[ 82 ] 



ufeful a fubordinate inftrument may be to a ftatefman, it ftill 

 mufl; be fubordinate ; however valuable the fecret advice of an 

 humble friend, his merits mufl remain in fecrecy, and his ftation 

 flill be humble. Thofe even who wifhed for Swift's afliftance 

 were afraid to afk it, and thofe who admired his talents dreaded 

 his feverity. His hopes at laft appear delufive, he is difcon- 

 tented with himfelf for having formed them, and with others 

 for their difappointment. His pride is mortified, hii vivacity 

 is loft, and peevifti complaints and gloomy refleiflions fill up 

 the latter part of his correfpondence. The whole of it is much 

 to be prized for the vivid picfture it exhibits of diftindl and 

 progreflive variations of mind, and much more for the ufeful 

 leflbn it inculcates on literary men, to reprefs the fuggeftions 

 of their own vanity, and not to prefume too much on the 

 flattery of friends, or the condefcending civility of a patron. 



The Night Thoughts or complaint of Edward Young pre- 

 fent another very remarkable pidlure of mind. Young is him- 

 felf the conftant complainant. Every view of general mifery 

 leads him to the confideration of his own ftate, and the de- 

 fcription of his individual misfortunes. The death of Philander 

 — his own ficknefs — Narciffa — the peculiar rancour of death to 

 him — the perils which await Lorenzo — recur by every aflbciation 

 to his thoughts. The mention of friendfhip reminds him of 

 the lofs of friends, and the counterfeit friendfhips of the great : 

 the addrefs to fleep with which the poem begins feledls for a 

 topic its forfaking the wretched, ferves as an occafion for in- 



veigning 



