tural and incredible Panegyrick. Of this let the Ladies judge.

VII.

On the Monument of the Hon. ROBERT DIGBY, and of his Sifter Mary, erected by their Father the Lord DIGBY, in the Church of Sherborne in Dorfetfhire, 1727.

Go! fair Example of untainted Youth,

Of modeft Wifdom, and pacifick Truth:
Compos'd in Suff'rings, and in Joy fedate,
Good without Noife, without Pretenfion great.
Juft of thy Word, in ev'ry Thought fincere,
"Who knew no Wish but what the World might hear:
Of fofteft Manners, unaffected Mind,

Lover of Peace, and Friend of human Kind:
Go, live! for Heav'n's eternal Year is thine,
Go, and exalt thy Moral to Divine.

And thou, bleft Maid! Attendant on his Doom, Penfive haft follow'd to the filent Tomb, • Steer'd the fame Courfe to the fame quiet Shore, • Not parted long, and now to part no more! Go, then, where only Blifs fincere is known! Go, where to love and to enjoy are one!

Yet take thefe Tears, Mortality's Relief, And till we fhare your Joys, forgive our Grief: Thefe little Rites, a Stone, a Verse receive, • 'Tis all a Father, all a Friend can give!'

This Epitaph contains of the Brother, only a general indifcriminate Character, and of the Sister tells nothing, but that she died. The Difficulty in, writing Epitaphs is to give a particular and appropriate Praife. This, however, is not always to be performed, whatever be the Diligence or Ability of the Writer; for the greater Part of Mankind "bave no Character at all, have little that diftinguishes them from others equally good or bad, and therefore

nothing

nothing can be faid of them which may not be applied with equal Propriety to a thousand more. It is indeed no great Panegyrick, that there is inclosed in this Tomb one who was born in one Year, and died in another; yet many useful and amiable Lives have been spent which yet leave little Materials for any other Memorial. Thefe are however not the proper Subjects of Poetry; and whenever Friendfhip, or any other Motive, obliges a Poet to write on fuch Subjects, he must be forgiven if he fometimes wanders in Generalities, and utters the fame Praises over different Tombs.

The Scantinefs of human Praises can scarcely be made more apparent, than by remarking how often Pope has, in the few Epitaphs which he composed, found it neceflary to borrow from himself. The fourteen Epitaphs, which he has written,comprise about an hundred and forty Lines, in which there are more Repetitions than will eafily be found in all the reft of his Works. In the eight Lines which make the Character of Digby, there is fcarce any Thought, or Word, which may not be found in the other Epitaphs.

The ninth Line, which is far the ftrongest and most elegant, is borrowed. The Conclufion is the fame with that on Harcourt, but is here more elegant and better connected.

VIII.

On Sir GODFREY KNELLER.

Abbey, 1723.

In Westminster

• KNELLER, by Heav'n, and not a Master taught, Whofe Art was Nature, and whofe Pictures

• thought;

Now for two Ages, having fnatch'd from Fate Whate'er was beauteous, or whate'er was great, Lies crown'd with Princes Honours, Poets Lays, Due to his Merit, and brave Thirst of Praise.

• Living,

Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie • Her Works; and, dying fears herself may die.'

Of this Epitaph the firft Couplet is good, the fecond not bad, the third is deformed with a broken Metaphor, the Word crowned not being applicable to the Honours or the Lays, and the fourth wants grammatical Conftruction, the Word dying being no Subftantive.

IX.

On General HENRY WITHERS. In WeftminsterAbbey, 1729.

• Here, WITHERS, reft! thou braveft, gentleft

Mind,

Thy Country's Friend, but more of human Kind,
O! born to Arms! O! Worth in Youth approv'd!
O! foft Humanity in Age belov'd!

For thee the hardy Vet'ran drops a Tear,
And the gay Courtier feels the Sigh fincere.
• WITHERS, adieu! yet not with thee remove
Thy martial Spirit, or thy focial Love!
Amidft Corruption, Luxury, and Rage,
Still leave fome ancient Virtues to our Age:
Nor let us fay, (thofe English Glories gone)
The laft true Briton lies beneath this Stone.'

The Epitaph on Withers affords another Inftance of Common Places, though fomewhat diverfified, by mingled Qualities, and the Peculiarity of a Profeffion.

The fecond Couplet is abrupt, general, and unpleafing; Exclamation feldom fucceeds in our Language; and, I think it may be obferved, that the Particle O! ufed at the Beginning of a Sentence, always offends.

The third Couplet is more happy; the Value expreffed for him, by different Sorts of Men, raifes

him to Efteem; there is yet fomething of the common Cant of fuperficial Satirifts, who suppose that the Infincerity of a Courtier deftroys all his Senfations, and that he is equally a Diffembler to the Living and the Dead.

At the third Couplet I fhould wish the Epitaph to close, but that I should be unwilling to lose the two next Lines, which yet are dearly bought if they cannot be retained without the four that follow them.

X.

On Mr. ELIJAH FENTON. At Eafthamfted in Berkshire, 1730.

This modeft Stone, what few vain Marbles can,. May truly fay, Here lies an honeft Man: A Poet, bleft beyond the Poet's Fate,

'Whom heav'n kept facred from the Proud and Great:

Foe to loud Praife, and Friend to learned Eafe,

'Content with Science in the Vale of Peace. Calmly he look'd on either Life, and here Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear ; From Nature's temp'rate Feaft rofe fatisfy'd, • Thank'd Heav'n that he had liv'd, and that he dy'd.,

The firft Couplet of this Epitaph is borrowed. The four next Lines contain a Species of Praise peculiar, original, and juft. Here, therefore, the Infcription fhould have ended, the latter Part con taining nothing but what is common to every Man who is wife and good. The Character of Fenton was fo amiable, that I cannot forbear to wish for fome Poet or Biographer to difplay it more fully for the Advantage of Pofterity. If he did not stand in the first Rank of Genius he may claim a Place in the fecond; and, whatever Criticifm may object to his Writings, Cenfure could find very little to blame in his Life.

XI.

On Mr. GAY. In Westminster-Abbey, 1732.
• Of Manners gentle, of Affections mild;
In Wit, a Man; Simplicity, a Child :

With native Humour temp'ring virtuous Rage, Form'd to delight at once and lafh the Age: • Above Temptation, in a low Eftate,

And uncorrupted, even among the Great: A fafe Companion, and an easy Friend, • Unblam'd thro' Life, lamented in thy End. Thefe are thy Honours! not that here thy_Buft Is mix'd with Heroes, or with Kings thy Duft; • But that the Worthy and the Good fhall fay, Striking their penfive Bofoms-Here lies GAY

As Gay was the Favourite of our Authour, this Epitaph was probably written with an uncommon Degree of Attention; yet it is not more happily executed than the reft, for it does not always happen that the Success of a Poet is proportionate to his Labour. The fame Obfervation may be extended to all Works of Imagination, which are often influenced by Caufes wholly out of the Performer's Power, by Hints of which he perceives not. the Origin, by fudden Elevations of Mind which he cannot produce in himfelf, and which fometimes rife when he expects them least.

The two Parts of the firft Line are only Echoes of each other, gentle Manners and mild Affections, if they mean any Thing, muft mean the fame.

That Gay was a Man in Wit is a very frigid Commendation; to have the Wit of a Man is not much for a Poet. The Wit of Man, and the Simplicity of a Child, make a poor and vulgar Contraft, and raife no Ideas of Excellence, either Intellectual or Moral.

In the next Couplet Rage is lefs properly introduced after the Mention of Mildnefs and Gentleness,