Bath on the 13th, and should have 
 been glad to find a hint in your letter, that I have some 
 chance of meeting you there in the beginning of Whitsun 
 holidays. 
 
 Miss Drake and Mr. Drake, who are both here, join in 
 compliments to Mrs. Warton and the family with, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most faithful and 
 
 affectionate humble servant, 
 Tho. Balguy. 
 
 P.S. Perhaps you observed in the papers, that Mr. 
 Drake is elected Fellow. I cannot forbear adding, that he 
 owed his success to his own merit full as much as to his 
 connexion with me. I am the less scrupulous in saying this, 
 because it imphes a just acknowledgement to those who 
 laid the foundation of all. 
 
 Y Y
 
 346 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. 
 
 MR. GARRICK TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 My dear Sir, London, .Tune 20th, 17G9. 
 
 I SENT the books, as you desired, b_y the Oxford 
 coach. I have no metrical romances (I mean old one.^) but 
 those which I hope are now in your chaiiiberf^. — it gives me 
 the greatest pleasure to hear of your intended work — it is a 
 performance we much want ; and if I were to Misi. for the 
 pubhc in this matter, or pray for myself, it should be, that 
 the History of English Poetry should be so taken care of 
 as it most certainly will be — I wish from my soul that the 
 Ode I am to speak at Stratford came from the same quar- 
 ter. If I can be of the least service to you in your under- 
 taking, I shall be proud and happy to obey your com- 
 mands. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Most truly your friend, 
 - and very humble servant 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 Mrs. Gariick presents her best compliments.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 347 
 
 LETTER LXXXVIir. 
 
 DR. WARTON TO HIS BEOTHEF 
 
 Dearest Tom, Brighton, July 5th, 1709, 
 
 1 RECEIVED your letter, and answer it as soon as 1 
 can. I must own, the more I see of this place the better I 
 like it. I never miss bathing in any weather, and it agrees 
 with me admirably. The company encreases daily. Lord 
 and Lady Marchmont, Lord Percival, &c. are arrived. 
 On such a day as this the water is so smooth that it resem- 
 bles a sheet of glass, and the view of the passing vessels is 
 extremely striking : Calm, however, is not the character- 
 istic of this shore. From such a genuinely idle place the 
 least object that stirs is a topic. I daily meet more and 
 more people that I know, and on this spot it is mightily easy 
 to begin an acquaintance. To-day I have breakfasted with 
 Dr. Poole, the physician of this town, who has a very plea- 
 sant house, and is an excellent man. We have, amidst 
 dther strange characters, a bathing divine, perpetually clad 
 in silks and sattins, and solely Employed in playing cards 
 with the furring doAvagers and superannuated old maids. 
 Derrick is likewise here, rich in ridiculousness. Also a 
 Mr. Jennings, once an oflUcer, who says he dined with you 
 and me at Mr. Blackett's, in London. He is now an high 
 character, has travelled eight years, and is full of professed 
 taste— Poole enjoys him extremely. 
 
 Y Y 2 Thi:^
 
 348 LETTERS OF 
 
 This morning we have been reading, at one of the book- 
 sellers shops, " The Oxford Sausage."— I suspect you have 
 had some hand in that roguery ; some of the prints I hke 
 much — I see there are all your smaller things — and truly I 
 see my verses to you as an Antiquary, and Frampton's ver- 
 sion of the Epitaph : how should they come by these — I 
 shall keep your secret, but is it not so ? 
 
 1 hope to hear from you as soon as I get to Winton. We 
 all join in best love, and are, I am happy to add, very well. 
 Dearest Tom, 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 J. Warton. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 DR. HURD TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Thurcaston, Sept. 15th, 1769. 
 
 Ever since the receipt of your kind letter (which, by 
 being directed to Lincoln's Inn, came somewhat later to 
 my hands than it should have done) I have been enquiring 
 after Mr. Gray, and have only heard, by the last post, that 
 he is rambling with some friends in the North of England, 
 and does not return to Cambridge till the end of October. 
 I shall then apply to him for an account of the plan (z) 
 
 (zj See Mant's Life of Warton. 
 
 he
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 349 
 
 he had projected of such a work as yours, and have no 
 doubt that he will readily oblige us with it. You give me 
 great pleasure in letting me see that you are so much in 
 earnest about this noble design, which will be so accept- 
 able to the public, and will do yourself so much honour. I 
 agree with you entirely as to the merit of the Installation 
 Ode. It is much above the common rate of such things, 
 and will preserve the memory of the Chancellor when the 
 Minister is forgotten. 
 
 You are very good to remember what I mentioned to 
 you about Dante. If he has any hints to my purpose, I 
 guess they are to be found in his Pursalino. The Greek 
 poem of Theseus is a curiosity, and may be well worth your 
 perusing; tho' you will scarce find it so masterly a per- 
 formance as that of Chaucer or Dryden. 
 
 If this letter should find you at Winchester, pray give my 
 respects to your Brother, and to our friend Dr. Balguy. — 
 You say nothing, I perceive, of the professorship ; and yet, 
 from what the Bishop of Gloucester said to me, I con- 
 cluded that that matter was not quite desperate. I wish 
 you all success in this and every thing else which concerns 
 . either your interest or (what you have more at heart) your 
 studies; and am, with great truth and respect. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 '^ Your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. HURD
 
 350 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 MR. GARRICK TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 My dear Sir, London, Sept. 21, 1769. 
 
 I HAVE been in such a perpetual hurry all the sum- 
 mer, and still continue so confused and unsettled, that I 
 have forgot ev'n those whom I love and honour most — 
 Pray let me desire you and your Brother (who, I am told, 
 is with you) to accept of this trifle (a), not as a proof of 
 my genius, but of my great aflection and esteem for you 
 both. I am ever and truly 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 
 LETTER XCL 
 
 BISHOP WAKBURTON TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 My Lord, Jan. 25, 1770. 
 
 My zeal for the interest of letters occasions your 
 Grace this trouble. You may remember that last year 
 I told your Grace that I interested myselfe very much 
 
 (a) His Ode on Shukespeare.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. S5l 
 
 in behalfe of a very eminent person, Mr. T. Warton, of 
 Trin. Coll. in Oxford, one of the candidates for the pro- 
 fessorship of Modern History in that University ; Mr. Vivian, 
 for whom it was designed, hesitating on the terms ; and that, 
 tho' a stranger to the Duke of Grafton, I had taken the 
 liberty to acquaint his Grace with the character of Mr. 
 Warton ; presuming I was in order, as a bishop, to acquaint 
 the first Minister with a matter that merely regarded the 
 advancement of literature. This I then told your Grace ; 
 and you was so good to assure me that you would second 
 my endeavours. Mr. Vivian is now dead ; and your 
 Grace's powerful recommendation of this very learned man 
 will be of the greatest service to him ; and give the greatest 
 pleasure to, 
 
 My good Lord, &c. 
 
 W.Gloucester. 
 
 LETTER XCir. 
 
 BISHOP LOWTH TO Ml 
 
 Dear Oir, Argyle-street, Jan. 27th, 1770. 
 
 You would do Tne so great an honour by setting my 
 name at the head of your Theocritus, that how cun one 
 resist the temptation of so flattering an offer? You take off 
 one objection which I should have had to your proposal, by 
 
 choosing
 
 352 LETTERS OF 
 
 choosing the form of inscription rather than that of dedica- 
 tion ; panegyric is almost the essence of the latter, but is no 
 necessary ingredient in the former; and it would but ill 
 become either you or me. But cannot you think of some 
 patron, that would be of much more credit, and of some use 
 to you ? You have yet time to consider; and I do seriously 
 and earnestly recommend it to you. For instance, I have a 
 notion that you are Avell known to Lord Chatham ; a great 
 man, a man of genius, of letters, and of your own College: 
 is it not possible, that in six weeks time he may be in a 
 situation to be of service to you ? — Six weeks is a long terra 
 at any time in the life of a modern administration ; and such 
 an event is at least somewhat more probable now, than it 
 was three days ago. I speak this in confidence; and be 
 assured that I am very much in earnest in what I say. 
 Hold yourself at perfect liberty; have no sort of scruple 
 with regard to me: and at last, if you are at a loss for a 
 name to fill up your blank page, for want of a better you 
 are av el come to mine. 
 
 I saw Dr. Pye about a week ago: he mentioned to me, 
 that Mr. Vivian was dangerously ill ; but said nothing at all 
 intimating that his brother would give up his former design. 
 I was engaged to favour his pretensions, as far as it should 
 happen to lie in my way, before I knew any thing of your 
 intentions. The late Archbishop of Canterbury had applied 
 to me, to find him out a proper person to answer some 
 papers published from the Popish quarter. I recommended 
 3 Mr,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 353 
 
 Mr, Pye: he undertook it at the Archbishop's desire, and 
 performed it to his satisfaction. On this account the Arch- 
 bishop would be disposed to favour him on such an occa- 
 sion; and I might properly enough apply to his Grace in his 
 behalf. This was all that I could have particularly in view: 
 but as my engagement to ]\Ir. Pye was in general terms, you 
 see it still holds good, if he should be a candidate. If not, 
 I am at your service ; not that I think I can really serve you. 
 However, if you can point me out the way, I shall use my 
 best endeavours. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate 
 
 humble servant, 
 
 R. Oxford. 
 
 LETTER XCIII. 
 
 BISHOP WARBURTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Grosvenor-square, Jan. 29th, 1770. 
 
 I SHALL be very happy if the enclosed note, which 
 flatters me so much, be the means of my procuring this 
 lecturership for you. I suppose I shall soon hear the King's 
 pleasure— who is much set upon abolishing the scandal of 
 the sinecure. I have assured the Ministry that I know of 
 Z z none
 
 354 LETTERS OF 
 
 none so capable, nor none so willing as yourself to comply 
 vith his Majesty's purpose in this matter. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Most afFectionately yours, 
 
 W. Gloucester. 
 P. S. Since writing the above, I dined with Lord Mans- 
 field, and he told me that Dr. Markham, Dean of Christ- 
 church, had solicited the Archbishop, in favour of (I sup- 
 pose) some Westminster man or other. 
 
 LETTER XCIV. 
 
 BISHOP LOWTH TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Argyle-strcet, Jan. 31st, 1770. 
 
 You do me too much honour by far in your last. I will 
 say no more at present upon that subject ; but desire it may 
 still continue in the posture in -svhich my last letter left it. 
 I have now to inform you, that upon the Duke of 
 Grafton's resigning. Lord North is at the head of the Trea- 
 sury, First Commissioner; he is considered as the Minister; 
 not pro tempore, but to carry on affairs upon the same plan 
 as before, without any further alterations, which are not 
 expected, at least at present. You must have some con- 
 nection with Lord North; you know him personally. Apply 
 U to
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 355 
 
 to him immediately ; and strengthen your application to 
 him by every proper method that you can think of. He 
 can, and I think very probably will, do what you want at 
 once. If he does so. Lord North must of necessity be the 
 patron of Theocritus. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. Oxford. 
 
 LETTER XCV. 
 
 DK. BALGUY TO DE. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, London, Feb. 6th, 1770. 
 
 I HAVE but just time to tell you, that the Bishop of 
 Gloucester went down to the House of Lords yesterday, on 
 purpose to thank the Duke of Grafton for the obliging note 
 he had received from his Grace; and to express his fears, 
 that the purpose might be defeated by his Grace's resigna- 
 tion. The Duke answered, there was no reason to think that 
 his resignation would make the least difference in the suc- 
 cess of the application. 
 
 In my opinion, Mr. Warton should immediately procure 
 certain information, whether Vivian actiialli/ gives up all pre- 
 tensions; and, if he does quit, Mr. W. should not lose a 
 moment's time, but come up in person, and lay the matter 
 
 before Lord North. 
 
 z z 2 Excuse
 
 356 LETTERS OF 
 
 Excuse the freedom I take in suggesting this to you; I 
 mean it onl}' as a thing fit to be considered by you and 
 Mr. W. ; who are certainly much better able to judge for 
 yourselves, than I can for you. 
 
 You will also please to remember that what I have written, 
 or may write on this subject, is without the Bishops know- 
 ledge; who has already communicated to Mr. W. Avhat he 
 saAv fit; and (1 believe) has not yet an answer to his last 
 letter. Of this indeed I am not quite certain. But I beg 
 that no mention may be made of wj/ name, when Mr. W. 
 writes to the Bishop, lest 1 should have said any thing 
 the Bisliop might not chuse to haye said. Tho' I have in- 
 deed no particular reason for such an apprehension. 
 
 Tiie resignation itself is not yet understood ; reports and 
 conjectures are innumerable. Within these few days Lord 
 Camden asked and obtained an addition to his pension. 
 
 I must not conclude without acknowledging the favour of 
 your letter; tho' I confess this will hardly pass for an answer 
 to it. — Believe me, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most faithful and 
 
 aiFectionate humble servant, 
 
 Tiio. Balguy. 
 
 Tliere was a furious Protest yesterdaj', signed by 41 Lords.
 
 \ 
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. »57 
 
 LETTER XCVI. 
 
 DR. BALGUY TO MR. VVABTON. 
 
 Williams's, in Waiwick -court, Holborn, 
 
 Dear Sir, Feb. 10,1770. 
 
 The Archbishop has given a very favourable answer to 
 the Bishop of Gloucester's application on your behalf; and 
 it does not appear that the change of the Minister is likely 
 to make any material alteration in your prospect of success. 
 But I fear the Bishop may be less inclined to prosecute this 
 affair, if he does not hear from you, or see you very soon. I 
 think i already discern that he is nut quite satisfied, by your 
 neglecting to write to him. If you have no thoughts of 
 coming up to town (which I suppose may depend on the 
 state of Mr. Vivian's pretensions) I could really wish you 
 would take the first opportunity of acknowledging his last 
 letter, if you have not already done it; and of telling him 
 your thoughts on the matter. — I write this in great con- 
 Jidence; as it is altogether without the Bishop's knowledge. 
 • — It is reported that Lord Abingdon has been with Lord 
 North, to renew his application for Vivian; but I hope this 
 may be a mistake. — I know you v.ill forgive the liberty I 
 take with you, as you will easily discern that it can proceed 
 from no other motive, but the sincere friendship and good 
 Avishes of, dear Sir, 
 
 Tour's most affectionately, 
 
 Ino. Balguy.
 
 358 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER XCVII. 
 
 DR, FARMER TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Eman. Feb. I3tli, 1770. 
 
 I SHOULD have been particularly liapp}' to have seen 
 you at Askew's, as perhaps he has more matters worth your 
 notice, than he himself in the multitude of his business 
 might have time to exhibit — but I am sure he would at least 
 be willing, for I know not a more communicative man in the 
 world. 
 
 I wish I could give you a satisfactory account of Lcland. 
 They have no registers of admissions or degrees at Christ's 
 before the last century: nor are there any matriculations 
 remaining of Leland's time. All I find is, from an old Proc- 
 tor's book, that Dr. Leland paid for the degree of B. A. in 
 1522: so far I could have written some time ago; but 
 I waited from day to day for the Antiquary of the 
 College (one Mr. AVall) who is just now arrived at Cam- 
 bridge. I hoped he might have informed me somewhat 
 about the fellowship — Fuller, I think, is the first who calls 
 him Fellow : but here again I was disappointed: his list of 
 Fellows begins only in the 22d of Hen. VJII, In truth, I 
 find no reason to believe he was so : when he speaks of him- 
 self and the college, he would scarcely have omitted it — 
 however if any thing worth notice should occur, you shall 
 
 certainly
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 359 
 
 certainly have it. You cannot oblige me more, than by 
 giving me an opportunity of hoping at least to answer your 
 questions. — Have you no job in the History of Poetry for 
 Your very obliged and afTectionatc servant, 
 
 R. Farmer. 
 P. S. Fuller calls Leland Fellow of Christ's (as he pretends) 
 on his own authority [Hist, of Canib. p. 9 1.] and quotes his 
 Vita Seherti, [Sigeberti] ; but if you turn to it in Leland de 
 Scriptoribus, or in Tanner, you will see he only says, he had 
 been a member of the college. Bale makes a distinct life of 
 Sigehert, but Wall is certainly right, where he tells us there 
 is no other than this. 
 
 (Calamo rapidiss.) 
 
 LETTER XCVIII. 
 
 BISHOP WARBUUTON TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Dear'Sir, Grosvenor-square, Feb. 14, 1770. 
 
 I HAVE the favour of yours of the 12th this evening. 
 You did well in getting the best intelligence you could, 
 from Lord Abingdon, concerning Mr. Vivian's views. Lord 
 Abingdon certainly pushed his friend's affair with the Mi- 
 nistry very lately: which confirms me in my suspicion, that 
 in the midst of all this confusion, they are in hopes that the 
 
 professorship
 
 360 LETTERS OF 
 
 professorship may return back again to a sinecure. If the 
 King be true to his purpose, theywill be deceived. But we 
 must be upon the qui vive. I shall be at the House to-mor- 
 roAv, and have hopes of seeing both the Archbishop and the 
 Duke of Grafton there. 
 
 AVere I now soliciting for some worthless fellow, I might 
 safely trust to courts to do after their kind. But the great 
 are as backward in paying their court to Prince Posterity, as 
 if they expected nothing from liim. 
 
 Apropos : you did extremely right in applying to Lord 
 North. I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your very affectionate friend 
 
 and faithful servant, 
 
 W. Gloucester. 
 
 LETTER XCIX. 
 
 BISHOP WARBUETON TO ME. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Grosvenor-square, Feb. 15, 1770. 
 
 I HAVE just now received your favour of the 14th. You 
 will allow me to be, if no prophet, yet a good guesser. It is 
 as clear as the day that Vivian hangs on the professorship, in 
 hopes that these distracted times, and a shifting Ministry, 
 will throw it into his hands, without the burthen. Your only 
 hope now is the steadiness of the K.'s purpose. 
 
 I went.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 361 
 
 I went, as I told 3'ou I would, to the House. I missed the 
 Duke of Grafton, but found the Archbishop there, I ac- 
 quainted him with the contents of yours of the 12th. He 
 renewed his promises of zeal to serve me — Said that Vivian 
 had got another Lord to solicit in his favour — I have forgot 
 his name, and it is no matter. If Vivian will read lectures 
 as required, without doubt he will have the professor- 
 ship. If he will not read, and declines the condition, 
 and the King insists on the performance, you will ha\e it. 
 If the report of Vivian's death had b^en true, I had secured 
 it for you. But I am afraid one disinterested man Mill never 
 be suffered by fortune to serve another. However, I will 
 prevent if possible that neither Vivian nor his friends, Avith 
 all their arts, play us a trick in this matter, by urging the 
 Duke's honour home to him. I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 and faithful servant, 
 
 W, Gloucester. 
 
 LETTER C. 
 
 DR. BARNARD TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Eton Coll. Feb. 18, 1770. 
 
 I REMEMBER in a Conversation many years ago (a 
 pleasure I have not Jately enjoyed) you told me that you 
 3 A had
 
 362 LETTERS OF 
 
 had entertained a design of translating Apollonius. I have 
 some particular reasons for asking, and I know you will 
 excuse my freedom, whether you are at present engaged in 
 that Avork, or have entirely dropped your design. A friend 
 of mine (h) last week informed me, that he had finished 
 about 1 000 lines relating to the Medea, which he intended 
 to publish. He seemed however to demur, when he heard 
 that you might probably be engaged upon the same sub- 
 ject, and desired me very earnestly, when I informed him 
 that I had the pleasure of being acquainted with you, to 
 trouble you with the present inquiry : if you should have 
 changed your mind, and have any thing to communicate 
 upon that subject, you may have an opportunity of 
 obliging a very ingenious man. I need not assure you how 
 sensible I shall be of any attention which you may be 
 pleased to pay to this application. Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours with great sincerity, 
 
 E. Barnard. 
 
 (b) Dr. Ekins, tlie late Dean of Cailisle, a most elegaul sfliolar^ aiul truly 
 worthy man.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. sSa 
 
 LETTER CI. 
 
 BISHOP WARBURTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Grosvenor-square, Feb. 22d, 1770. 
 
 I HAVE the favour of yours of the 21st. You are a 
 philosopher, as appears by your contempt of the caprice of 
 fortune ; and if one philosopher may claim the assistance of 
 another,- you have a right to my services, were it only for the 
 heroically bearing your disappointment; when, had your 
 first intelligence been true, you had been settled in your pro- 
 fessorship by this time. I call it yours, because I have a 
 strong fancy it will be so, ere long. I am told from good 
 hands that Vivian has an ulcer in his bladder, which is likely 
 to prove fatal to him in a short time. I am, with the truest 
 attachment. 
 
 Your affectionate friend and 
 
 faithful humble servant, 
 
 W. Gloucester. 
 
 3 A 2
 
 364 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER ,C1I. 
 
 BISHOP LOWTH TO Ml 
 
 Dear Sir, Aigyle-street, Feb. 23d, 1770, 
 
 Youu dedicating to Lord North will have the utmost 
 propriety, in every respect. As a man of letters, your con- 
 temporary, yom- fellow-collegiate, your acquaintance ; as a 
 man of unexceptionable character, and at the head of the 
 University: you could not find a better subject, or have a 
 fairer opportunity of addressing him. I am very glad you 
 are come to this determination, which I entirely approve of: 
 it tnio-ht have been a real concern to me, to have stood in 
 your way on this occasion. I am, with great truth. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. Oxford. 
 
 LETTER CUl. 
 
 MR. TOUP TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, March 9th, 1770. 
 
 By yours of Feb. 28th, I apprehend that you had 
 reprinted the leaf, and consequently should have omitted the 
 
 Postscript.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 365 
 
 Postscript, which made me write you about it. But by you 
 last, of March 2d, I find all is well, and that the two con- 
 cluding notes will be added to the postscript. — I make no 
 doubt but you have likewise taken care of my last note 
 on Epigram 3, either by inserting it, or adding it as a de- 
 tached article. It is, I think, a certain emendation. "When 
 you send the book, be pleased to send it by the Plymouth 
 Machine from TiOndon, to be left with Mr. Robert Haydon, 
 bookseller in Plymouth, for conveyance to me. As soon as 
 I have it, I shall draw up an index to my Addenda; and if I 
 observe any mistakes, shall set things right, as in my notes 
 on Suidas, &c. When I receive the copy, I will write you 
 again : in the mean time I am, with great respect, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate servant, 
 
 J. Toup. 
 
 P. S. The alteration of lepuscuhis into kpuscida, of which 
 I wrote you last post, I suppose came too late. However 
 it does not signify, for both kfus and lepusculus are of the 
 common gender (c). Neither can I find /e^W5c«/rt in any of 
 my dictionaries. 
 
 (c) There certainly is not such a word as lepiiscula: Lepus and Lepusculus 
 strictly speaking, are both masculine, nor will they be found, on any classical 
 authority, with a feminine epithet : they cannot therefore be termed common; 
 but epicene.
 
 566 LEXERS OF 
 
 LETTER CIV. 
 
 MR. GRANGER (d) TO MK. WARTON, 
 
 Rev. Sir, Shiplake, 13th March 1770. 
 
 I RECEIVED the honour and favour of yours, which 
 I have taken the first opportunity of answering, though I 
 have missed one post. I was at Oxford Avhen it came to 
 Shiplake, and was at that time in Mr. Huddesford's room, 
 at Trinity College. If I had known any thing of my obliga- 
 tion to you, I should certainly, Sir, have thanked you in 
 person, as I now most heartily do. It is a great satisfaction 
 to me that my book has not been disapproved of by several 
 persons of distinguished names, and I am very happy. Sir, in 
 adding yours to the number. It has been received by the 
 public with much more favour than I ever expected ; but 
 the sale, of late, has not answered the sanguine expectation 
 of Mr. Davies the bookseller, who is by no means pleased 
 with me for talking of a second edition, though he himself 
 put the words into m}'^ mouth. He told me, but few months 
 since, that he did not question but he must begin reprint- 
 ing it within a year from the publication. But he is now 
 
 (dj Nottlie author of "The Sugar Cane," and translator of Tibulhis^ but an 
 eminent and ingenious Divine, autlior of a very valuable Biographical History 
 of England. His death was remarkable : he was seized with an apoplectic fit 
 whilst administering the sacrament at the communion table, and died the next 
 morning. 
 
 assured
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 367 
 
 assured that a second edition is at a much greater distance; 
 and tells me that a great number of copies remain unsold 
 in his hands, and especially in the hands of the booksellers, 
 his subscribers. After all, he owns that the book has been 
 Avell received, and has sold Avell, for a book of such a price, 
 and says, that " the sale of 500 in ten months is no incon- 
 siderable thing." He has very generously promised to give 
 me a gratuity of 50 1. besides his present of 13 copies, to say 
 nothino- of smaller presents. He is very much afraid that 
 what I have said to Mr. Huddesford, and other gentlemen, 
 in relation to a second edition, may be circulated to his dis- 
 advantage. I therefore think it incumbent upon me to 
 check any reports of that kind, as they will doubtless preju- 
 dice the sale of the work. Mr. Davies tells me that the 
 additional emendations will be printed by the Autumn. — 
 I am, Rev. Sir, with very great respect. 
 
 Your most obliged, and 
 
 truly grateful humble servant, 
 
 James Granger. 
 
 Mr. Davies wonders that the book has sold so much better 
 at Cambridge than it has at Oxford.
 
 368 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER C\^ 
 
 BISHOP LOWTH TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Argyle-street, Ap. 3d, 1770. 
 
 1 CAN no longer defer my request to you to accept of 
 my best thanks for your Theocritus. I was indeed in hopes 
 that by this time I might have been able to speak more 
 knowingly upon the subject ; but I find there is nothing to 
 be done in the multiplicity of 'business and avocations of 
 this place : I have only been able to take a taste in diffe- 
 rent parts, by way of specimen and sample of the whole ; 
 by which I find I shall be highly entertained and much 
 edified, the first leisure I have for a more regular reading. 
 As far as I have seen of what you have done, I very much 
 approve : particularly, I think your second page has great 
 propriety in all respects. 
 
 Give me leave to address one word more to you, as one 
 of the Delegates of the Press. Some method to enable 
 Dr. Kennicott to proceed immediately in the work of 
 digesting the collations, and preparing the edition of the 
 Hebrew Bible, is now under consideration. What plan is 
 likely to be. agreed upon, I cannot tell; but whatever 
 method should be proposed, I most earnestly hope that 
 the University in general, and particularly the Delegates of 
 the Press, will readily and zealously concur in it. And I 
 
 must
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 369 
 
 must add, that tlio' I have great regard for Dr, Kennicott, 
 and the greatest zeal for promoting his work, yet in this, I 
 assure you, my principal regard is for the University ; as I 
 am persuaded that their shewing the same readiness and 
 zeal in promoting the completion of this work, with which, 
 greatly to their credit, they at first set it on foot and have 
 hitherto patronised it, is a matter in which the honour of 
 the University is very nearly concerned. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. Oxford. 
 
 LETTER CVI. 
 
 BISHOP THOMAS TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Chelsey, April 9, 1770. 
 
 The care and industry which you have employed in 
 giving us a new edition of Theocritus will tempt me once 
 more to read over that author. 
 
 It may seem late and adventurous, at my advanced 
 season of life, to renew an acquaintance with the poet of 
 Syracuse ; but the sweetness of his numbers, the simplicity 
 of his style, and the music of the Doric dialect, can never 
 fail to please, and may, for a time at least, make me think 
 myself young again. 
 
 3 B I am
 
 570 LETTERS OF 
 
 I am extremely glad tliat you luue inscribed your work 
 to so excellent and virtuous a nobleman as Lord North, 
 who is too true a judge of merit not to take delight in re- 
 wardino- it. The sooner this happens, the greater pleasure 
 will it give to me, who am, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 J. WiNTON. 
 
 LETTER CVII. 
 
 MR. IIARUIS TO DK. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Sarum, Nov. 8, 1 770. 
 
 The enclosed Sonnet is by jny friend and your disciple, 
 Poore, of Queen's College, and is in my opinion equal to 
 any sonnet since the time of JMilton, for taste, elegance, 
 and genuine simplicity. When the author is considered, 
 Ave have less reason to wonder, for 1 don't know his equal. 
 Many have I heard called philosophers, but one that really 
 was a philosopher I never knew till I knew him. In my 
 receipt to make a philosopher, astronomy, physics, and 
 chronology, are -but poor and incompetent ingredients. 
 This from, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, ever truly, 
 
 James Harris..
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. S7i 
 
 LETTER cvnr. 
 
 MR, COLMAN TO MR. -WARTON. 
 
 Dear WartOn, - London, Dec. 27, 1770. 
 
 Your Trinity brawn lias made me happier than any 
 present I ever received in my life, because it tempts me to 
 flatter myself I am still in your memory. We hoped, how- 
 ever, to have had a laugh with you and your Brother this 
 Christmas, but have heard nothing of him, and suspect 
 that you do not mean to see London this winter. Mrs. 
 Colman desires to be kindly remembered to you ; and I am, 
 Dear Warton, 
 
 Very heartily yours, 
 
 G. CotMAX. 
 
 LETTER CJX. 
 
 DR. BALGUY TO DU. WAKTliN. 
 
 Dear Sir, London, Feb. 21st, i77i. 
 
 I OUGHT long since to have acknoMledged the favour 
 of your letter ; but I waited for an opportunity, which I 
 have not yet found, of telling you souje little news which 
 might anticipate the accounts in the papers. You see 
 the transactions with Spain have received the approbation 
 .3^2 of
 
 372 LETTERS OF 
 
 of Parliament; and they vdll probably be approved by 
 all reasonable men, if the etlect be permanent. AVhatever 
 good may arise is to be imputed however principally to 
 the French. Ford Mansfield said in the House, that the 
 Spaniards had determined to go to war with us ; that they 
 had provided an army, that their king had consented to 
 put himself at the head of it, and that the siege of Gi- 
 braltar was to be the first step ; that they had no doubt this 
 place would fall into their hands in eight or ten days ; and 
 that they depended on receiving effectual support from 
 France. But the desertion of France had disconcerted 
 their plan ; and there was room to hope it might weaken 
 the family compact. 
 
 Mrs. Corneli/s is supported in the manner of Wilkes. But 
 the lady patriots, tho' equally unwilling to submit to the 
 restraints of law, have not been able to contend with 
 Justice Fielding. They held a committee regularly in the 
 
 Red Room, agreed to make contributions, &c. and are now 
 
 supposed to lie on the point oi petitioning. 
 
 I doubt your friend Lord Lyttleton is by no means secure 
 
 of success in the business of the Anglesea claim. Here is 
 
 proof, not easily to be overcome, that the certificate of the 
 
 niamage is forged. The House wait at present for some 
 
 living zcitnesses from Ireland. 
 
 The pamphlet about the Buildings in London is by one 
 
 of the Burkes : I fancy UilUam; for it seems to me a bad 
 
 imitation of his cousin's manner. 
 
 Mr.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 375 
 
 Mr. Shipley acquitted himself at St. James's church with 
 great reputation. I heard of his fame in several different 
 places. — 1 dined with the Bishop on Saturday. It is well if 
 one of the young ladies, Miss Betty, be not on the brink 
 of a consumption. 
 
 As for my young man, I hope he will not contrive to 
 make any ill use of the little liberty his present situation 
 gives him ; and if he does not, it will be just the same thitig 
 whether he sleeps in your house or mine. 
 
 Here has been some trying weather this winter: I hope no 
 part of your family has felt any inconvenience from it. Pray 
 give my best respects to Mrs. VVarton, and believe me, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most faithful and 
 
 affectionate humble servant, 
 
 Tiio. Balguy. 
 
 P. S. After Mr. Shipley had finished his sermon, he re- 
 ceived an application from two ladies, that they might be 
 ailowetl to peruse the MS. — ^This report has just now 
 reached me, and w«^ be true for any thing I know to the 
 contiaiy.
 
 374 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER ex. 
 
 5H01' WAKBURTON TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, '^ Grosvenor-square, March itiJij 1771. 
 
 I WAS favoured with yours of yesterday this morning. 
 1 take it for granted you was growh very indifferent to this 
 proiessorsliip, or that you would have seen me on Sunday 
 (I was only gone to the Chapel) that I might have wrote 
 immediately to the D. of Grafton, who had actually got 
 the thing for you of the King, in the supposition of the 
 death of Vivian. That report proved false. So our labour 
 was to begin again. But as I now understand Vivian lay a 
 dying for some time, that was the time when you should 
 have begun your new application. You sat out, in every 
 sense, too late. I went to the House inmiediately on the 
 receipt of your letter, to look out for the D. of Grafton, 
 but, instead of him, I met Dr. Markham, the new Bishop, 
 and he told me that North, the Dean of Canterbury, told 
 him (tiie truth of M'hich he depended on) that your Chan- 
 cellor had got the professorship for Nowel, the head of 
 one of your Halls. And this musthave been before you 
 waited on his Lordship, who received you in so very 
 obliging a manner — Such are the civilities of Lords ! The 
 Dean of C. told the Bishop of Cliester farther, that Lord 
 North was extremely well disposed towards you. 
 
 10 I believe
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 375 
 
 I believe I am more vexed and disappointed than you 
 are; and not a little of my vexation falls upon yourself; or 
 at least, would fall, did I not think you must needs i)e very 
 indifFeivnt about the matter. Perhaps, all things consi- 
 dered, you may have good reason for being so. I have 
 your iutciest so jnuch at heart, that nothing but that could 
 console me for your ill luck. You are one of those i'ew who 
 if they cannot command success, have the pleasing con- 
 sciousness of deserving it. Dear Sir, in all fortunes, 
 
 Most cordially and faithfully yours, 
 
 W. Gloucester. 
 
 LETTER CXI. 
 
 >IR. HARRIS TO DI 
 
 Dear Sir, Suffolk-street, March 16, 1771. 
 
 I CAME home so late last night, that I could not send 
 your Brother's letter till this morning. When my messenger 
 carried it to the Somerset Cofiee-house, the master of the 
 coffee-house took the Jetter from him, and said that he 
 would take care of it. 
 
 I am much concerned that it is not in my power to obey 
 your connnands with respect to your Brother. Before your 
 letter came (which brought me the first news of your Bro- 
 ther's
 
 376 TJ'/rTERS OF 
 
 ther's being a candidate to succeed Mr. Vivian) I had ex- 
 erted all the little interest 1 have in behalf of Mr. Poore, of 
 Queen's College. That being over, 1 have but one consola- 
 tion left, which is to wish there may be no other competi- 
 tors ; and then, be the success as it may, I shall have 
 reason to rejoice. 
 
 We all beg our compliments to Mrs. Warton.- — The affair 
 of the gross insult to our messenger, in the case of Mills the 
 printer, will I fear be attended with turbid consequences. — 
 Stocks are falling, and yet people can assign no cause. 
 
 1 have thoughts of printing a third volume, consisting of 
 two or three pieces, one on that strange subject, the Predi- 
 caments; another on the History of Criticism ; and the third 
 a short Essay on the Taste and Genius of the ]\Iiddle Age. 
 Plealth and leisure are the requisites. These I must gain, 
 or nothing can be done. I think I have the idea of a good 
 frontispiece, for Stuart to design for me. I rest, 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your much obliged and 
 
 most obedient humble servant, 
 
 James Harris.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS'. 37^ 
 
 LETTER CXII. 
 
 ME. TOUP TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, April loth, 1771. 
 
 I receiv'd aletter from Mr. Holmes the 1 1th of March, 
 since which Mr. Ruhnkeiu sent me a Dissertation de vita et 
 ^criptis Longini, whichj as it contains some things new, if the 
 gentlemen of the University think proper, I would have 
 printed before the text, by way oi Prolegomena. It is a pam- 
 phlet of 46 pages in 4to, and will make an useful and ele- 
 gant addition to the work. If the Delegates approve of it, 
 as I make no doubt they will, I will write to Mr. Saigas, 
 the Subprseceptor to the Prince of Wales, and desire him to 
 send his copy to the University, which may be printed off 
 while the index is forming, which Mr. Holmes will take 
 care of. I wish you would take the first opportunity to 
 talk with the Delegates, that this aftair may not be neg- 
 lected, but every thing may be got ready in season for the 
 work. 
 
 As soon as the notes are printed off, I Avould desire 
 Mr. Holmes to send me a copy by Mr. Elmsly, to be for- 
 warded to me by Mrs. Haydon, bookseller at Plymouth, 
 3 C when
 
 37a LETTERS OF 
 
 when I will form the index, and send up the rest of tlie 
 apparatus. 1 beg your pardon for giving you this trou- 
 ble, and am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate servant, 
 
 J. Toup. 
 P. S. I have wrote to JNIr. Holmes this post, but have not 
 mentioned the Prolegomena, so you will ad'.ise him of it. 
 
 LETTER CXIII. 
 
 ICK TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, April lo, 1771. 
 
 I HAVE been ill off and on with the gout for «ear two 
 months, and it still seems to leave my left foot Avith great 
 reluctance. — I shall be very glad to assist any friend of yours 
 — if he is in town he shall with pleasure collate any plays, 
 &c. in my collection. I think that of Dodsley's might have 
 been better, it is full of errors : but whether it will be 
 worth Mr. Hawkins's trouble to reprint any of those in 
 that collection, or publish a new one, must be left to his 
 better judgment — Will it not in some measure be building 
 upon another's foundation with Dodsley's materials.? and 
 1 1 will
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 379 
 
 will not that be rather too inferior an office for a gf^ntlc- 
 man who deserves the character you give him ? But this is 
 really impertinent in me; I shall be ready to give your 
 friend any assistance in my power. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Most sincerely and affectionately, 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 
 "^^Tien are we to see a volume from you ? My mind is 
 very impatient. — I have mislaid your note you gave me, of 
 the books I sent you from my collection — will you some 
 time or other let me know again what they are, for I am 
 about to print my catalogue at the end of some nonsense of 
 mine. — Does not Mr. Hawkins think that the old plays are 
 in general more matters of curiosity than of merit? 
 
 LETTER CXrV, 
 
 mi:. MICKLE (e) TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Sir, Oxford, April iSth, 1771. 
 
 I HAVE enclosed a letter from Mr. Garrick, by which 
 you will see, that if my tragedy merits your approbation, 
 you have it in your power to do me the greatest service by 
 
 (e) Translator of the Lusiad. 
 
 3 c 2 your
 
 380 LETTERS OF 
 
 your recommendins; it to liim. Perhaps it may be some 
 inducement to you to do it the more warmly, when 1 assure 
 you tliat its being refused by Garrick, will be a severe dis-^^ 
 appointment, in the year 1 769 1 might have gone to the 
 East Indies, on very advantageous terms. I have a relation 
 an India Director, and there are two others -with whom I 
 have great interest — I mean Johnstone and Dempster. My- 
 conduct in neglecting such advantages appears to some of 
 my friends as absurd and spiritless. But they mistake me. 
 I am so far from disliking to venture abroad, that, should I 
 fail of poetical success, to the East Indies I will certainly go ; 
 and it was only the hopes that my tragedy would enable me 
 to indulge the strong bent of my inclinations, that in 1769 
 prevented me. I am. Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Julius Mickle. 
 
 LETTER CXV. 
 
 MR. GARRICK TO MR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, April 30th, 1771. 
 
 I WROTE to you only, but at the same time 1 mean to 
 answer Mr. Mickle's part of the letter 1 received yesterday. 
 You may both depend upon my good will to any perform- 
 ance 1 shall receive from either — but indeed the tragedy in 
 
 question,
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 381 
 
 question, with some poetical merit, had no dramatic interest; 
 and in my opinion the very names, and that particularly 
 (if I remember right) of the principal cliaracter was very 
 uncouth, and ill calculated for an English tragedy. I shall 
 consider it now as a new drama, and witli great partiality in 
 his favour, as it comes recommended by you; but should I 
 approve, as I wish, and expect, it will not be in my power to 
 produce it the next winter ; I am more than full for the next 
 season — however, if the author will trust it with me, should 
 it be thought fit for representation, I will bring it out as 
 soon as 1 can; but unless some of my present engagements 
 are withdrawn, it cannot make its appearance till the winter 
 after next. I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient 
 
 humble servant and friend, 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 
 My best compliments to Mr. Mickle — Has the Dr, at 
 Winchester seen it ? — A play underwritten by the two 
 Wartons would certainly merit every attention.
 
 3S2 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER CXVI. 
 
 UR. BURNEY TO DR. WAItTON. 
 
 Queen's-square, Bloomsbury, 
 
 ^ir» -Aug. 12, 1771. 
 
 Having received, from my friend Mr. Garrick, your 
 kind communication of the contents of an old and scarce 
 book on music, I hope 1 shall be pardoned for breaking in 
 upon you somewhat abruptly with my acknowledgements. 
 Indeed I am the more encouraged to risk this letter, as your 
 voluntary offir of assistance, to a person wholly unknown to 
 you, but by a feeble and hasty pul)lication, which I never 
 flattered myself could be worthy your perusal, must proceed 
 from benevolence of disposition, fn>;n a cordial affection for 
 the arts in general, and from a spirit of universal philan- 
 thropy. 
 
 Franchinus Gafftn-ius, or as the Italians call him il Gafturio, 
 was a very eminent and voluminous writer of the 15th and 
 16th centuries; and though I picked up last year in Italy 
 several of his treatises, all which are scarce, yet I do not fmd 
 the work 3'ou mention among them. Nor is the same edition 
 of it as that in Winchester Coll. among the almost innume- 
 rable books in Padre Martini's library. 'J'liis g()od father 
 has however three different editions of the Practica,^ Musiciv — • 
 one printed at Milan, 1496; one at Brescia, 1497; and one 
 at Venice, 1512. The work is frequently mentioned and 
 
 quoted
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. oS3 
 
 quoted by subsequent writers on the subject of music, and 
 seems to be the clearest, and the best of his productions; as 
 it will perhaps give an idea of the principles upon which the 
 composers of his time produced such admirable models of 
 go(jd harmony. He was but a very few years anterior to the 
 famous Prenestince, the best writer for the church since the 
 invention of the modern scale and counterpoint. 
 
 I have long been drudging through " all such reading as 
 was never read" with more patience than profit, I fear; for 
 the jargon, pedantry, and inanity of musical writers, cannot 
 be matched in any other art. I have lately had occasion to 
 consult a work by Gaffurio, which 1 found at Venice — De 
 Harmonia Musicorum Instrumentorum, Mediol. 1.518. In 
 this he attempts to give an account of the modes and genera 
 of the ancient Greeks with as much confidence and solem- 
 nity as the rest of his brethren, without knowing any more 
 of the matter than about what kind of music is used by the 
 inhabitants of terra incognita. We have the words without 
 the things — well-sounding terms of art, de belle parole, 
 Avithout ideas. Rousseau saysof Rameau's famous Generation 
 Harmoniquey that it is a book, qu'il a fait fortune, sans etre 
 lu — this singular luck has happened to more books on 
 music than one. I fancy it would be difficult to find among 
 the admirers of Zarlino, the prince of musicians, as he is 
 <Jften called, a single person who has been gifted with 
 perseverance suflicient to read. his Harmonic Institutions 
 
 quite through. 
 
 But
 
 384 LETTERS OF 
 
 But to return to GafFurio. In the work I just mentioned, 
 he has been imphcitly copied by other writers, ten deep: and 
 among the rest, by Bontempi, who in several particulars is 
 the best writer on music that I have yet met with. If there- 
 fore tluring the course of my Work I could with propriety be 
 indulged with the loan of the book for a few days (of which, 
 as it is a College book, I very much doubt) it should not 
 only be taken great care of, but should be speedily returned 
 with innumerable thanks. The rest of GafFurio's writings 
 that have come to my knowledge are, Theoricum Opus 
 Armoniffi discipline, Neapolis, 1480 — Auct. et emendat. 
 Mediol. 1492: et Angelicum ac divinum opus Musice ma- 
 terna Lesigna Script. Mediolani, 1508. After saying thus 
 fer, I venture. Sir, to add, that if, in the course of your ex- 
 tensive reading, and still more deep and refined reflection, 
 any thing should occur relative to my subject, and you 
 would interest yourself so far in my plan as to communicate 
 to me, I should not only be higlily flattered by it, but the 
 Work would be greatly benefited by a few hints from so 
 excellent a judge of every species of literature; indeed the 
 undertaking which I have dared to attempt is so intimately 
 connected with an art which you have so long and so 
 happily exercised, that it is impossible to give a history of 
 Music which will not nec'cssarily include a history of Poetry. 
 So small is my claim upon your leisure, that it grieves me 
 to obtrude such a long letter upon you, but the opportunity 
 our friend Mr. Garrick aftbrded me of answering your letter 
 
 to
 
 EMINENT PERSONS, 385 
 
 to him, and of jointly thanking you for it, was too tempting 
 to be resisted by one who has long been ambitious of assuring 
 you that he has the honour to be, with the highest respect 
 and regard, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient and most humble servant, 
 
 CliAS. BURNEY. 
 
 LETTER CXVII. 
 
 BISHOP LOWTH TO DR. WAUTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Cuddesdon, Sept. 14th, 1771. 
 
 I AM very well pleased with my Son's place upon the 
 roll; and am much obliged to you and the other electors 
 for your favour to him. 
 
 When I mentioned Gesner's edit, of Horace, did I speak 
 of Heyne's edit, of Virgil.? Mr. Heyne is a professor at 
 Gottingen: non spurius Homo, sed doctus et acer; an able 
 critic, commentator, and philologist. The first volume 8 00 1. 
 (Eclogues and Georgics) of his Virgil was published in 1767. 
 The second, half the iEneid, is just now come out; and he 
 has Iionoured me with a present of it. The third, which 
 will finish the iEneid, is in the press ; and perhaps a fourth 
 will be added, containing the poems, &c. By what I have 
 seen of it (and I had the first vol. before) I believe it will 
 be found perfectly well adapted to the use both of the 
 3 D learner
 
 386 LETTERS OF 
 
 learner and the most learned, and give great satisfaction to 
 both. He often makes honourable mention of you ; and 
 whenever he dissents from you or any one else, it is Mith 
 candour and good manners. 
 
 I am very glad to hear that Dr. Burton goes on as well 
 as can be expected in his case. Some account of him from 
 you will be more satisfactory than what I commonly 
 receive: I beg you to present my respects and best Avishes 
 to him. 
 
 I am glad to find Lord L. has not now forgot your Vtvo- 
 ther. I hope the preferment (fj will be agreeable and 
 convenient to him. 
 
 Mrs. Lowth joins in compliments to Mrs. "Warton and 
 yourself with, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 R. Oxford. 
 
 (f) The vicarage of Kiddington in Oxfordshire, presented to Mi. Warton. 
 by the Earl of Lichfield, then Chancellor of the Universitr.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. ssr 
 
 LETTER CXVIII. 
 
 DR. MUSGRAVE TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Sll'j Plymouth, Dec. 15, 1771. 
 
 I RECEIVED the favour of your letter, and am ex- 
 tremely flattered by the confidence reposed in me by the 
 Delegates, that is, by the handsome compensation they 
 have allotted me for a \york as yet unseen, of the execution 
 of which they of course can but very imperfectly judge. 
 My fear now is, that when they do see it, it may not 
 answer their kind expectations. 
 
 The notes are quite finished, and might be sent to Oxford 
 immediately ; but I presume it is intended that I should settle 
 the text, and of course should furnish the press copy — 
 Such a one I have already finished as far as the end of the 
 Orestes ; and shall now go on with it, unless I should in 
 the mean time learn from Mr. Holmes (gj that it is un- 
 necessary. 
 
 I will beg you to acquaint that gentleman, that I do not 
 perfectly recollect the printer's marks, and should therefore 
 be much obliged to him if he would acquaint me, whether 
 
 (g) The lale learned, pious, and much lamented Deaa of Winchester. 
 
 S D 2 th(-
 
 S88 LETTERS OF 
 
 the following are right for the separation of words, and 
 the separation or joining of lines : 
 II Of man's first disobedience, and J_the fruit jj of that= 
 
 = Forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
 
 I will beg you to offer my respectful thanks to the Delcr 
 gates ; and believe me to be, with great sincerity. 
 
 Your very obedient humble servant, 
 
 S. jMusGRAvr.. 
 
 LETTER CXIX. 
 
 ME. GARRICK TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 My dear Sir, Adelphi, Dec. 291I1, 1779. 
 
 It gives me great concern that I am prevented by a 
 slight attack of the gout from waiting upon you ; and as 
 I am obliged to post away into Northamptonshire, \vhere I 
 ought to have been on the 22d, 1 shall lose the sincere 
 pleasure I have always in your company, till your next 
 return to London, when I hope j\Irs. Warton will attend 
 you, and make IMrs. Garrick and me happy. — Mr. Gibbon 
 called upon me, and has tantaliz'd me, by saying I might 
 have met you to dinner at his house Friday or Saturday 
 next : I will take care for the future not to meet with these 
 mortifications : could I possibly have sent another excuse to 
 the most amiable of women. Lady Spencer, I should have 
 
 been
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 389 
 
 been tempted by that devil, Gibbon, who greatly allured 
 me from my allegiance by the mention of you — but I have 
 very philosophically withstood his snares, and shall set off 
 for Althorp to-morrow morning at eight o'clock. — The warm- 
 est and most affectionate wislies of the season are most 
 devoutly sent to you and dear Mrs. Warton, from the hearts 
 of the Garricks. 
 
 Ever and most affectionately yours, 
 
 D. Gaurick. 
 I hope your lady got her flower-roots. 
 
 IT was the annual custom of Di. Warton to spend his Christmas vacation in 
 London: his partiality indeed was riot less than that of Johnson for the advan- 
 tages of the metropolis : he thought with him that there was a certain focus 
 of intellect in a large and populous society ; and that a man had far better oppor- 
 tunities of storing his mind there than in any other place. Independent, howeve; . 
 of the calls of private friendsliip, and the rich allurement of tlic Literary Club, 
 Dr. VV. felt no small gratification in conversing with professional men on their 
 peculiar pursuits, a gratification to whicli his cxhauslless' store of general infor- 
 mation rendered him highly competent. An ardor for military knowledge 
 was a prominent fieature in the family character ; and it was no uncommon 
 circumstance to see Dr. Warton at breakfast in the St. James's Coffee-house, 
 surrounded by officers of the Guards, who listened with the utmost attention 
 and pleasure to his remarks, were enlivened and rendered happy by his wit 
 and good humour, and by whom he was treated with the most respectful 
 deference^ the most serious and attentive regard.
 
 390 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER CXX. 
 
 DIJ. JOHNSON TO DR. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Jiii', May 23d, 1780. 
 
 It is unnecessary to tell you how much I was obliged by 
 vour useful memorials. The shares of Fenton and Broom 
 in the Odyssey I had before from ]\Ir. Spence. Dr. War- 
 burton did not know them. I Avish to be told, as the ques- 
 tion is of great importance in the poetical world, whence 
 you had your intelligence : if from Spence, it shows at least 
 his consistency ; if from any other, it confers corroboration. 
 If any thing useful to me should occur, I depend upon your 
 friendship. 
 
 Be pleased to make my compliments to the ladies of your 
 house, and to the gentleman that honoured me with the 
 Greek Epigrams when I had, what I hope sometime to have 
 again, the pleasure of spending a little time with you at 
 Winchester. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most obliged and 
 
 most humble servant, 
 
 Sam. Johnson.
 
 EMIKENT PERSONS. S9l 
 
 LETTER CXXI. 
 
 MR. GIBBON TO DR. WAHTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Benlinck-street, June22d^ 1780. 
 
 By this post I received a letter from a gentleman who 
 subscribes himself Taylor, the subject of which he had pre- 
 viously imparted to you. It inspiies me with a very favour- 
 able opinion of his learning, his liberal opinions, and his 
 obliging disposition ; but as 1 am not precisely acquainted 
 with his address, I Avill trouble you to communicate to him 
 the very sincere expression of my gratitude. By my own 
 diligence and the help of some useful guides, I have gained 
 access to the original documents (more especially his own 
 works) that can illustrate the life of Athanasius ; but 1 
 should think myself inexcusable, if I neglected any oppor- 
 tunity of availing myself of the researches and reflections of 
 Sir Isaac Newton, on any subject to Avhich he applied the 
 powers of his understanding. From Mr. Taylor I learn 
 that the paradoxes are in the possession of Lord Porfs- 
 mouth, to whom I am entirely a stranger ; and I should 
 esteem it as a particular favour if you could point out any- 
 probable method, any proper channel of solicitation, 
 through which I might hope to obtain the loan, or at least 
 the sight of those valuable MSS. I will only add that 1 am. 
 in some degree streightened for time ; the part of my second 
 
 ^olume^.
 
 29'i LETTERS OF 
 
 volume, that relates to Athanasius, will go to the press very 
 speedily; and any considerable delay would materially affect 
 the operations of next winter. Yet I should be sony to 
 lose the benefit which I might possibly derive from such a 
 private fountain of knowledge. I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your faithful humble servant, 
 
 E. Gibbon. 
 
 LETTER CXXIl. 
 
 BURKE TO DE. WARTON. 
 
 My dear Sir, Charles-street, Feb. i6th, 1781, 
 
 Your constant and very flattering partiality to me 
 has extended itself beyond me, and induced you to take 
 notice of a brother who is very dear to me, and to whom I 
 cannot wish any thing more pleasing than the honour of 
 your friendship. He is much obliged to you for your kind 
 enquiries about him both at Winchester and here, and 
 equally mortified that he had not the good fortune of 
 meeting you either there or here. He hopes to have 
 shortly the pleasure of paying his respects to you personally 
 on the next circuit ; and therefore I take the hbcrty (for he 
 does not think himself authorized to do it) to rc(]uest that 
 you will direct your servant to procure him tolerably com- 
 2 modious
 
 EMINENT l^ERSONS. 393 
 
 modious lodgings for the assizes at Winchester. How 
 ardently he longs to be made acquainted with so much 
 unaffected taste, and learning totally devoid of pedantry, 
 you may conjecture by the value ever set on them by 
 Your most affectionate and 
 
 obedient humble servant, 
 
 Edm. Burke. f/i^ 
 
 LETTER CXXIII. 
 
 MRS. MONTAGU (i) TO DK. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Sandleford, Sept. i7tli, ] 782. 
 
 To make letter-carriers of pigeons is an ancient prac- 
 tice; I shall improve on the invention, by not only sending 
 
 par- 
 
 (h) The author of the Pursuits of Literature deems the union of Johnson, 
 Burke, and the two Wartons (when spoi^en of as the guides of public taste), 
 to be a strange coahtion. The claims arising from the common-place book on 
 Pope, and other similar proofs of Dr. W.'s intellectual attainments, to such a 
 distinction; the reader will estimate from his own judgment: it is however 
 sufficiently evident, that neither Johnson or Burke would have shrunk from the 
 connection. Let me add another remark, that it may possibly be doubtful 
 how far the author of the Pursuits of Literature, with all his merit, has 
 acquitted himself as a guide of the public taste. 
 
 (i) Lidependant of the J)utchess of Portland, jNIrs. Greville, Mrs. Carter, 
 and the writer of tlie above letter, whose tulents and iiifonnation Ur. VVarton 
 held in the highest esteem, and with wliom he frequently corresponded ; the 
 sex in general were partial to him : and the Editor has frequently seen the 
 young, the handsome, and the gay, deserted by tlie belks, to attract the 
 3E notice
 
 394 LETTERS OF 
 
 partridges with my letter, but lilcewise making them fur- 
 nish me with an excuse for writing it. You must know, 
 my dear Sir, that at every chapter of your incomparable 
 Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope, 1 felt a strong 
 impulse to express to you my delight and admiration ; and at 
 page 41 9 fA-^ more strongly still the gratitude is excited: but 
 
 notice of Dr. W.; whilst he was, on his part, thoroughly accessible, and ira- 
 parteti his Uvely sallies and instructive conversation with the most gallant and 
 appropriate pleasantry. He was a great admirer of beauty, nor was it in his 
 nature to use a rude expression to a female. He had moreover a great ten- 
 derness and love for children, and fully exemplified the maxim, that wherever 
 there are a uniform attention to the female sex, and an indulgent notice of 
 children, there is a warm and feeling heart. His politeness to the ladies 
 however was once put to a hard test : He was invited, whilst Master of Win- 
 chester, to meet a relative of Pope, who, from her connection with the family, 
 he was taught to believe could furnish him with much valuable and private in- 
 formation. Incited by all that eagerness which so strongly characterized him, 
 he on his introduction sat immediately close to the lady, and, by enquiring her 
 consanguinity to Pope, entered at once on the subject; when the following 
 dialoijue took place : — Pray, Sir, did not you write a book about my cousin 
 Pope? — Warton. Yes, Madam. — Lady. They tell me 'twas vastly clever. He 
 wrote a great many plays, did not he ? — Warton. I have heard only of one at- 
 tempt. Madam. — Lady. Oh no, I beg your pardon, that was Mr. Shakespear; 
 I always confound them. — This was too much even for tiie Doctor's gallantry; 
 he replied. Certainly, Madam; and with a bow changed his seat to the con- 
 trary side of the room, where he sat, to the amusement of a large parly, with 
 such a mingled countenance of archness and chagrin, such a struggle between 
 his taste for the ridiculouSj and his natural politeness, as could be pourtrayed 
 but by his speaking and expressive countenance. In a few minutes he quitted 
 the company, but not without taking leave of the lady in the most polite and 
 unaflected manner. 
 
 (i) " See the Essay on Shakespeare by Mrs. Montiigu, in which she has done 
 honour to her sex and nation; and which was sent to Voltaire with this motto 
 prefixed to it by a person who admired it as an exquisite piece of criticism : 
 
 Pallas te hoc vulnere Pallas 
 
 Immolat." Kotes to Warton on Pope, Vol. II. 
 
 I was
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 395 
 
 I was restrained by an apprehension that you would think 
 any praise I could give to a work universally admired by the 
 judicious, ingenious, and learned, to be more presumptuous 
 than obliging. However, tho' few were qualified to make 
 hymns to Apollo, all were allowed to bring offerings to his 
 altar, so I determined to wait such an opportunity, to pre- 
 sent my oblations, as should bear the proper character of 
 humble gratitude and warm devotion. As your cook \vill 
 want waste paper when she roasts the partridges, allow me 
 to send a Avhole sheet written on all sides for that purpose ; 
 and as cooks as well as critics think no paper ought to be 
 burnt that is not written on, let me have your leave to say 
 how much I think the world obliged to you for a work not 
 only so excellent in itself, but giving directions and inclina- 
 tions to others to excel in various species and modes of com- 
 position — ^^the best pattern for future critics, the best guide 
 for future poets. 
 
 The literary world has, to excellence and perfection in 
 writing, its heretics, schismatics, unbeUevers, and bigots — cold 
 infidels, and warm enthusiasts ; and from these are derived 
 many fanciful sects. Some of these affirm good writing to 
 be the effect of chance, others that it is to be got from 
 instruction alone, and direct you to the particular master or 
 schools who teach it. Some are such rigid puritans, such 
 severe reformers, as almost to prohibit the ornaments of 
 fiction;— others are so great latitudinarians, they permit a 
 strange jumble of things, and permit the poet to place 
 3 E 2 Jupiter
 
 396 LETTERS OF 
 
 Jupiter Amnion on the altar of a christian cathedral; make 
 the gentle, lovely Hebe cup-bearer in the hall of Odin, 
 where the souls of departed heroes drank out of the bloody 
 sculls of their slaughtered foes; or mix the gayest fictions 
 Avith the gloomy superstitions of yEgypt; set the fairies to 
 dance on the tomb of Osiris, and vest our simple Western 
 bards in the wonderous hieroglyphic robe. By opening to 
 us the original and genuine books of the inspired poets, and 
 distinguishing too Avhat is really divine in them, you lead us 
 back to true taste. Critics that demand an ignorant sub- 
 mission, and implicit faith in their infallibility of judgment, 
 or the councils of learned academics, passing decrees as arbi- 
 trary, could never establish a rational devotion to the Muses, 
 or mark those boundaries which are rather guides than re- 
 straints. By the candour and impartiality with which you 
 examine and decide on the merits of the ancients and 
 moderns, avc are all informed and instructed ; and I will con- 
 fess I feel myself inexpressibly delighted with the praises you 
 give to the instructor of my eaily youth. Dr. Young, and the 
 friends of my maturer age. Lord Lyttleton and Mr. West. 
 Having ever considered the friendship of these excellent 
 persons as the greatest honour of my life, and endeavouring 
 hourly to set before me their precepts, and their examples, 
 I could not but be highly gratified by seeing you place a 
 guard of laurel round their tombs, which will secure them 
 from any mischievous impressions envy may attempt to 
 make. I do not love the wolf and the tiger, who assail the 
 
 living
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 3^7 
 
 living passenger; but most of all beasts I abhor the vampire, 
 who violates the tomb, profanes the sepulchre, and sucks 
 the blood of sleeping men — cowardly, cruel, ungenerous 
 monster! You and 3'our Brother are critics of another dispo- 
 sition; too superior to be jealous, too good to be severe, you 
 give encouragement to living authors, protection to the 
 memories of those of former times, and instead of destroying 
 monuments, you bestow them (I) . I have often thought with 
 delighted gratitude, that many centuries after my little essay 
 on Shakespeare is lost and forgotten, the mention made of it 
 in the History of English Poetry, the Essay on Pope, and 
 Mr. Hanis's Philological Enquiries, will not only preserve it 
 from oblivion, but will present it to opinion with much 
 greater advantages than it originally appeared with. These 
 reflections afford some of the happiest moments to 
 Your highly obliged and 
 faithful friend and servant, 
 
 Eliz. Montagu. 
 
 (I) The Editor derives the most solid consolation from a conviction, that 
 however incompetent his Memoirs may prove to establish the reputation, and 
 perpetuate the name of Warton, however he may merit the address of 
 " Quo raoriture ruis ? — majoraq; viribus audes ? 
 " Fallit te incautum pietas tua ;" 
 yet the testimonies he has given to the world, of those whose taste and judg- 
 ment are incontrovertible, by the addition of the Correspondence, irrefragably 
 fix the Doctor's station in the republic of letters; and are fully competent to 
 correct prejudice, rectify error, and silence detraction.
 
 398 LETTERS OF 
 
 LETTER CXXIV. 
 
 MR. STEEVENS TO MK. WARTON. 
 
 Sir, Hampstead-heath, April a 6th, 178.'^. 
 
 Your letters (I know not why) alwa3's arrive several 
 days after they are due. Your last favour is dated on the 
 1 1th, and has not been in my hands a quarter of an hour. 
 
 All I have learned relative to the original from which the 
 idea of Milton's Comus might be borrowed, I communicated 
 to Mr. Reed, and you will find it in the 2d vol. of his 
 Biog. Dramatica, p. 441. Only a single copy of his Old 
 Wives Tale has hitherto appeared, and even that is at present 
 i)ut of my reach. Your quotation, however, may give 
 Reed's book a lift. My name is not worth mentioning. 
 Could I have foreseen your enquiry, I would have been 
 better prepared for it. 
 
 Whatever the vegetable Spring may produce, the critical 
 one will be prolific enough. No less than six editions of 
 Shakespear (including Capell's notes, with Collins' prolego- 
 mena) are now in the mash-tub. I have thrown up my 
 license. Reed is to occupy the old Red Lattice, and 
 Malone intends to froth and lime at a little snug booth 
 of i.is own construction. Ritson (m) will advertise sour ale 
 
 (in) See tlie liumorous and excellent account of llie black letter Dogs in 
 the first part of ilie Pursuits of Literature. 
 
 3 aoainst
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 399 
 
 against his mild. Lowndes has contrived a surreptitious 
 brewing; and another, viz. our text without notes (your 
 true critical hops) will also soon be in tap. Suave mari 
 magno, &c. exclaims 
 
 Your very faithful 
 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 G. Steevens. 
 
 LETTER CXXV. 
 
 BOWLE TO MR. VVARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Idmiston, April 2 2c1, 1783. 
 
 I WISH it was in my power to gratify your enquiry 
 concerning the edition of Randolph's poems of the date of 
 1637, but have my doubts whether such ever existed. That 
 year indeed produced the Masque at Ludlow Castle, of 
 which I have a copy, and probably in the same were pub- 
 lished the poems you enquire after, with the anticipation of 
 the date. I am inclined to this opinion from possessing 
 Amyntas, or the Impossible Dowry, Oxford, printed by 
 Leonard Litchfield for Francis Bowman, 1638, in 4to. This 
 is part, and, as I conceive, the conclusion of the edition 
 you allude to. It begins in Number 1 1 4. This also con- 
 cludes the second edition of the same place, in 1640, in 8vo. 
 In which year appeared in the same size, at Cambridge, his 
 
 comedie
 
 400 LETTERS OF 
 
 comedie of the Jealous Lovers : which was retain'd in the 
 same manner after the third edition in Lc'idon, 1643. 
 We are apt to overlook what is in our own hands. 
 It escaped me that the Masque at first was not openly 
 acknowledged by the author, nor did I consider Lawes (ii) 
 in the capacity of Editor, or recollect, wiiich is obviou 
 from Sir Henry Wootton's letter, that he had been presented 
 by Milton with a copy of it. There does not seem, as far 
 as I can comprehend, any reason to suppose that there was 
 any edition of it printed at Oxford. As probably it ap- 
 peared about the same time, though perhaps somewhat 
 before Randolph's poems, they may have been bound to- 
 gether, which might mislead the knight. The Masque must 
 be considered as a very noble effort of genius ; being ex- 
 pressly wrote for the particular persons who were to exhibit 
 in it. The Lord Brackly and Mr. Thomas Egerton played 
 the two brothers, I^ady /Mice Egerton the lady, and Lawes 
 the attendant spirit : but who Comus we are not told, 
 liawes was himself a versifier, and there are some lines of 
 his worthy of being known, which you may see in his book 
 of Psalms, in the Bodleian. There is a copy of verses by 
 him prefixed to Cartwright's poems, and I think another 
 of his among his Ayres, in 1653 ; but having mislaid the 
 
 (ii) Henry LaweSj a truly celebrated musical composer, educated under 
 Giovanni Copcraiio (as supposed by Fcnton) but really an Englisliman, under 
 the name of John Cooper, at that titne much patronised by Edward Earl of 
 Heitfbrd. See notes to ^VARTo^'s Milton, where the character and attain- 
 ments of Lawes are fully mentioned. 
 
 book.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 401 
 
 book, cannot speak with certainty. I could beg of you to 
 considei' at your leisure the' line I once mentioned to you : 
 
 (0) Arthurumque etiam sub terris bella moventem, 
 in Milton's Mansus ; and must wish you better success in 
 your search than happened to me in my endeavours to 
 trace the origin of the story of the same king's being con- 
 verted into a raven, thrice mentioned by Cervantes, and 
 which raised the curiosity of our common friend, Dr. Percy. 
 Would it anyways interfere Avith your plan to give a fac- 
 simile of Milton's Ode ad Joannem Rousium, which is in 
 the Bodleian, as is also a letter of his writing to the same, in 
 a collection of his prose pieces, presented by him to the said 
 library, I shall be glad to meet you any where, but here 
 particularly, as I think my mental larder is furnished with 
 some provision that would hit your palate. I am 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 John Bowle. 
 
 (0) " The Indigense Reges are the ancient kings of Britain. Tliis was the 
 subject for an epic poem that first occupied the mind of Milton. King Arthur 
 after his death was supposed to be carried into the subterraneous land of Fairie, 
 or of Spirits, where he still reigned as king, and whence he was to return into 
 Britain to renew the round table, conquer all his old enemies, and reestablish his 
 throne. He was therefore " etiam movens bella sub terris," still meditating 
 wars under earth. The impulse of his attachment to this subject was not 
 entirely suppressed ; it produced his History of Britain. By this expression, 
 revocabo in carmina, the Poet means that these ancient kings, which were 
 once the themes of the British bards, should now again be celebrated ia 
 verse." — Notes to Warton's Milton. 
 
 3P
 
 408 LE'ilT.RS OF 
 
 LETTER CXXVr. 
 
 MR. BOWLi; TO MB. WARTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, Idmiston, May i8th, 1783. 
 
 I SEND you two poetical jewels, for I esteem thera as 
 such, the Masque at Lud low-Castle, and the Justa Edovardo 
 King, Obsequies to his Memorie — the last poem of which 
 is the Lycidas. The list of the contributors, and their 
 respective houses, may I think be depended on. Christ's 
 College you will see furnished 1 1 of the 32 copies. — At 
 Croft's sale, \vhere I attended some days, I had at times much 
 converse with your friend Steevens, who informed me that 
 your opponent, Ritson, who was also there, had just pub- 
 lish'd another work in the same Zoilistical spirit that distin- 
 guished his former, in which he came in for a tolerable share 
 of abuse, among many others. Mr. Nichols has postponed 
 a paper of mine, in which I have greatly corroborated what 
 you advanced concerning sherilFesses, which he tells me will 
 appear in his next. I remain 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 John Bowle.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 403 
 
 LETTER CXXVII. 
 
 DR. WARTON TO MR. HAYLEY. 
 
 My dear Sir, Winton, March 12, 1792. 
 
 The sight of your hand-writing gave me a true pleasure; 
 and I must assure you I have greatly regretted that it is so 
 very long a time since we met. 
 
 I add a thousand to the thousand things you say we might 
 have to talk about. And I am at present not a little morti- 
 fied, that I cannot answer the only letter I have had from 
 you, during so long an interruption of our correspondence, 
 in a manner more satisfactory than it lies in my power to 
 do. I have no materials about Erasmus; and take for 
 granted your friend is well acquainted with Dr. Knight's 
 Life of Colet, where Erasmus is so often mention'd, and with 
 whom he was connected in a long and intimate friendship. 
 Erasmus lived so much, and had so many friends and patrons 
 in England, that I am clearly of opinion that he may claim 
 a niche in the Biographia Britannica. 
 
 I am extremely glad to find the splendid edition of Milton, 
 will be adorned with a life written by you. All that poor 
 Mr. Warton had collected about his life, you will find in the 
 second edition of Milton's poems published just after his 
 death, as he had finished it before; and in which I thought 
 it improper to make the smallest alteration, tho' I own, I 
 3 F 2 always
 
 404 - LETTERS OF 
 
 alwaN's differed from him in this opinion of IMilton's prose 
 works, which surely have much energy and strength, both of 
 reasoning and style, and also wish he had softened some of 
 his censures on our divine Poet's politics. What honour 
 is doing to our great bards, by these splendid editions ! — 
 At any leisure I get busied in finishing the last volume of 
 Mr. "NVarton's History of Poetry, Avhich I have engaged to 
 do — for the booksellers are clamorous to have the book 
 finished (tho' the ground I am to go over is so beaten) that 
 it may be a complete work. Need I say how I should re- 
 joice to see you here ; but you stay at home like a school- 
 master. I call'd at Mr. Romney's at Christmas, hoping to 
 find you, and left a card. Believe me, very faithfully and 
 affectionatel}'. Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, 
 
 J. Warton. 
 
 I cannot forbear adding how fully I agree with you about 
 Mr. Cowper's genius. — Mr. Warton left notes on Samson Ag. 
 &c Par. Regained — but these we are under some engagement 
 one day or other to publish in a 2d vol.
 
 EMINENT PERSONS. 405 
 
 LETTER CXXVIII. 
 
 BR. WAETON TO MR. HAYLEY. 
 
 My dear Sir, Wickham, Dec. 29, 1705. 
 
 I HAVE a thousand warm and cordial thanks to return 
 you, for the honour you have done me in addressing to me 
 your Life ofMihon; an honour as invahiable as unexpected, 
 and which must be attributed solely to your friendship and 
 partiality. I have read your Life with equal pleasure, atten- 
 tion, and information. You have candidly and completely 
 vindicated our unrivalled bard. — -1 almost wish you had 
 quoted the next stanza in Akenside's Ode, in which he 
 accounts for what is called Milton's acrimony against 
 Charles 1st. I know there Avas such a poem as Angeleida, 
 but, having never seen it, wish you had given a specimen or 
 two. I have no doubt of Milton's having seen it. The 
 assigning the invention of artillery to the infernal agents is 
 I think a decisive proof : tho' this artillery is mentioned 
 also by Ariosto. The Poem of Lancetta, which you have 
 brought forward, is indeed a very great literary curiosity. 
 
 I never heard of it. Rejoice Avith me, my dear friend, 
 
 that I have finish'd my labours on Pope for the press, and \ve 
 have begun to print. But this is a sort of work in which 
 there can be little curious matter on so known and beaten a 
 
 subject,
 
 406 LETTERS, &c. 
 
 subject — and no very correct writer can be a good subject 
 for criticism — to be always commending is tedious, and 
 almost as bad as always censuring. I have been forced to 
 give hard blows to the marvellous absurdities of AVarburton. 
 I thank you for the friend I3' delicacy in which you speak of 
 my Essay on Pope. I never thought we disagreed so much 
 as you seem to imagine. All I said, and all I think, is com- 
 prehended in these words of your oicn, " He chose to be the 
 Poet of reason rather than of fancy." — Of tliis and a million 
 of subjects I long to talk with you. When and where can 
 Ave meet ? I am always. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Very affectionately and feith fully yours, 
 
 J. W A ETON.
 
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