His little pieces are feldom either fpritely or elegant, either keen or weighty. They are trifles written by idleness, and published by vanity. But his Prologues and Epilogues have a juft claim to praise.

The Progress of Beauty feems one of his most elaborate pieces, and is not deficient in fplendor and gaiety; but the merit of original thought is wanting. Its highest praise is the fpirit with which he celebrates king James's confort, when she was a queen no longer.

The Essay on unnatural Flights in Poetry is not inelegant nor injudicious, and has fomething of vigour beyond most of his other performances: his precepts are juft, and his cautions proper; they are indeed not new, but in a didactick poem novelty is to be expected only in the ornaments and illustrations. His poetical precepts are accompanied with agreeable and inftruc. tive notes.

The Mafque of Peleus and Thetis has here and there a pretty line; but it is not always melodious, and the conclufion is wretched.

In his British Enchanters he has bidden defiance to all chronology, by confounding the inconfiftent manners of different ages; but the dialogue has often the air of Dryden's rhyming plays; and the fongs are lively, though not very correct. This is, I think, far the best of his works; for if it has many faults, it has likewise paffages which are at least pretty, though they do nʊc rise to any high degree of excellence.

VOL. III.

Q

YALDEN

YAL DE N.

HOMAS YALDEN, the fixth son of Mr.

THOMAS

John Yalden of Suffex, was born in the city of Exeter in 1671. Having been educated in the grammar-school belonging to Magdalen College in Oxford, he was in 1690, at the age of nineteen, admitted commoner of Magdalen Hall, under the tuition of Jofiah Pullen, a man whofe name is ftill remembered in the univerfity. He became next year one of the scholars of Magdalen College, where he was distinguished by a lucky accident.

It was his turn, one day, to pronounce a declamation; and Dr. Hough, the prefident, happening to attend, thought the compofition too good to be the speaker's. Some time after, the doctor finding him a little irregularly bufy in the library, fet him an exercife for punishment; and, that he might not be deceived by any artifice, locked the door. Yalden, as it happened, had been lately reading on the fubject given, and produced with little difficulty a compofition which fo

pleafed

pleased the prefident, that he told him his former fufpicions, and promised to favour him.

Among his contemporaries in the college were Addifon and Sacheverell, men who were in those times friends, and who both adopted Yalden to their intimacy. Yalden continued, throughout his life, to think as probably he thought at firft, yet did not lose the friendship of Addifon.

When Namur was taken by king William, Yalden made an ode. There was never any reign more celebrated by the poets than that of William, who had very little regard for fong himself, but happened to employ minifters who pleafed themselves with the praise of patronage.

Of this ode mention is made in an humorous poeni of that time, called The Oxford Laureat; in which, after many claims had been made and rejected, Yalden is represented as demanding the laurel, and as being called to his trial, inftead of receiving a reward.

His crime was for being a felon in verse,
And prefenting his theft to the king;

The firft was a trick not uncommon or scarce,

But the laft was an impudent thing:

Yet what he had ftol'n was fo little worth ftealing,

They forgave him the damage and cost:

Had he ta'en the whole ode, as he took it piece-mealing,
They had fin'd him but ten-pence at most.

The poet whom he was charged wirh robbing was Congreve.

He wrote another poem on the death of the duke of Gloucefter.

In 1710 he became fellow of the college; and next year, entering into orders, was prefented by the fo

ciety with a living in Warwickshire, confiftent with his fellowship, and chofen lecturer of moral philo◄ fophy, a very honourable office.

On the acceffion of queen Anne he wrote another poem; and is faid, by the author of the Biographia, to have declared himself of the party who had the honourable diftinction of High-churchmen.

In 1706 he was received into the family of the duke of Beaufort. Next year he became doctor in divinity, and foon after refigned his fellowship and lecture; and, as a token of his gratitude, gave the college a picture of their founder.

He was made rector of Chalton and Cleanville, two adjoining towns and benefices in Hertfordshire; and had the prebends, or finecures, of Deans, Hains, and Pendles in Devonshire. He had before been chofen, in 1698, preacher of Bridewell Hospital, upon the refignation of Dr. Atterbury.

From this time he feems to have led a quiet and inoffenfive life, till the clamour was raised about Atterbury's plot. Every loyal eye was on the watch for abettors or partakers of the horrid confpiracy; and Dr. Yalden, having fome acquaintance with the bifhop, and being familiarly converfant with Kelly his fecretrary, fell under fufpicion, and was taken into cuftody.

Upon his examination he was charged with a dangerous correfpondence with Kelly. The correfpondence he acknowledged; but maintained, that it had no treasonable tendency. His papers were feized; but nothing was found that could fix a crime upon him, except two words in his pocket-book, thorough-paced doctrine. This expreffion the imagination of his ex

aminers

aminers had impregnated with treafon, and the doctor was enjoined to explain them. Thus preffed, he told them that the words had lain unheeded in his pocketbook from the time of queen Anne, and that he was afhamed to give an account of them; but the truth was, that he had gratified his curiofity one day, by hearing Daniel Burgess in the pulpit, and those words was a memorial hint of a remarkable sentence by which he warned his congregation to beware of thorough-paced doctrine, that doctrine which coming in at one ear, paces through the head, and goes out at the other.

Nothing worfe than this appearing in his papers, and no evidence arifing against him, he was fet at liberty.

It will not be fuppofed that a man of this character attained high dignities in the church; but he ftill retained the friendship, and frequented the converfation, of a very numerous and splendid set of acquaintance. He died July 16, 1736, in the 66th year of his age.

Of his poems, many are of that irregular kind, which, when he formed his poctical character, was fuppofed to be Pindarick. Having fixed his attention on Cowley as a model, he has attempted in fome fort to rival him, and has written a Hymn to Darkness, evidently as a counter-part to Cowley's Hymn to Light.

This hymn feems to be his best performance, and is, for the most part, imagined with great vigour, and expreffed with great propriety. I will not tranfcribe it. The feven firft ftanzas are good; but the third, fourth, and feventh, are the beft: the eighth feems to involve a contradiction; the tenth is exquisitely beautiful; the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth,