fourth couplet, I do not much dissent. On General Henry Withers. In Westminster-Abbey, 1729. 'Here WITHERS, rest! thou bravest, gentlest Mind, O soft Humanity in Age belov'd! For thee the hardy Vet'ran drops a Tear, My opinion of this Epitaph does not differ materially from Dr. Johnson's.* But I do not think so meanly of the last four lines as he professes to do;nór has my experience taught me that it is the mere cant of superficial satire to suppose that courtiers are in general dissembling, and insensible; and that by the majority of them, he who "Could love, and could hate, would be thought somewhat odd.” Thus an unaffected sigh, heaved, not over his own disappointments, by a courtier, may be a phenomenon that deserves recording. On Mr. Elijah Fenton. At Easthampstead, in Berkshire, 1730. 66 This modest Stone, what few vain Marbles can, A Poet, blest beyond the Poet's Fate, 'Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the Proud and Great: 'Foe to loud Praise, and Friend to learned Ease, • 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 Feast rose satisfied; 'Thank'd Heav'n that he had liv'd, and that he died." The three first couples have great merit; and I agree with the Critick, that the two remaining are less unobjectionable. But I cannot agree with him that they "contain nothing, but what is common to every man who is wise and good.”* On the contrary, the seventh and eighth lines impute to the deceased a confidence, unsuitable to the humility of a Christian; and the last couplet rather represents him as an Epicurean conviva satur.† * JOHNSON'S CRITICISM. + Horace. Thro' papers twain my critic cobweb spun, Is (gentle reader, patience!) nearly done. ANON. On Mr. Gay. In Westminster-Abbey, 1732. 'Of Manners gentle, of Affections mild, With native Humour temp'ring virtuous Rage, ' And uncorrupted, even among the Great: I DO not conceive that "the two parts of the first "line are only echos of each other;" or that " gen"tle manners, and mild affections, if they mean U 66 any thing, must mean the same.”* On the con trary, they appear to me as distinct as interior and The mild affections external; cause and effect. produce the gentle manners. It The assertion that Gay was " in wit a man," does not signify that he had the wit of a man;—the ordinary average of human intellect: which would indeed amount to but a frigid commendation. means, that whilst his genius had reached its full maturity, his manners and dispositions retained the naiveté, and amiable simplicity of childhood. In alleging that he was in wit a man, Pope has not implied that his understanding was barely equal to that of other men. The dimensions of his full grown intellect may have been gigantick. In his animadversions on the third line, Doctor Johnson seems to confound Rage with Fury. His * Johnson's Criticism.-It seems strange that the Critic should doubt whether gentle manners mean any thing? To me this expression appears perfectly intelligible. We also can understand, that the quality of mildness may be annexed to · human affections; and so produce those dispositions, which the Poet ascribes to Gay; and which would give birth to his gentle munners. + "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 a man, and the simplicity of a child, make a poor and vulgar "contrast; and raise no ideas of excellence, either intellectual "or moral." JOHNSON'S CRITICISM." "In the next couplet, Rage is less properly introduced, own Dictionary might have taught him that it also signifies Enthusiasm: Eagerness: Vehemence of mind.* Here it seems to mean an indignant energy in defence of virtue, perfectly compatible with the kind of gentleness attributed to Gay; and which might, with advantage, be tempered with native humour. I am deaf to the discord imputed to the fourth line; and as to the use of the word lash, I must again solicit the aid of the Lexicographer, to refute the Critick. I find from his Dictionary, that to lash may signify to scourge with satire; and he instances (without reprehension) the following line of Pope. "Could pension'd Boileau lash in honest strain ?" "after the mention of mildness. For a man so mild and gentle "to temper his rage, was not difficult." JOHNSON'S CRITICISM." * Johnson's Dictionary-" Rage ;"—where he cites, as authority, the following couplet from Cowley; "Who brought green poesy to her perfect age, In those lines Rage seems to mean little different from rhapsody. "The next line is inharmonious in its sound, and mean in "its conception: the opposition is obvious; and the word lash “used absolutely, and without any modification, is gross and im"proper."-Johns, Crit.-Perhaps this change in the line might content him, (if it be not presumptuous to suggest any altera, tion in a verse of Pope,)— "Form'd to correct at once, and charm the age." + Johnson's Dictionary-" To lash." |