Man" he also gave to the world a quarto volume of letters between himself and some of his friends. It is supposed that he was anxious to introduce this Correspondence to the Public, and that he contrived, by a maneuver, to place a portion of it in the hands of Curll, the Bookseller, that his publishing it might afford a pretext for issuing a genuine edition.

In the composition of the "Essay on Man," his imperfect acquaintance with Theology and Metaphysics had, unfortunately, thrown him under the guidance of Lord Bolingbroke; a man whom he highly esteemed, of great genius, learned and acute, but an Infidel. The consequence was that, while intent upon inculcating religious and moral precepts, he was unwittingly promulgating the dogmas of the Fatalist and the Theist. This brought upon him a severe castigation from Crousaz, a Swiss Professor of some note, who openly denounced the Poem as tending to set aside Revelation, and to estab lish a system of Natural Religion. In the dilemma in which Pope now found himself, Warburton (then just rising into notice) voluntarily stepped forward as his champion, and published, in the "Republic of Letters," a "Vindication of the Essay on Man."

This assistance Pope very gratefully acknowledged; he recommended Warburton to Mr. Murray, by whose influence he was appointed preacher at Lincoln's Inn; and, by his introduction to Mr. Allen, he married the niece, and succeeded to the estate, of that gentleman. He also left Warburton the property of his Works, which Dr. Johnson estimates at £4000.

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About 1740 Pope printed the "Memoirs of Scriblerus," a fragment of a work originally projected by himself, Swift, and Arbuthnot, which was never completed; and in 1742 a new edition of the " Dunciad," enlarged by the addition of a fourth book. In this he attacked Colley Cibber most unmercifully, for no evident reason; unless, as Dr. Johnson suggests, he thought that, in ridiculing the Laureate, he was bringing into contempt the bestowers of the laurel. Cibber, who had on several previous occasions manifested great forbearance, now lost all patience; he amused the town with a pamphlet, in which he describes Pope as a Wit out of his senses;" and attributes his ill-will to his (Cibber's) having made a ludicrous allusion to the damnation of the farce of "Three hours after Marriage," while acting Bays in the Rehearsal; and ascribes the authorship of the piece to Pope. It is a pity that Pope suffered his vexation to subdue his better judgment: he should have remained silent. On the contrary, in 1743, he dethroned Theobald, and constituted Cibber the hero of his "Dunciad ;" much to the deterioration of the Poem, and certainly inconsistently with fact. Cibber could not fairly be classed among the Dunces; if, alternately he soared and groveled in Tragedy, his Comedy is of very superior excellence, possessing wit, humor, tenderness, and elegance; and, if his practice and habits were anything but moral, his dramas (during a season of unrestrained licentiousness) were strictly so: he seems to have been guided, in this respect, by the feeling he expressed to Mrs. Bracegirdle, the actress, who, upon inquiring of him "How it happened that his writings were so very moral, and his life so very immoral?" received for answer, that "Morality in the one was absolutely indispensable, but not exactly so in the other." Cibber, who had declared his intention to "have the last word," quickly published another pamphlet, which is described by Richardson (the son of the Painter) as having perfectly agonized Pope.

The health of Pope now began to fail, and he contented himself with occupying his time in the revisal of his Works for a collective Edition; in this he was assisted by Warburton. He lingered some months under an accumulation of infirmity and disease, and expired on the 30th of May, 1744.

If this admirable Poet may be considered fortunate in having Warburton for the original Editor of his Works, he has been peculiarly unfortunate with respect to some who have succeeded him :-a bevy of fifth-rate authors, also, anxious to reduce the standard of poetic excellence to their own level, have, of late years, done their utmost to cloud the luster of his fame as a poet, and to depreciate his character as a man. Byron, contemning. the cant of criticism, and the paltry cavils of scandal, thus disposes of the one and the other.

Lord

"The attempt of the poetical populace of the present day to obtain an ostracism against Pope is as easily accounted for as the Athenians' shell against Aristides; they are tired of hearing him always called 'The Just.' They are also fighting for life; for, if he maintains his station, they will reach their own by falling. They have raised a Mosque by the side of a Grecian Temple of the purest architecture: I have been among the builders of this Babel,' but never among the envious destroyers of the Classic

Temple of our predecessor. I have loved and honored the fame and name of that illustrious and unrivaled man, far more than my own paltry renown, and the trashy jingle of the crowd of schools' and upstarts who pretend to rival, or even surpass him. Sooner than a single leaf should be torn from his laurel, it were better that all which these men, and that I, as one of their set, have ever written, should

'Line trunks, clothe spice, or, fluttering in a row,
Befringe the walls of Bedlam, or Soho.'

"In society he seems to have been as amiable as unassuming: he was adored by his friends; friends of the most opposite dispositions, ages, and talents. By the old and wayward Wycherley, by the cynical Swift, the rough Atterbury, the gentle Spence, the stern Warburton, the virtuous Berkeley, and the cankered Bolingbroke ;'-the soldier Peterborough, and the poet Gay; the witty Congreve, and the laughing Rowe; the eccentric Cromwell, and the steady Bathurst, were all his associates."

THOMAS PARNELL was born in Dublin, 1679. His father, a native of Cheshire, had retired to Ireland at the Restoration, where he purchased some considerable estates, which, with his property in England, were inherited by his son. At the age of thirteen Parnell entered Dublin College, and took his degree of Master of Arts on the 9th of July, 1700. He was ordained Deacon the same year, and, three years after, entered into priests' orders: in 1705 he was collated to the Archdeaconry of Clogher. He married Miss Anne Minchin, a beautiful and amiable lady, to whom he was most devotedly attached. Up to this period he had led a very retired life, but he now began to make periodical visits to England, and quickly formed an intimacy with the first literary characters of the day; more particularly with Swift, Pope, Gay, and Arbuthnot. These, with himself, formed the Scriblerus Club: to the "Memoirs" of which he contributed the "Essay concerning the Origin of Sciences." His politics had been those of his father, who was a stanch Whig; but his connection with Swift seems to have wrought a change in his opinions, and he attached himself to the party of Oxford and Bolingbroke. In 1711 his wife died, and he received a shock by the event which he never recovered; his spirits, always unequal, sunk under a lasting depression: and; unable to raise them by mental effort, he desperately sought relief in intemperance, and plunged into excesses which brought him to a premature end. It is probable that he from time to time endeavored to combat this infatuation, for the year after his wife's death, he wrote a poem on "Queen Anne's Peace," was carried to the Court, and introduced to the ministers by Swift, and succeeded in gaining the esteem of Bolingbroke, and the ardent friendship of Harley.

The dissolution of the ministry on Queen Anne's death, prevented Parnell from attaining preferment through that channel; but Swift, having recommended him to the Archbishop of Dublin, his Grace bestowed on him a Prebend, and afterward the vicarage of Finglass, worth about £400 per annum. He died at Chester, while on his way to Ireland, in July, 1718, in his thirty-ninth year, and was buried in the Trinity Church of that city. Parnell was endeared to his friends by his generous, affable, and kind disposition; he displayed much eloquence in the pulpit, and became very popular in London, where he frequently preached during his visits; and he holds a very respectable rank as a Poet, for his elegance, simplicity, and perspicuity. Little of his poetry was published during his life; but shortly after his death, Pope, with friendly solicitude for his fame, made a careful selection of it; which he dedicated, in a splendid copy of verses, to the Earl of Oxford.

Parnell's principal poems are, "Hesiod, or the Rise of Woman," "An Allegory on Man," a "Night-piece, on Death," the "Hymn to Contentment," a "Fairy Tale," and the "Hermit." The two last are the most celebrated, and, in their several styles, are altogether admirable: he also translated the "Pervigilium Veneris" of Catullus, and "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice," printed with Pope's version of Homer.

The prose of Parnell is not equal to his poetry. Pope complained that the "Life of Homer," which Parnell wrote for him, gave him more trouble in correction than composing an original one would have done. His classical learning, however, enabled him to render great assistance to Pope, who had a high opinion of his perfect knowledge of the Greek Language, and of his correct critical judgment. His other prose works are,. his "Life of Zoilus," a cutting satire on Dennis, the critic; and his papers in the "SpecLator" and "Guardian."

ZACHARY PEARCE, the son of a wealthy distiller, was born in Holborn, 1630. He was educated at Westminster, where he was chosen one of the King's scholars, and was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1710. In 1713 and 1714, while at the University, he wrote his papers in the "Guardian" and "Spectator:" and in 1716 he acquired great reputation and powerful patronage by an edition of "Cicero de Oratore," which he dedicated to Lord Chief Justice Parker; through whose recommendation of him to Dr. Bentley, the Master of Trinity College, he obtained a fellowship.

Pearce entered into Holy Orders in 1717, and became Lord Parker's chaplain; two years after he was appointed to the rectory of Stapleford Abbots, in Essex, and in 1720 to that of St. Bartholomew, by the Royal Exchange, London. Through the interest of his patron (then Earl of Macclesfield) he was presented to St. Martin's in the Fields, in 1723, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in 1724. In 1739 he was made Dean of Winchester; in 1748 Bishop of Bangor; and in 1756 Bishop of Rochester, and Dean of Westminster. He had held these dignities about seven years, when the pressure of age and infirmity induced him to solicit permission to resign them; but his application having been made through Lord Bath, the jealousy of the ministers, who apprehended his Lordship had a successor ready to be nominated, embarrassed the King, and prevented him from allowing the see to be vacated. Five years afterward he was permitted to resign the Deanery. In 1773 he lost his wife, after a union of fiftytwo years he survived her but a short time, dying on January 29, 1774, aged eighty-four.

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Beside his edition of "Cicero de Oratore," he published "An Account of Trinity College, Cambridge;" a "Letter to the Clergy of the Church of England, on the occasion of the Bishop of Rochester's commitment to the Tower;" an edition of "Longinus ;" an Essay on the Origin and progress of Temples," printed with a "Sermon preached at the Consecration of St. Martin's Church;" the "Miracles of Jesus vindicated," in answer to Woolston; and "Two Letters against Dr. Conyers Middleton, relating to his attack on Waterland." He also, in 1733, rescued the text of Milton from the absurdities of Bentley, in his "Review of the Text of Paradise Lost," which Dr. Newton characterizes as a pattern to all future critics;" and in 1745 he published

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an edition of "Cicero de Officiis.' It is remarkable that Dr. Pearce is the only person from whom Johnson acknowledges having received any assistance in the compilation of his Dictionary; this assistance, however, extended only to about twenty etymologies, which Pearce sent to him anonymously. The Posthumous Works of Pearce were edited, in 1777, in two volumes, 4to, by the Rev. Mr. Derby, and dedicated to the King. The dedication was written by Johnson, who retained a respectful and grateful remembrance of the obligation, though a slight one, which Pearce had conferred upon him. These volumes consist of "A Commentary, with notes, on the four Evangelists, and the Acts of the Aspotles," and "A New Translation of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, and a paraphrase and notes." Dr. Pearce was a profound scholar, an acute and judicious critic, an amiable man, and a sincere christian: he lived respected and beloved; and his life was as useful and as honorable as it was protracted.

HENRY MARTYN was the son of Edward Martyn, Esq., of Melksham, Wilts. He was bred to the Bar, but bad health prevented him from prosecuting his professional duties. In 1713 he took a prominent part in writing "The British Merchant, or Commerce preserved," a paper opposing the ratification of the Treaty of Commerce made with France at the Peace of Utrecht; being an answer to Daniel De Foe's "Mercator, or Commerce Retrieved." The Treaty was rejected; and Martyn was rewarded by being made Inspector General of the Customs. He died at Blackheath, March 25, 1721, leaving one son, who was afterward Secretary to the Commissioners of Excise.

It is probable that Martyn contributed many papers to the "Spectator," although now only one is directly ascribed to him. Steele (Spectator, No. 555) places him at the head of his correspondents, and pays him this very marked compliment: "The first I am going to name can hardly be mentioned in a list wherein he would not deserve the precedence." We have no other record of Martyn, except the interesting portrait drawn of him by Steele in No. 143, of the " Spectator."- -"Poor Cottilus (so named, it is supposed, from his house at Blackheath, which he termed his Cot'), among so many real evils, a chronical distemper, and a narrow fortune, is never heard to complain. That equal spirit of his, which any man may have, that, like him, will conquer

pride, vanity, and affectation, and follow nature, is not to be broken, because it has no points to contend for. To be anxious for nothing but what nature demands as necessary, if it is not the way to an estate, is the way to what men aim at by getting an estate.. This temper will preserve health in the body as well as tranquillity in the mind. tilus sees the world in a hurry with the same scorn that a sober person sees a man. drunk."

Cot

JOHN BYROM was the younger son of a Linen-draper at Kersall, near Manchester, and was born in 1691. He was sent to Merchant Taylors' School, in London: and, at the age of sixteen, being found qualified for the University, he was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Cambridge. He took his degree of Master of Arts, and in 1714 was elected Fellow, and became a great favorite with the master, Dr. Bentley.

It was in this year that he began his contributions to the "Spectator;" all compositions of decided merit: the most celebrated of them is the pastoral poem of "Colin to Phoebe," written, it is said, in compliment to Joanna, daughter of Dr. Bentley, which has maintained its popularity to the present day. Its effect is, however, somewhat marred by the ludicrous air of some passages, which detract from the simplicity and elegance of the whole. In 1716 he went to Montpelier for the benefit of his health, and resided there some time. On his return he began to practice as a physician in London; but he took no degree, and soon abandoned the scheme, in consequence of his forming a strong attachment to his cousin, Elizabeth Byrom, who, with her sister, had come up from Manchester on some business of their father, Mr. Joseph Byrom. Byrom followed the lady on her return home, and married her, in opposition to the will of her parents, who objected to the union on account of his straitened circumstances.

His uncle utterly discarded him: and Byrom, having expended all his little store, was thrown entirely upon his own exertions for subsistence. He had, while at Cambridge, invented a new system of Short Hand; and this he now began to teach in Manchester, with signal success. Revisiting London, he also there met with great encouragement; and (having obtained a decided victory over a rival professor, named Weston, who had challenged him to a trial of skill) he soon was enabled to derive a very handsome income from his numerous pupils; among whom was the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield, and many other persons of rank and eminence. For several years he regularly pursued his avocations: in London during the winter months, and during the summer in Manchester, where his wife and family continued to reside. In 1723 he was admitted into the Royal Society as a Fellow; and No. 488 of the Transactions contains a paper of his writing, On the Elements of Short Hand.

His elder brother dying about this time, without issue, Byrom succeeded to the family estate, and was at once placed in ease and affluence. He fixed his residence in the country; and, from occasionally amusing himself in writing verses, the habit seems to have grown upon him almost to a degree of mania; every subject he took in hand, whether tragic, comic, religious, antiquarian, controversial, moral, or literary, was dealt with in rhyme; the general quality of which may be estimated by Mr. Pegge's remark upon Byrom's Metrical Challenge, respecting the identity of St. George of Cappadocia with the patron of the Order of the Garter. "My late worthy friend, Mr. Byrom, has delivered his sentiments on this subject in a metrical garb; for, I presume, we can scarcely call it a poetical one."

Of his pieces, the best are his poems on "Enthusiasm," and on the "Immortality of the Soul" his "Careless Content," and the popular tale of "The Three Black Crows." He died September 28th, 1763, in the 72d year of his age, having lived in general estimation as a man of respectable talents, and great industry: humane, virtuous, and devout.

JONATHAN SWIFT (the posthumous son of Jonathan Swift, an Attorney, and Steward to the Society of King's Inns, Dublin) was born in that city on November 30, 1667. His grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Swift, Vicar of Goodrich, in Herefordshire, had suffered severely in his fortune by his adherence to Charles I, and left a family of twelve or thirteen children very slenderly provided for. Four of his sons settled in Ireland; the eldest of whom, Godwin (Attorney General for the Palatinate of Tipperary), for some years supplied the means of subsistence to the widow and orphan children of his brother. It is supposed, however, that this was not done very graciously; for Swift seems to have entertained little respect for his memory: while, on the contrary, he

always spoke in terms of reverence and affection of his uncle Dryden Swift; who, after Godwin's death, took upon himself the maintenance of the destitute family.

When six years old, Swift was sent to the school of Kilkenny; and, when fourteen, was admitted a Pensioner into Trinity College, Dublin. His studies and pursuits were not of a kind suited to forward his views of advancement in this seat of learning; he had conceived a strong dislike to Logic, and entirely disregarded it, although it was at that time deemed of paramount importance: and this, together with his irregularities and insubordination, threw great difficulty in the way of his obtaining a Bachelor's degree, which was at last conferred by a Special Grace. The disgrace he had thus incurred seems to have only tended to exasperate and render him callous, for, in March, 1686, he was publicly admonished for notorious neglect of his duties, and in November, 1688, he was suspended for insolent conduct to the Junior Dean, and for exciting dissension in the College.

In 1688 he quitted Dublin; and, coming over to England, visited his mother, who was then residing in Leicestershire. By her advice he addressed himself to Sir William Temple (whose wife was related to the family), and succeeded in obtaining his patronage; the immediate advantage of which was the opportunity it afforded him of prosecuting his studies upon a scale which he seems to have adopted as a penance for his previous dereliction of duty. His application now was most intense and severe, and the extensive knowledge he thus acquired soon raised him in the estimation, and gained him the confidence of his patron. He was admitted to the private interviews of King William and Temple, when the former honored Moor Park with his presence; and frequently, when Sir William happened to be confined by the gout, was deputed to attend his Majesty in his walks about the grounds. It was on these occasions that the King taught Swift the Dutch method of cutting asparagus, and (Swift, probably, having hinted at his precarious circumstances), offered to make him a Captain of Horse. Swift's hopes and expectations, however, were fixed upon Church preferment; and in 1692 he went to Oxford to take his degree of Master of Arts, and met with a reception there which highly gratified him.

It is possible that Sir William Temple, anxious to retain Swift about him, thought to accomplish his aim by keeping him in a state of dependence: but it is certain that Swift became impatient, and when, after frequent application and remonstrance, he was at last offered a situation in the Irish Rolls of about £100 a year, he rejected it with disdain, and immediately quitted Moor Park for Ireland, with the intention of taking Holy Orders. To this end, a reference to Temple, as to his conduct, was necessary; and it has been thought that Sir William, feeling that he had dealt ungenerously by him, in addition to the usual testimonial, forwarded some direct recommendations; for Swift obtained Deacons' Orders in October, 1694, Priests' Orders in January, 1695, and, immediately afterward, the Prebend of Kilroot, worth about £100 a year. He was scarcely settled, when he received an invitation from Temple to return to him: he did return; and was thenceforth treated, not as the needy dependent, but as the respected and confidential friend. Four years passed in an uninterrupted intercourse of esteem and friendship between them, when the death of Temple, in January, 1698-9, threw Swift upon the world, to gain by his own energies the provision which patronage had failed to bestow on him. He edited the literary remains of Temple, and dedicated them to the King, reminding him at the same time, by a petition, of a promise he had made him of a Prebend at Canterbury or Westminster: but his efforts were unavailing, and he re linquished his attendance upon the Court in disgust. Further disappointments awaited him: Lord Berkeley (one of the Lords Justices of Ireland) had invited him to become his Secretary and Chaplain, and he had accepted the invitation; but was quickly superseded in the former office by a Mr. Bushe, who procured it for himself. Lord Berkeley, by way of amends, promised him the first living of value that should be at his disposal; but, when the Deanery of Derry became vacant, Swift found that Mr. Bushe had again forestalled him, and that he could only obtain it by the payment of £1000 to Bushe. His anger toward both the Judge and his Secretary was extreme: he instantly threw up his Chaplainship, and took his leave of them in these words: "God confound you both for a couple of scoundrels." Lord Berkeley soon became apprehensive of the consequences which might arise from the hatred and scorn of a man like Swift, who, from time to time, continued to attack him with all the bitterness of satire; and he endeav ered to pacify him by presenting him with the Rectory of Agher, and the Vicarages of Laracor and Rathbiggan. In 1700 the Prebend of Dunlavin was added to these, and