He depended with great fecurity on his own powers; and perhaps was for that reafon lefs diligent in perufing books. His literature was, I think, but fmall. What he knew of antiquity, I fufpect him to have gathered from modern compilers: but though he could not boast of much critical knowledge, his mind was ftored with general principles, and he left minute refearches to those whom he confidered as little minds.

With this difpofition he wrote moft of his poems. Having formed a magnificent defign, he was careless of particular and fubordinate elegances; he ftudied no niceties of verfification; he waited for no felicities of fancy; but caught his first thoughts in the firft words in which they were prefented: nor does it appear that he faw beyond his own performances, or had ever elevated his views to that ideal perfection which every genius born to excel is condemned always to pursue; and never overtake. In the firft fuggeftions of his imagination he acquiefced; he thought them good, and did not feek for better. His works may be read a long time without the occurrence of a fingle line that ftands prominent from the reft.

The poem on Creation has, however, the appearance of more circumfpection; it wants neither harmony of numbers, accuracy of thought, nor elegance of diction: it has either been written with great care; or; what cannot be imagined of fo long a work, with fuch' felicity as made care lefs neceffary.

Its two constituent parts are ratiocination and defcription. To reason in verfe, is allowed to be difficult; but Blackmore not only reafons in verfe, but very of ten reafons poetically; and finds the art of uniting ornament with strength, and cafe with clofenefs. This

1S

is a skill which Pope might have condefcended to learn from him, when he needed it fo much in his Moral Effays.

In his descriptions both of life and nature, the poet and the philofopher happily co-operate; truth is recommended by elegance, and elegance fuftained by truth.

In the structure and order of the poem, not only the greater parts are properly confecutive, but the didactick and illuftrative paragraphs are fo happily mingled, that labour is relieved by pleasure, and the attention is led on through a long fucceffion of varied excellence to the original pofition, the fundamental principle of wisdom and of virtue.

AS the heroick poems of Blackmore are now little read, it is thought proper to infert, as a fpecimen from Prince Arthur, the fong of Mopas mentioned by Molineux.

But that which Arthur with most pleasure heard,
Were noble strains, by Mopas fung the bard,
Who to his harp in lofty verse began,

And through the fecret maze of Nature ran.
He the great Spirit fung, that all things fill'd,
That the tumultuous waves of Chaos ftill'd;
Whofe nod difpos'd the jarring feeds to peace,
And made the wars of hoftile Atoms cease,
All Beings we in fruitful Nature find,
Proceeded from the great Eternal Mind;
Streams of his unexhaufted fpring of power,
And cherish'd with his influence, endure.
He spread the pure cerulean fields on high,
And arch'd the chambers of the vaulted sky,
Which he, to fuit their glory with their height,
Adorn'd with globes, that reel, as drunk with light.

His

His hand directed all the tuneful spheres,
He turn'd their orbs, and polish'd all the stars.
He fill'd the Sun's vaft lamp with golden light,
And bid the filver Moon adorn the night,

He spread the airy Ocean without shores,
Where birds are wafted with their feather'd oars.
Then fung the bard how the light vapours rife
From the warm earth, and cloud the fmiling fkies.
He fung how fome, chill'd in their airy flight,.
Fall scatter'd down in pearly dew by night.
How fome, rais'd higher, fit in fecret steams
On the reflected points of bounding beams;
Till, chill'd with cold, they fhade th' etherial plain,
Then on the thirsty earth defcend in rain.
How fome, whofe parts a flight contexture show,
Sink hovering through the air, in fleecy fnow,
How part is fpun in filken threads, and clings
Entangled in the grafs in glewy ftrings.
How others ftamp to ftones, with rushing found
Fall from their cryftal quarries to the ground,
How fome are laid in trains, that kindled fly
In harmless fires by night, about the sky.
How fome in winds blow with impetuous force,
And carry ruin where they bend their course :
While fome confpire to form a gentle breeze,
To fan the air, and play among the trees.
How fome, enrag'd, grow turbulent and loud,
Pent in the bowels of a frowning cloud;

That cracks, as if the axis of the world

Was broke, and heaven's bright towers were downwards

hurl'd.

He fung how earth's wide ball, at Jove's command,

Did in the midft on airy columns stand.

And how the foul of plants, in prifon held,
And bound with fluggish fetters, lies conceal'd,
Till with the Spring's warm beams, almoft releast
From the dull weight, with which it lay oppreft,

Its vigour spreads, and makes the teeming earth Heave up, and labour with the sprouting birth: The active spirit freedom feeks in vain, It only works and twifts a stronger chain. Urging its prison's fides to break a way, It makes that wider, where 'tis forc❜d to stay: Till, having form'd its living house, it rears Its head, and in a tender plant appears. Hence springs the oak, the beauty of the grove, Whose stately trunk fierce storms can scarcely move. Hence grows the cedar, hence the fwelling vine Does round the elm its purple clusters twine. Hence painted flowers the smiling gardens bless, Both with their fragrant scent and gaudy drefs. Hence the white lily in full beauty grows, Hence the blue violet, and blushing rose. He fung how fun-beams brood upon the earth, And in the glebe hatch fuch a numerous birth; Which way the genial warmth in Summer ftorms Turns putrid vapours to a bed of worms; How rain, transform'd by this prolifick power, Falls from the clouds an animated fhower. He fung the embryo's growth within the womb, And how the parts their various fhapes affume, With what rare art the wondrous ftructure's wrought, From one crude mafs to fuch perfection brought; That no part useless, none mifplac'd we fee, None are forgot, and more would monftrous be."

VOL. III.

FENTON.

FENTON.

TH

HE brevity with which I am to write the account of ELIJAH FENTON is not the effect of indifference or negligence. I have fought intelligence among his relations in his native country, but have not obtained it.

He was born near Newcastle in Staffordshire, of an ancient family, whofe eftate was very confiderable; but he was the youngest of twelve children, and being therefore neceffarily destined to fome lucrative employment, was fent firft to school, and afterwards to Cambridge; but, with many other wife and virtuous men, who at that time of difcord and debate confulted confcience, whether well or ill informed, more than ́intereft, he doubted the legality of the government, and, refuting to qualify himself for publick employment by the oaths required, left the university without a degree; but I never heard that the enthusiasm of oppofition impelled him to feparation from the church.

By this perverseness of integrity he was driven out

* He was entered of Jefus College, and took a Bachelor's degree in 1704.

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