the

"Of the reft I cannot think any excellent ; "Skylark" pleases me the beft, which has however more of the epigram than of the ode.

"But the four parts of his "Pastoral Ballad" demand particular notice. I cannot but regret that it is paftoral. An intelligent reader, acquainted with the fcenes of real life, fickens at the mention of the crook, the pipe, the sheep, and the kids, which it is not neceffary to bring forward to notice, for the poet's art is felection, and he ought to fhew the beauties without the groffnefs of the country life. His ftanzas feem to have been chofen in imitation of Rowe's "Despairing Shepherd."

"In the first part are two paffages, to which if any mind denies fympathy, it has no acquaintance with love or nature;"

Here Johnfon introduces the verfe beginning

I priz'd every hour that went by,

&c. &c.

and the two fubfequent verses.

"In the fecond this paffage has its prettiness, though it be not equal to the former:"

I have found out a gift for my fair,

&c. &c.

with the remainder of the verse.

"In the third he mentions the common places of amorous poetry with fome addrefs :"

Tis his with mock paffion to glow;

&c. &c.

to the end of the verfe.

"In the fourth I find nothing better than this natural strain of hope:"

Alas from the day that we met,

and fo to the end of the verfe.

After

After fpeaking of a few leffer pieces, Dr. Johnfon concludes his criticifms thus:

"The Schoolmiftrefs," of which I know not what claim it has to ftand among the moral works, is furely the most pleasing of Shenftone's performances. The adoption of a particular ftile, in light and fhort compofitions, contributes much to the increase of pleafure; we are entertained at once with two imitations, of nature in the fentiments, of the original author in the stile, and between them the mind is kept in perfect employment.

"The general recommendation of Shenftone is eafinefs and fimplicity; his general defect is want of comprehenfion and variety. Had his mind been better ftored with knowledge, whether he could have been great I know not, he have could certainly been agreeable."

M

AKENSIDE.

ARK AKENSIDE was born the 9th of November 1721 at Newcastle upon Tyne. His father, Mark, was a butcher of the Prefbyterian fect; his mother's name was Mary Lumfden. He received the first part of his education at the grammar-fchool of Newcastle; and was afterwards inftructed by Mr. Wilson, who kept a private academy.

At the age of eighteen he was fent to Edinburgh, that he might qualify himself for the office of a Dif fenting Minifter; but this he foon laid afide, and determined to study phyfick.

He was one of thofe poets who have felt very early the motions of genius, and one of thofe ftudents who have very early stored their memories with fentiments

and

and images. Many of his performances were produced in his youth; and his greatest work, "The Pleafures of Imagination," appeared in 1744.

In 1741 he went to Leyden in purfuit of medical knowledge; and three years afterwards (May 16, 1744) became Doctor of Phyfick. Soon after his return from abroad (1745) he published his firft collection of Odes, and was impelled by an outrageous zeal for patriotifm to write a very acrimonious epiftle to Pulteney, whom he ftigmatizes, under the name of Curio, as the b trayer of his country.

He was now known as a poet, but was still to make his way as a phyfician; and would perhaps have been reduced to great exigencies, but that Mr. Dyson, with an ardour of friendship that has not many examples, allowed him 300l. a year. Thus fupported, he advanced gradually in medical reputation, but never attained any great extent of practice, or eminence of popularity.

He died June 23, 1770, in the forty-ninth year of his age.

"His great work is the "Pleafures of Imagination;" a performance which, published as it was at the age of twenty-three, raifed expectations which were not afterwards very amply fatisfied. It has un

doubtedly a just claim to very particular notice, as an example of great felicity of genius, and uncommon amplitude of acquifitions, of a young mind ftored with images, and much exercised in combining and comparing them,"

"The fubject is well chofen, as it includes all images that can ftrike or please, and thus comprifes every fpecies of poetical delight. The only difficulty is in the choice of examples and illustrations; and it is not eafy in fuch exuberance of matter to find. the middle point between penury and fatiety. The parts feem artificially difpofed, with fufficient coherence, fo

as

as that they cannot change their places without injury to the general design.

"His images are difplayed with fuch luxuriance of expreffion, that they are hidden, like Butler's moon, by a veil of light; they are forms fantastically loft under fuperfluity of drets. Pars minima eft ipfa puella fui. The words are multiplied till the fenfe is hardly perceived; attention deferts the mind and settles in the ear. The reader wanders through the gay diffufion fometimes amazed, and fometimes delighted; but, after many turnings in the flowery labyrinth, comes out as he went in. He remarked little, and laid hold on nothing.

"To his verfification juftice requires that praise fhould not be denied. In the general fabrication of his lines he is perhaps fuperior to any other writer of blank verfe."

"His diction is certainly fo far poetical as it is not profaick, and fo far valuable as it is not common. He is to be commended as having fewer artifices of disgust than most of his brethren of the blank fong." Of his other poetry Dr. Johnson fpeaks flightingly.

·...

LYTTLETON.

EORGE LYTTLETON, the fon of Sir Thomas Lyttleton, of Hagley in Worcestershire, was born in 1709. He was educated at Eton, where he was much distinguished among his school-fellows. From Etón he went to Chrift Church, where he retained the fame reputation of fuperiority, and displayed his abilities to the publick in a poem on "Blenheim." He was a very early writer both in verfe and profe

His

His "Progrefs of Love" and his "Perfian Letters" were both written when he was very young.

He staid not long at Oxford, for a 1728 he began his travels, and faw France and Italy. When he returned he obtained a feat in Parliament, and foon diftinguished himself among the moft eager opponents of Sir Robert Walpole. For many years the name of George Lyttleton was feen as an oppofitionist in every account of every debate in the Houfe of Commons.

The Prince of Wales, being (1737) driven from the the court, opened his arms to the opponents of the miniftry. Mr. Lyttleton was made his fecretary, Mallet his under-fecretary, and Thomfon had a penfion.

While Lyttleton thus ftood confpicuous in the first rank of oppofition, he married (1741) Mifs Lucy Fortefcue of Devonshire, by whom he had a fon, the late Lord Lyttleton, and two daughters. He was unfortunately deprived of her in about five years afterwards, and he folaced his grief by writing a long poem to her memory.

He did not however condemn himself to perpetual folitude and forrow; for after a while he was content to feek happiness again by a fecond marriage with the daughter of Sir Robert Rich; but the experiment was unsuccessful.

At length, after a long ftruggle, Walpole gave way, and honour and profit were diftributed among his conquerors. Lyttleton was made (1744) one of the Lords of the Treafury, and from that time was engaged in fupporting the fchemes of the ministry.

In 1751 his father died, when he inherited a ba ronet's title with a large eftate. He ftill continued his exertions in Parliament, and was made (1754) Cofferer and Privy Counsellor: this place he exchanged next year for the great office of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The