190 Poetry. 



one of the greatest productions of English poetry; 

 to exhibit more successfully than almost any 

 other the genius and spirit of the original; and 

 to deserve a much higher degree of approbation 

 than it has generally obtained/ 



DIDACTIC POETRY. 



In this species of poetic composition the eigh- 

 teenth century produced some works of great ex- 

 cellence, some of which may be compared, without 

 disadvantage, with the best specimens of any pre- 

 ceding age. The Essay on Criticism, by Mr. 

 Pope, as it was one of his earliest compositions, so it 

 is also one of his best. 9 In the opinion of a great 

 critic " it exhibits every mode of excellence that 

 can embellish or dignify didactic composition; se- 

 lection of matter, novelty of arrangement, justness 

 of precept, splendour of illustration, and propriety 

 of digression. " The Essay on Man, r by the same 

 author, though in some respects of inferior excel- 

 lence, has been incomparably more read, and, in 

 general, more highly applauded. This perform- 



/ Life of Row e, by Johnson. 



q He produced this work at twenty years of age, and is pronounced by 

 Dr. Johnson never afterwards to have excelled it. 



r It has been often said that Lord Bolingbroke had some agency in 

 the composition of the Essay on Man. The following extract of a letter 

 from the late Reverend Dr. Hugh Blair, of Edinburgh, will probably 

 be considered as deciding the fact. " In the year 1 763, being at 

 London, I was carried by Dr. John Blair, Prebendary of Westminster, 

 to dine at old Lord Bathurst's. The conversation turning on Mr. Pope, 

 Lord Bat hurst told us, that the Essay on Man was originally composed 

 by Lord Bolingbroke, in prose, and that Mr. Pope did no more than 

 put it into verse : that he had read Lord Bolingbroke's manuscript in his 

 own hand writing, and remembered well that he was at a loss whether 

 most to admire the elegance of Lord Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty 

 of Mr. Pope's verse. When Lord Bathurst told this, Mr. Mallet bade 

 me attend, and remember this remarkable piece of information; as by the 

 course of nature I might survive his Lordship, and be a witness of his hav- 

 ing said so." Boswele's Life of Johnson, vol. iii. p. 133. 



