the diction of Leonidas be softer, and the general flow of the numbers more harmonious than that of Milton himself, it may, in part, be ascribed to Mr. Pope, as the great polisher and improver of our verse." Besides this warm and rather extravagant encomium, Lyttelton addressed verses to our author', in which he inveighs with much asperity against the degeneracy of the times, but, not very consistently, compares England to Greece and France to Persia. Other writers, particularly Fielding, in the paper called The Champion, took up the pen in favour of Leonidas, and lord Lyttelton's paper in Common Sense was answered in another political paper, but neither with strength of argument, or decency. Leonidas was published just after the prince of Wales had been driven from St. James's, began to keep a separate court, and had appointed lord Lyttelton his secretary, Mallet his under-secretary, and had granted a pension to Thomson. By the whole of this new court, and by the adherents in general of opposition, Leonidas was praised, quoted, and recommended; not beyond its merit, but too evidently from a motive which could not always prevail, and which ceased to animate their zeal in its favour, when Walpole, the supposed author of all our national grievances, was compelled to resign3. Amidst this high encouragement, the services of Dr. Pemberton must not be forgotten. Soon after the appearance of Leonidas this steady friend endeavoured to fix the public attention on it, by a long pamphlet, entitled Observations on Poetry, especially epic, occasioned by the late Poem upon Leonidas, 12mo. 1738. In this, with many just remarks of a general kind, the author carries his opinion of Glover's production beyond all reasonable bounds. It came, however, from a friend whom Glover had early been taught to revere, but added to so much unqualified praise from other quarters, I am afraid, prevented his attending to those defects which impartial criticism could not have concealed. In the following year, he published London, or the Progress of Commerce, and the more celebrated ballad of Hosier's Ghost, both written with a view to rouse the nation to resent the conduct of the Spaniards, and to promote what had seldom been known, a war called for by the people, and opposed by the ministry. During the same political dissentions, which, as usual, were warmest in the city of London, Glover presided at several meetings called to set aside, or censure the conduct of those city magistrates or members of parliament who voted for the court. His speeches at those meetings, if we may trust to the report of them in the periodical journals of 1739 and 1740, were elegant, spirited, and calculated to give him considerable weight in the deliberative assemblies of his fellow-citizens. The latter were, indeed, so fully convinced of his talents and zeal, as to appoint him to conduct their application to parliament, on the subject of the neglect shown to their trade by the ruling administration. His services in this last These verses, in the first edition of lord Lyttelton's works, are dated 1734, two years before the appearance of Leonidas. C. 3 "Soon after Mr. Glover had published his Leonidas, a poem that was eagerly read and universally admired, he passed some days with Mr. Pope at Twickenham." Warton's Essay: where an anecdote follows this notice, that shows the intimacy of our poet with the bard of Twickenham. He was also on very intimate terms with Bubb Doddington, afterwards lord Melcombe, and is frequently mentioned in his lordship's diary. C. "Glover has put out a new poem, called London, or the Progress of Commerce, wherein he very much extols a certain Dutch poet, called Janus Douza, and compares him to Sophocles; I suppose he does it to make interest upon 'Change." West's Letters to lord Orford. affair may be seen in a pamphlet published in 1743, under the title of A short Account of the late Application to Parliament made by the Merchants of London upon the neglect of their Trade with the Substance of the Evidence thereupon, as summed up by Mr. Glover. : In 1741, he was offered employment of a very different kind, being nominated in the will of the dutchess of Marlborough, to write the duke's life, in conjunction with Mallet. Her grace bequeathed 5007. to each on this condition; but Glover immediately renounced his share, while Mallet, who has no scruples of any kind, where his interest was concerned, accepted the legacy, and continued to receive money from the late duke of Marlborough on the same account, although after twenty years of talk and boast, he left nothing behind him that could show he had ever seriously begun the work. Glover's rejection of this legacy is the more honourable, as at this time his affairs became embarrassed; from what cause, we are not told. It may be conjectured, however, that he had shared the usual fate of those who are diverted from their regular pursuits by the dreams of political patronage. From the prince he is said to have received at one time a complete set of the classics, elegantly bound, and at another time, during his distresses, a present of 5001. But it does not appear that when the friends of Leonidas came into power, they made any permanent provision for the author. During the period of his embarrassment, he retired from public notice, until the respect and gratitude of his humbler friends in the city induced them to request that he would stand candidate for the office of chamberlain of London, which was vacant in 1751, but his application was unfortunately made when the majority of the voters had already been engaged to sir Thomas Harrison. His feelings on this disappointment do him so much honour, and are so elegantly expressed in the speech he addressed to the livery, that no apology seems necessary for introducing it in this place : "Gentlemen, "AFTER the trouble which I have had so large a share in giving you, by my application for your favour to succeed sir John Bosworth in the office of chamberlain, this day so worthily supplied, I should deem myself inexcusable in quitting this place, before I rendered my thanks to those in particular who have so generously espoused my interest; to your new-elected chamberlain himself, nd numbers of his friends, whose expressions and actions have done me peculiar honour, amidst the warmth of their attachment to him; to the two deserving magistrates, who have presided among us with impartiality, humanity, and justice; and lastly, to all in general, for their candour, decency, and indulgence. "Gentlemen, "Heretofore I have frequently had occasion of addressing the livery of London inpublic; but at this time I find myself at an unusual loss, being under all the difficulties which a want of matter, deserving your notice, can create. Had I now your rights and privileges to vindicate; had I the cause of your suffering trade to defend; or were I now called forth to recommend and enforce the parliamentary service of the most virtuous and illustrious citizen, my tongue would be free from constraint, and expatiating at large, would endeavour to merit your attention, which now must be solely confined to so narrow a subject as myself. On those occasions, the importance of the matter, and my known zeal to serve you, however ineffectual my attempts might prove, were always sufficient to secure me the honour of a kind reception and unmerited regard. Your |