if fhe did poffefs the fecret, died without difclofing it to him; the romantic method by which he difcovered his real origin, in letters which have never been produced; the falfe statement of the registry of his birth; and the inattention of Mrs. Lloyd's executors, are all ftrong circumftances in fupport of B›fwell's conjecture. On the other hand it must be admitted, that the reception which Savage met with from Lord Tyrconnel, has the appearance of a weighty evidence, that he was confidered by that nobleman as a relation. In the 9th volume the lives are more comprchenfive than thofe written by Johnfon, particularly thofe of Dyer, Mallet, Shentone, and Akenfide. The criticifm upon the works of Collins merits particular commendation; but it is too long for us to infert entire, and to give only parts, would be doing it an injury. Dr. A. in his Life of Swift, is more fevere upon his moral character, efpecially with refpect to his conduct towards Mifs Vanhomrigh, than we fhould have expected, or than Dr. Johnfon has been. The most authentic evidence we have upon this fubject, fince their letters have been fuppreffed, is the poem of Cadenus and Vaneffa. It was written by the dean, and relied upon by the lady for the juftification of her memory: yet furely it affords ftronger proofs of the honour than of the gallantry of Swift. It reprefents the lady as making love to him; and ftates the fuccefs of her defign upon his heart, in fo doubtful a way, that any female, unblinded by passion, must have confidered it as a refufal. The lives of Young, Gray, Thompson, Goldsmith, and Smollet, are well told in the 10th volume. Among the criticifms upon Goldfmith is the following, copied from Bofwell*; "The lifted axe, the agonizing wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of fteel, Luke, in the last line, is mentioned by miflake for George. In the Republica (Refpublica) Hungarica, there is an account of a defperate rebellion in 1514, headed by two brothers of the name of Zeck, George and Luke. When it was quelled, George, not Luke, was punished, by his head being encircled with a red-hot iron: corona candefcente ferrea coronatur." If Goldfmith had not fo long furvived the publication of his poems, conjectural criticifm might fuppofe, that Goldfmith had written Zeck, not Luke; and that the alteration had been an error of the printer, owing to the fimilarity of the two Life of Johnfon, vol. i. p. 463, 8vo. words words in manufcript characters. This would also be more confiftent with the context, Damien having been mentioned by his firname, and would remove the mistake. But the barbarous and unusual found of Zeck probably deterred the poet from introducing it. In the life of J. Brown, where his Ode, entitled the Cure of Saul, is criticized, it should have been remarked, that Smart, in the preface to his Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, mentions that this fubject was fuggefted to him by Mr. Comber, but that he declined it as above his powers. The Lives contained in the 11th and last volume of original poetry, are written upon a more expanded fcale than those which we have already reviewed. The Life of Dr. Johnson、 has been publifhed feparately, and was formerly noticed by us. Thofe of Wilkie, Smart, Chatterton, Mickle, Scott, Logan, Warton, and Blacklock, merit particular approbation. We were furprised to find, however, in the accurate criticism on the poems of Wilkie, that his imitation, entitled The Dialogue, has been paffed by unnoticed. The concluding lines, commencing with "May heav'n forbid that this aufpicious reign," poffefs great vigour of expreffion, novelty of thought, and harmony of numbers. We must remark alfo, that the Epigoniad of this poet, though far from the first clafs of fuch compofitions, merits more attention than it feems to have received. The verfification is its moft faulty part. It is fmooth, but frequently tame; and is read with difadvantage after thofe sweet and majestic tones in which the Iliad is conveyed to the British ear. The account of Grame is much too long for the confequence of the poet. The obfcure life of a low-born youth, who dies a private tutor at the age of twenty-one, can afford few materials for narrative. To fpin it out, therefore, as Dr. A. has done, affects the reader's mind with languid indifference inftead of refpectful attention. It is unwife to attempt conferring importance on an object to which nature has denied it. We cannot even excufe the partiality of the friend, eloquently and feelingly as the author apologizes for it, which allots to Græme fifteen pages of fuch clofe print as the Lives of the Poets are compofed in, and confines the Life of Halifax, the moft confpicuous statesman of his day, and the most eminent patron of poetry that England can boaft of, to fomewhat lefs than four. In his zeal for his friend, our editor has heaped upon him every natural endowment of the mind, and every literary acquirement that ftudy could beftow. He gives a pompous enumeration of the books which he read, and specifies every name eminent for poetry or fcience, from remote antiquity to the prefent period. Such a dry catalogue of names, can afford the reader neither amusement nor useful information. But the most difgraceful phænomenon we have met with, and perfectly inconfiftent with the reft, and with the idea we had formed of Dr. Anderson's scholarship, is the Sapphic Ode, as it iscalled, inserted in p. 411, and there ftyled "a correct and manly performance for a boy of fifteen!" So far from being correct, it is not even a decent attempt. In Latinity it is bald enough, but the lines are formed with fuch total ignorance of the Sapphic measure, that, if one or two among them did not accidentally approach rather nearer to it than the reft, we could not even have believed the attempt to have been intended. What will, not only any scholar, but any boy of eleven or twelve, who has learned the rules of verfes, fay to fuch lines as thefe, given for a Sapphic ftanza? Pueri agreftes irridendum pecus It is not only that they are full of faults, but there is nothing right in them; there is not even the effort of a very awkward beginner. The reft are equally deteftable, except that the two laft ftanzas are closed by real Adonics. That the editor knows nothing of Latin metre is evident; but, not knowing it, why did he not make a little enquiry before he ventured to call fuch wretched ftuff correct?. A boy, producing fuch lines at one of our public fchools, could only be confidered as intending to infult the mafter. So ignorant he could not be. " With the poems of Græme, Dr. A. has united fome of his own; but, as he deprecates criticism, we shall not stop to examine them minutely. The doctor thinks, and labours more than his friend, and is by no means fo good a verfifier: in one fong, "plague you" and " drag you" are made to pass as rhymes to Peggy;" and, in another, "deity," it is fuppofed, will chime with "Betty." We do not think that an ear, accustomed to the broadest Scotch pronunciation, could admit these as rhyme. In a fong, facility of expreffion, and fmoothness of verfification, are principally required: it is a small gem, whofe value confifts in its exquifite polifh, and delicate workmanship; not in the intrinfic worth of the materials. As a fpecimen of Dr. Anderfon's ftyle, we fhall infert his, critique upon the fermon-writers of Great-Britain, from his BRIT. CRIT. VOL. VII. FEB. 1796. Life Life of Logan, in the eleventh volume: it has confiderable merit, will afford fome information not generally known, and can be feparated from the reft with lefs violence than any other paffage of equal length. "In England, the art of preaching has made a lefs diftinguished progrefs, and is yet far from having arrived at that degree of perfection which the French have attained. Before the Reftoration there is hardly a preacher whofe fermons deferve to be read. The spirit of religious controverfy gave them fome warmth; but, utterly devoid of tafe, and deftitute of elegance of expreffion, they abound in cold divifions, and fcholaftic jargon. Then appeared Sanderson and Barrow, who, deviating from the involved method of their predeceffors, introduced a mode lefs formal, tho' not quite pure from the parade of artificial compofition. In that reign, Scott, diffufe, figurative, ferious, and fervent, formed a manner peculiar to himself, which, without an equal portion of congenial talents, it was impoffible to imitate. About the end of the laft, and the beginning of the prefent century, fome improvements were made. In the fermons of Tillotson there is remarkable good fenfe, accompanied with fimplicity, and confiderable purity of expreffion. Clarke pondered his fubjects with patience, compared the Bible carefully with itfelf, argued coolly, decided with caution, wrote with precifion, and feldom admitted an improper word, or gave it a wrong pofition; but he is generally dry and uninteresting, Butler's fermons are, for the most part, upon very abftrufe metaphyficat points, little fuited to the pulpit, or to the generality of readers. In the fermons of Seed, there is found and clear reafoning; the expreffion is lively and elegant, and the manner warm and uninterefting; but his ftyle is too often artificial, as oppofed to natural. The fermons of Hoadly, Sherlock, Secker, Jortin, and many others, though justly celebrated for their found and clear reafoning, and nervous expreffion, yet hardly ever afford any examples of an animated and paffionate eloquence. Atterbury is almoft the only English preacher who has attained any remarkable elegance, or who approaches, in any degree, to the eloquence of the French. His ftyle is more nervous, his expreffion more elegant, and his manner more warm and affecting, than almost any of the English preachers; but he is fometimes carclefs and incorrect, and fometimes even flat and infipid. "If the English preachers have fallen fhort of the eloquence of the French, thofe of Scotland have been ftill farther behind. The genius of Prefbytery, and the manners of the people, were unfavourable to a refined and polifhed eloquence. Of late, however, together with other improvements, good fenfe, elegance, and correctness have come to be attempted in the difcourfes from the pulpit; and fome preachers have appeared, who, in found and difpaffionate reasoning, in order and clearness, and even in purity and elegance of expreffion, have rivalled the mofl celebrated preachers of our neighbouring *This obfervation furely does not apply to Sherlock, 5 Rev. country. country. The first who appears to have diftinguished himself by the good fenfe, found reafoning, and manly fimplicity of his pulpit compofitions, was Dr. Leechman. Some improvements were made by fucceeding preachers, and fermons gradually became more fashionable. Thofe of Mr. Walker, as the productions of taste and genius, exercifed on important fubjects, were defervedly commended. But the polish of Dr. Blair, which gave elegance to fentiments not too profound for common comprehenfion, nor too obvious to be uninterefting, was wanting, to render this fpecies of compofition popular and generally pleafing. By employing the utmoft exertions of a vigorous mind, and of patient ftudy, to felect the best ideas, and to prune off every fuperfluous thought, by taking pains to embellish them by all the beauties of language and elegant expreffion, and by repeatedly examining, with the feverity of an enlightened critic, every fentence, and erafing every harsh and uncouth phrafe, he has produced the most elegant models of pulpit compofition that have yet appeared in these kingdoms. In confequence of Dr. Johnfon's approbation, one hundred pounds were given for the first volume of his fermons, and 6ool. for each of the two fucceeding volumes; which was more than ever a work of equal bulk procured from the bookfellers; but they increafed the fale of the former volumes. "The fermons of Logan, though not fo exquifitely polished as thofe of Dr. Blair, poffefs, in a higher degree, the animated and paffionate eloquence of Maffillon and Atterbury. His compofition is every where excellent. Its leading characteristics are strength, elegance, and fimplicity. The formation of his fentences appears the moft inartificial, though, at the fame time, it will be found to be ftrictly correct. But the manner, amidst all its beauties, is, on the first perufal, loft in the enjoyment the reader feels from the fentiment. Devotional and folemn fubjects peculiarly accord with his feelings and genius. In exhibiting deep and folemn views of human life, his fentiments are bold and varied, and his imagination teems with the most foothing and elevated figures. His knowledge of poetry in general, and his relish for its highest beauties, are every where confpicuous. Topics fuch as thefe, which we have feen illuftrated before a thousand times, are made to pafs before the mind in the most impreffive and affecting manner, and for a moment we deceive ourselves with a belief, that the fubjects themfelves must be new to us. But it appears to have been no part of his plan to feek out for new fubjects of preaching, or to excite his ingenuity in exhibiting new views of moral and religious topics. To embellifh the moft common fubjects, which are certainly the moft proper and ufeful, with new ornaments; to perfwade by a more forcible and more captivating illuftration, to unite the beauties of elegant diction, and the fplendor of fine imagery; in this lay his chief exertions, and here refts his chief praise." P. 1031. *We have heard that Dr. Blair received for his fourth volume, the aftonishing fum of 2000l. fterling. Rev. Dr. |