in Him no implacablé resentment: he and his critick were afterwards friends; and in one of his latter works he praises Dennis as "equal to Boileau in poetry, and superior to him in critical abilities."

•

He seems to have been more delighted with praise than pained by censure, and, instead of slackening, quickened his career. Having in two years produced ten books of Prince Arthur, in two years more (1697) he sent into the world King Arthur in twelve. The provocation was now doubled, and the resentment of wits and criticks may be supposed to have encreased in proportion. He found, however, advantages more than equivalent to all their outrages; he was this year made one of the physicians in ordinary to king William, and advanced by him to the honour of knighthood, with a present of a gold chain and medal.

The malignity of the wits attributed his knighthood to his new poem; but king William was not very studious of poetry, and Blackmore perhaps had other merit for he says, in his Dedication to Alfred, that he had a "greater part in the succession of the house of Hanover than ever he had "boasted."

What Blackmore could contribute to the Succession, or what he imagined himself to have contributed, cannot now be known. That he had been of considerable use, I doubt not but he believed, for I hold him to have been very honest; but he might easily make a false estimate of his own importance: those whom their virtue restrains from deceiving others, are often disposed by their vanity to deceive themselves. Whether he promoted the Succession or not, he at least approved it, and adhered invariably to his principles and party through his whole life.

His ardour of poetry still continued; and not long after (1700) he published a Paraphrase on the Book of Job, and other parts of the scripture. This performance Dryden, who pursued him with great malignity, lived long enough to ridicule in a Prologue.

The wits easily confederated against him, as Dryden, whose favour they almost all courted, was his professed adversary. He had besides given them reason for resentment, as, in his Preface to Prince Arthur, he had said of the Dramatick Writers almost all that was alledged afterwards by Collier; but Blackmore's censure was cold and general, Collier's was personal and ardent; Blackmore taught his reader to dislike, what Collier incited him to abhor.

In his Preface to King Arthur he endeavoured to gain at least one friend, and propitiated Congreve by higher praise of his Mourning Bride than it has obtained from any other critick.

The same year he published a Satire on Wit; a proclamation of defiance which united the poets almost all against him, and which brought upon him lampoons and ridicule from every side. This he doubtless foresaw, and eviVol. I. 3 A

dently

dently despised; nor should his dignity of mind be without its praise, had he not paid the homage to greatness, which he denied to genius, and degraded himself by conferring that authority over the national taste, which he takes from the poets, upon men of high rank and wide influence, but of less wit, and not greater virtue.

Here is again discovered the inhabitant of Cheapside, whose head cannot keep his poetry unmingled with trade. To hinder that intellectual bankruptcy which he affects to fear, he will erect a Bank for Wit.

In this poem he justly censured Dryden's impurities, but praised his powers; though in a subsequent edition he retained the satire and omitted the praise. What was his reason I know not; Dryden was then no longer in his way.

His head still teemed with heroic poetry, and (1705) he published Eliza in ten books. I am afraid that the world was now weary of contending about Blackmore's heroes; for I do not remember that by any author, serious or comical I have found Eliza either praised or blamed. She "dropped," as it seems," dead born from the press." It is never mentioned, and was never seen by me till I borrowed it for the present occasion. Jacob says, "it is corrected, and revised for another impression ;" but the labour of revision was thrown away.

From this time he turned some of his thoughts to the celebration of living characters; and wrote a poem on the Kit-cat club, and Advice to the Poets how to celebrate the Duke of Marlborough; but on occasion of another year of success, thinking himself qualified to give more instruction, he again wrote a poem of Advice to a Weaver of Tapestry. Steele was then publishing the Tatler; and looking round him for something at which he might laugh, unluckly lighted on Sir Richard's work, and treated it with such contempt, that as Fenton observes, he put an end to the species of writers that gave Advice to Painters.

Not long after (1712) he published Creation, a philosophical Poem, which has been, by my recommendation, inserted in the late collection. Whoever judges of this by any other of Blackmore's performances, will do it injury. The praise given it by Addison (Spec. 339) is too well known to be transcribed; but some notice is due to the testimony of Dennis, who calls it a "philosophical Poem, which has equalled that of Lucretius in the beauty of "its versification, and infinitely surpassed it in the solidity and strength of its reasoning."

Why an author surpasses himself, it is natural to enquire. I have heard from Mr. Draper an eminent bookseller, an account received by him from Ambrose Philips, "That Blackmore, as he proceeded in this poem, laid his manuscript from time to time before a club of wits with whom he "associated ;

"associated; and that every man contributed, as he could, either improve"ment or correction; so that," said Philips, "there are perhaps no where "in the book thirty lines together, that now stand as they were originally written."

The relation of Philips, I suppose, was true; but when all reasonable, all credible allowance is made for this friendly revision, the author will still retain an ample dividend of praise; for to him must always be assigned the plan of the work, the distribution of its parts, the choice of topicks, the train of argument, and, what is yet more, the general predominance of philosophical judgement and poetical spirit. Correction seldom effects more than the suppression of faults: a happy line, or a single elegance, may perhaps be added; but of a large work the general character must always remain; the original constitution can be very little helped by local remedies; inherent and radical dullness will never be much invigorated by intrinsick animation.

This poem, if he had written nothing else, would have transmitted him to posterity among the first favourites of the English Muse: but to make verses was his transcending pleasure, and as he was not deterred by censure, he was not satiated with praise.

He deviated, however, sometimes into other tracks of literature, and condescended to entertain his readers with plain prose. When the Spectator stopped, he considered the polite world as destitute of entertainment; and in concert with Mr. Hughes, who wrote every third paper, published three times a week the Lay Monastery, founded on the supposition that some literary men, whose characters are described, had retired to a house in the country to enjoy philosophical leisure, and resolved to instruct the public, by communicating their disquisitions and, amusements. Whether any real persons were concealed under fictitious names, is not known. The hero of the club is one Mr. Johnson; such a constellation of excellence, that his character shall not be suppressed, though there is no great genius in the design, nor skill in the delineation.

"The first I shall name is Mr. Johnson, a gentleman that owes to nature < excellent faculties and an elevated genius, and to industry and application

many acquired accomplishments. His taste is distinguishing, just, and "delicate; his judgement clear, and his reason strong, accompanied with an "imagination full of spirit, of great compass, and stored with refined ideas. "He is a critick of the first rank: and, what is his peculiar ornament, he is delivered from the ostentation, malevolence, and supercilious temper, that SO often blemish men of that character. His remarks result from the nature "and reason of things, and are formed by a judgement free, and unbiassed "by the authority of those who have lazily followed each other in the same "beaten track of thinking, and are arrived only at the reputation of acute

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grammarians and commentators; men, who have been copying one another many hundred years, without any improvement; or, if they have ven"tured farther, have only applied in a mechanical manner the rules of anti"ent criticks, to modern writings, and with great labour discovered nothing "but their own want of judgement and capacity. As Mr. Johnson penetrates "to the bottom of his subject, by which means his observations are solid ❝ and natural, as well as delicate, so his design is always to bring to light "something useful and ornamental; whence his character is the reverse to

theirs, who have eminent abilities in insignificant knowledge, and a great "felicity in finding out trifles. He is no less indutrious to search out the "merit of an author, than sagacious in discerning his errors and defects; "and takes more pleasure in commending the beauties than exposing the "blemishes of a laudable writing: like Horace, in a long work, he can bear "some deformities, and justly lay them on the imperfection of human naturę "which is incapable of fautless productions. When an excellent Drama 66 appears in publick, and by its intrinsick worth attracts a general applause, "he is not stung with envy and spleen; nor does he express a savage nature, " in fastening upon the celebrated author, dwelling upon his imaginary de"fects, and passing over his conspicuous excellences. He treats all writers "upon the same impartial foot; and is not, like the little criticks, taken up ❝ entirely in finding out only the beauties of the ancient, and nothing but "the errors of the modern writers. Never did any one express more kind❝ness and good-nature to young and unfinished authors; he promotes their interests, protects their reputation, extenuates their faults, and sets off "their virtues, and by his candour guards them from the severity of his judgement. He is not like those dry criticks who are morose because they "cannot write themselves, but is himself master of a good vein in poetry; " and though he does often employ it, yet he has sometimes entertained his friends with his unpublished performances."

The rest of the Lay Monks seem to be but feeble Mortals, in comparison with the gigantic Johnson; who yet, with all his abilities, and the help of the fraternity, could drive the publication but to forty papers, which were afterwards collected into a volume, and called in the title A Sequel to the Spectators.

Some years afterwards (1716 and 1717) he published two volumes of Essays in prose, which can be commended only as they are written for the highest and noblest purpose, the promotion of religion. Blackmore's prose is not the prose of a poct; for it is languid, sluggish, and lifeles; his diciton

is neither daring nor exact, his flow neither rapid nor easy, and his periods neither smooth nor strong. His account of Wit will shew with how little clearness he is content to think, and how little his thoughts are recommended by his language.

"As to its efficient cause, Wit owes its production to an extraordinary and "peculiar temperament in the constitution of the possessor of it, in which "is found a concurrence of regular and exalted ferments, and an affluence "of animal spirits, refined and rectified to a great degree of purity; whence, "being endowed with vivacity, brightness,' and celerity, as well in their re"flections as direct motions, they become proper instruments for the sprite"ly operations of the mind; by which means the imagination can with great facility range the wide field of Nature, contemplate an infinite va "riety of objects, and, by observing the similitude and disagreement of their "several qualities, single out and abstract, and then suit and unite those "ideas which will best serve its purpose. Hence beautiful allusions, sur"prising metaphors, and admirable sentiments, are always ready at hand: "and while the fancy is full of images collected from innumerable objects "and their different qualities, relations, and habitudes, it can at pleasure "dress a common notion in a strange but becoming garb; by which, as be "fore observed, the same thought will appear a new one, to the great de"light and wonder of the hearer. What we call genius results from this particular happy complexion in the formation of the first person that enjoys "it, and is Nature's gift, but diversified by various specifick characters and li"mitations, as its active fire is blended and allayed by different proportions "of phlegm, or reduced and regulated by the contrast of opposite ferments. "Therefore, as there happens in the composition of facetious genius a greater or less, though still an inferior, degree of judgement and prudence, EC one man of wit will be varied and distinguished from another."

In these Essays he took little care to propitiate the wits; for he scorns to avert their malice at the expence of virtue or of truth.

"Several, in their books, have many sarcastical and spiteful strokes at re"ligion in general; while others make themselves pleasant with the princi"ples of the Christian. Of the last kind, this age has seen a most audacious "example in the book entitled A Tale of a Tub. Had this writing been. published in a pagan or popish nation, who are justly impatient of all in"dignity offered to the established religion of their country, no doubt but "the author would have received the punishment he deserved. But the "fate of this impious buffoon is very different; for in a protestant king"dom, zealous of their civil and religious immunities, he has not only "escaped affronts and the effects of publick resentment, but has been ca

"ressed