74 
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rare that either true genius or literary merit of any kind 
recommends a man: and this freed him from all obliga¬ 
ti'ms of courting the public favour any longer. He was 
(till under the tie of gratitude to his illudrious patrons ; 
and, as he never miffed an opportunity of paying his 
compliments to them, fo on the other hand he always 
(hewed great regard to perfons of a lefs exalted dation, 
who had been ferviceable to him on Iris entrance into 
public life. He wrote an epilogue for his old friend 
Southern’s tragedy of Oroonoko ; and we learn from 
Dryden himfelf, how much he was obliged to his aflid- 
ance in the tranflation of Virgil. He contributed alfo 
the eleventh fatire to the tranflation of Juvenal, pub- 
lilhed by that great poet, and wrote fome excellent verfes 
on the tranflation of Perfius, performed by Dryden alone. 
The charms of his converfation mult alfo have been very 
powerful, (ince nothing could confole Henrietta, duchefs 
of Marlborough, for the lofs of Iris company, fo much 
as an automat:n, or fmall datue of ivory, made exaCtly 
to refemble him, which every day was brought to table. 
A glafs was put in the hand of the figure, which was fup- 
pofed to bow to her grace, and to nod in approbation of 
what (lie fpoke to it. 
The bell part of the laft twenty years of his life was 
fpent in eafe and retirement; but, towards the end of it, 
he was much affliCted with gout, which brought on a 
gradual decay. It was for this, that in the furnmer of 
1728, he went to Bath for the benefit of the waters, where 
lie had the misfortune to be overturned in his chariot; 
from which time lie complained of a pain in his fide, 
•which was fuppofed to arife from fome inward bruife. 
Upon his return to London, his health declined more 
and more ; and he died at his lioufe in Surry-fixeet in 
the Strand, January 19, 1729, aged fifty-feven. On the 
2'5rh, his corpfe lay in Hate in the Jerufalem chamber; 
whence the fame evening it was carried with great fo- 
lemnity into Henry Vllth’s chapel at Wellminfler, and 
afterwards interred in the abbey. The pall was fup- 
ported by the duke of Bridgewater, earl of Godolphin, 
lord Cobham, lord Wilmington, the honourable George 
Berkeley, and briga-dier-general Churchill; and colonel 
Congreve followed as chief mourner. Some time after, 
a neat and elegant monument was ereCted to his memory, 
by Henrietta, duchefs of Marlborough. 
Mr. Congreve, after having been at the expence of 
the educa ion of the young reprefentative of his ancient 
and illudrious family, left nearly the whole of his for¬ 
tune to the duchefs of Marlborough. Dr. Johnfon 
thinks he had better have left it in his own family ; and 
the reader will probably think fo too, as to the duchefs 
the legacy was fuperfluous and ufelefs. 
“ Congreve (fays Dr. Johnfon) has merit of the higheft 
kind ; he is an original writer, who borrowed neither the 
models of his plot, nor the manner of his dialogue. Of 
his plays I cannot fpeak didinCtly, for (ince I infpeCted 
them many years have palled ; but what remains upon 
my memory is, that his characters are commonly ficti¬ 
tious and artificial, with very little of nature, and not 
much of life. He formed a peculiar idea of comic ex¬ 
cellence, which he fuppofed to confift in gay remarks 
and unexpected anfwers; but that which he endeavour¬ 
ed, he feldom failed of performing. His feenes exhibit 
not much of humour, imagery, or paflion : his perfon- 
_ag.es are a kind of intellectual gladiators ; every fentence 
is to ward or (trike ; the contell of fmartnefs is never in- 
, term it ted ; ; Iris wit is a meteor playing to and fro with 
alternate corrufcations. His comedies have, therefore, 
in lome degree, the operation of tragedies ; they furprife 
rather than divert, and raife admiration oftener than 
merriment. But they are the works of a mind replete 
with images, and quick in combination. Of his mifcel- 
laneous poetry I cannot fay any tiling very favourable. 
His petty poems are feldom wofth tire cod of criticifnr: 
fcmetimes the thoughts are falfe, and fonretimes com¬ 
mon. The general character of his Mil'cellanies is, that 
CON 
they drew little wit, and little virtue. Yet to him it 
mu ft be.confeffed that we are indebted for the correction 
of a national error, and the cure of our Pindaric mad- 
nefs./ He firlt taught the Englifli writers that Pindar’s 
odes were regular; and though certainly he had not the 
fire requifite for the higher fpecies of lyric poetry, he 
has (hewn us that enthufiafm has its rules, and that in 
mere confufion there is neither grace nor greatnefs. 
Tiie character given of him by Voltaire does ample 
juftice to his merit, at the fame time that it cenfures 
him for a fooiilh piece of affeCtation. “ He raifed the 
glory of comedy (fays Voltaire) to a greater height than 
any Englifh writer before or fince his time. He wrote 
only a few plays, but they are excellent in their kind. 
The laws of the drama are (triCtly obferved in them. 
They abound with characters, all which are fliadowed 
with the utmoft delicacy ; and we meet with not fo much 
as one low or coarfe jed. The language is every where 
that of men of fafliion ; but their afti.ns are thofe of 
knaves ; a proof that he was perfectly well acquainted 
with human nature, and frequented what we call polite 
company. He was infirm, and come to the verge of life, 
when I knew him. Mr. Congreve had one defect, which 
was his entertaining too mean an idea of his fird profef- 
(ion, that of a writer ; though it was to this he owed his 
fame and fortune. He fpoke of his works as of trifles 
that were beneath him ; and hinted to me, in our firfl: 
converfation, that I Ihonld vifit him upon no other foot¬ 
ing than that of a gentleman, who led a life of plainnefs 
and fimplicity. I anfwered, that had he been fo unfor¬ 
tunate as to be a mere gentleman, I fliould never have 
come to fee him ; and I was very much dilguded at fo 
unfea'fonable a piece of vanity.” 
CONGRI'ER en POUANCE, a town of France, in 
the department of the Mayenne, and chief place of a 
canton, in the diftriCf of Crayon : fix leagues and a half 
fouth-wed of Laval. 
To CONGRU'E, v. n. [from congruo, Lat.] To agree; 
to be confident with ; tofuit; to be agreeable. Notinuje. 
Our fovereign procefs imports at full, 
By letters congruing to that effect, 
The prefent death of Hamlet. Shakefpcarc. 
CONGRU'ENCE, f. \_congruentia, Lat.] Agreement; 
fuitablenefs of one thing to another; conliltency. 
CONGRU'ENT, adj. \_congruens,'La.t.'] Agreeing; cor- 
refpondent.—Thefe planes were fo feparated as to move 
upon a common (ide of the congruent fquares, as an axis. 
C/ieyne. 
CONGRU'ITY,yi Suitablenefs; agreeablenefs.— Ccn- 
gruity of opinions to our natural conftitution, is one great 
incentive to their reception. Glanvillc. —Fitnefs; perti¬ 
nence. — A whole fentence may fail of its congruity by 
wanting one particle. Sidney .— Confequence of argument; 
reafon; confillency .■— .With what congruity doth the church 
of Rome deny, that her enemies do at all appertain to 
the church of Chrid. Hooker .— In geometry. Figures or 
lines which exadtly correfpond, when laid over one an¬ 
other, are in congruity. 
CON'GRUMEN'Iky. Fitnefs; adaptation. Notinvfe. 
—The congrument and harmonious fitting of periods in a 
fentence, hath almod the faltening and force of knitting 
and connection. Ben Jonjon. 
CON'GRUOUS, adj. \_congruus, Lat.] Agreeable to; 
confident with.—The exidence of God is fo many ways 
manifed, and the obedience we owe him fo congruous to 
reafon, that the light of a great part of mankind give 
tedimony to the law of nature. Locke .■—Suitable to ; ac¬ 
commodated to ; proportionate or commenfurate.—The 
faculty is infinite, the objeft infinite, and they infinitely 
congruous to one another. Cheyne. —Rational; fit.. — Mo¬ 
tives that addrefs themfelves to our reafon, are fitted to 
be employed upon reafonabie creatures : it is no ways con¬ 
gruous, that God Ihonld be always frightening men into 
an acknowledgment of the truth. Atterbury. 
C ON' G RU OU SLYj 
