will appropriated his whole estate for that purpofe.

It was perhaps from fome confiderations on the narrowness of his fortune, that he forbore to marry; for he was no enemy to wedlock, had a high opinion of many among the fair fex, was fond of their fociety, and no ftranger to the tenderest impreffions. One, which he received in his youth, was with difficulty furmounted. The lady was the subject of that sweet pastoral, in four parts, which has been fo univerfally admired; and which, one would have thought, must have fubdued the loftieft heart, and foftened the most obdurate.

His perfon, as to height, was above the middle stature, but largely and rather inelegantly formed his face feemed plain till you converfed with him, and then it grew very pleasing. In his dress he was negligent, even to a fault; though when young, at the univerfity, he was accounted a BEAU. He wore his own hair, which was quite grey very early, in a particular manner; not from any affectation of fingularity, but from a maxim he had laid down, that

without

without too flavish a regard to fashion, every one should dress in a manner most suitable to his own perfon and figure. In fhort, his faults were only little blemishes, thrown in by nature, as it were on purpose to prevent him from rifing too much above that level of imperfection allotted to humanity.

His character as a writer will be distinguished by fimplicity with elegance, and genius with correctness. He had a fublimity equal to the highest attempts; yet from the indolence of his temper, he chofe rather to amufe himself in culling flowers at the foot of the mount, than to take the trouble of climbing the more arduous steeps of PARNASSUS. But whenever he was difposed to rife, his steps, tho' natural, were noble, and always well fupported. In the tenderness of elegiac poetry he hath not been excelled; in the fimplicity of paftoral, one may venture to fay he had very few equals. Of great fenfibility himself, he never failed to engage the hearts of his readers and amidst the nicest attention to the harmony of his numbers, he always took care to exprefs with propriety the fentiments of an elegant mind. In all his writings, his

greatness

greatest difficulty was to please himself. I remember a paffage in one of his letters, where, speaking of his love fongs, he says" Some "were written on occafions a good deal ima ginary, others not fo; and the reason there are fo many is, that I wanted to write ONE

good fong, and could never please myself." It was this diffidence which occafioned him to throw afide many of his pieces before he had bestowed upon them his laft touches. I have fuppreffed several on this account; and if among those which I have felected, there fhould be discovered fome little want of his finishing polish, I hope it will be attributed to this cause, and of course be excufed: yet I flatter myself there will always appear fomething well worthy of having been preferved. And though I was afraid of inserting what might injure the character of my friend, yet as the sketches of a great master are always valuable, I was unwilling the public fhould lose any thing material of fo accomplished a writer. In this dilemma it will eafily be conceived that the task I had to perform would become fomewhat difficult. How I have acquitted myself, the public must judge. Nothing, however, except what he had al

ready

ready published, has been admitted without the advice of his most judicious friends, nothing altered, without their particular concurrence. It is impoffible to please every one; but 'tis hoped that no reader will be so unreasonable, as to imagine that the author wrote folely for his amusement: his talents were various ; and though it may perhaps be allowed that his excellence chiefly appeared in fubjects of tenderness and fimplicity, yet he frequently condefcended to trifle with thofe of humour and drollery: thefe, indeed, he himself in fome meafure degraded by the title which he gave them of LEVITIES: but had they been entirely rejected, the public would have been deprived of fome JEUX D'ESPRITS, excellent in their kind, and Mr. SHENSTONE's character as a writer would have been but imperfectly exhibited.

But the talents of Mr. SHENSTONE were not confined merely to poetry; his character, as a man of clear judgment, and deep penetration, will beft appear from his profe works. It is there we must fearch for the acuteness of his understanding, and his profound knowledge of the human heart. It is to be lamented indeed,

that fome things here are unfinished, and can be regarded only as fragments: many are left as fingle thoughts, but which, like the fparks of diamonds, fhew the richness of the mine to which they belong; or like the foot of a HERCULES, discover the uncommon strength, and extraordinary dimenfions of that hero. I have no apprehenfion of incurring blame from any one, for preferving these valuable remains: they will discover to every reader, the author's fentiments on several important fubjects. And there can be very few, to whom they will not impart many thoughts, which they would never perhaps have been able to draw from the fource of their own reflections.

But I believe little need be faid to recommend the writings of this gentleman to public attention. His character is already fufficiently eftablished. And if he be not injured by the inability of his editor, there is no doubt but he will ever maintain an eminent ftation among the best of our English writers.

R. DODSLEY.