this fhort space, he attained a share of fame, equal to what most of his contemporaries were a long life in acquiring. He died at Chester, on his way to Ireland, in July 1717, in the 38th year of his age, and was buried in Trinity Church in that city, without any monument to mark the place of his ia

terment.

As he died without male iffue, his eftate devolved to his only nephew, Sir John Parnell, Bart. whose father was younger brother to the Archdeacon, and one of the juftices of the King's Bench in Ireland.

He left many compofitions behind him, of which Pope selected those which he thought best, and published them in one volume 8vo., 1721, with a dedication to the Earl of Oxford. A pofthumous volume was printed at Dublin, in 1758. And both these volumes united, with feveral additional poems, collected by Mr. Nichols, were printed in the collection of the " English Poets," 1779 and 1790.

Parnell was a man of very great benevolence, and of very agreeable manners. His converfation is faid to have been extremely pleasing, but in what its peculiar excellence confifted, is now unknown. His connections were extenfive, and his friends numerous and refpectable. He was intimately ac. quainted with Addison, Steele and Congreve, and with Pope, Swift and Arbuthnot. Joined by kindred talents, and qualities, he loved, esteemed, and revered his friends; and was by them loved, esteemed, and revered. He was respected by the world as a man of fuperior endowments. Te talents, learning, and virtue were joined an ample estate, and confiderable preferments in the church. Though not a very great economist, he was by no means fo profufe, as to have materially reduced his fortune. Goldsmith fays, " he was the most capable man in the world to make the happiness of those he converfed with, and the leaft able to fecure his own. He wanted that evenness of disposition, which bears disappointment with phlegm, and joy with indifference. He was ever very much elated or depreffed, and his whole life spent in agony or rapture. But the turbulence of these paffions only affected himself, and never those about him; he knew the ridicule of his own character, and very effectually raised the mirth of his companions, as well at his vexations as at his triumphs. Indeed he took care, that his friends fhould fee him to the best advantage; for when he found his fits of fpleen and uneafinefs, which fometimes lafted for weeks toge ther, he returned, with all expedition, to the remote parts of Ireland, and then made out a gloomy kind of fatisfaction, in giving hideous descriptions of the folitude to which he retired. Scarce a bog in his neighbourhood was left without reproach, and fearce a mountain reared its head unfung." "I have been once witness," fays Pope in one of his letters to him, " of fome, I hope all your fplenetic hours; come and be a comforter to me in mine." In anfwer to one of his dreary defcriptions, he fays, "I can eafily image to my thoughts, the folitary hours of your eremetical life in the mountains, from fomething parallel to it in my own retirement at Binfield ;" and in another place, "We are both miserable enough situated, God knows; but of the two evils, I think the folitudes of the fouth are to be preferred to the deserts of the weft." In this manner, Pope answered him in the tone of his own complaints, and these descriptions of his imaginary diftreffes ferved to relieve himfelf, yet they were not fo eafily endured by the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, who did not care to confefs themselves his fellow fufferers. He received many mortifications on that account among them; for being naturally fond of company, he could not endure to be without even theirs, which, however, among his English friends, he affected to defpife. His conduct, in this particular, was rather fplendid than wife; he had either loft the art to engage, or did not employ his skill in fecuring thofe more permanent, though more humble connections; and facrificed, for a month or two, in England, a whole year's happinefs by his country firefide.

The profe writings of Parnell, are his papers in the Spectator and Guardian, Essay on Homer, Life of Zoilus, and Remarks of Zoilus. In general they difcover no very great degree of force or comprehenfiveness of mind; but they teem with imagination, and fhow great learning, good fense, and knowledge of mankind. The Life of Zoilus was written at the request of his friends, and defigned as a fatire against Theobald and Dennis, with whom his club had been long at variance.

Confidered as a poet, Parnell is not diftinguished for ftrength of intellect or fertility of invention.

His tafte was delicate, and refined by a careful perufal of the ancient claffics. His admiration of those models of fine writing, led to an imitation fo close, as often to preclude originality. There is little of novelty in the thoughts, the imagery, or the fentiments of Parnell. But the thoughts are just; the images, though not great, are beautiful, well felected, and happily applied; the fentiments, though not bold or impaffioned, are natural and agreeable. The moral tendency is excellent, the verfification is sweet and harmonious, and the language pure, proper, and correct.

The Rife of Woman was one of his carlieft productions. It is a very fine illustration of a hint from Hefied. The Anacreontic, When spring comes on with fresh delight, is taken from the French, but fuperior to the original. The imagery is beautiful, and the fentiments natural and pleafing. Gay Bacchus, &c. is a translation from Augurellus; but the latter part is purely Parnell's. The Fairy Tale is inconteftibly one of the finest pieces in any language. Perhaps none of his performances discover more genius. Wit and virtue, without beauty, becoming amiable in the eyes of a mistress, in preference to beauty without wit and virtue, is finely defcribed. The old dialect is not perfectly well preserved; but that is a very flight defect where all the rest is fo excellent. The Pervigilium Veneris, afcribed to Catullus, is very well tramlated. It is replete with natural and impaffioned description, and the versification is easy, flowing, and harmonious. In general, all Parnell's tranflations are excellent. Goldsmith has very properly remarked, that in the Battle of the Frogs and Mice, the Greek names have not in English their original effect. The Epifle to Pope is one of the finest compliments that was ever paid to any poet. The praise is high, but difcriminative and appropriate. That part of it where he deplores his being far from wit and learning, as being far from Pope, gave particular offence to his friends at home. The panegyric on Swift is not exceeded by it in discrimination of character, selection of imagery, and felicity of expreffion.

The Bookworm is a translation from Beza, with modern applications. The tranflation of the description of Belinda at her toilet in the Rape of the Lock, into monkish verse, shows what a master Parnell was of the Latin language. The Eclogue on Health is simple and beautiful. The Elegy on an Old Beauty has little point or novelty. The Allegory on Man fhows a vigour of genius, and com preffion of thought, fuperior to what appears in most of Parnell's pieces. The Hymn to Contentment, Dr. Johnson fufpects to have been borrowed from Cleveland. The Night Piece on Death deferves every praise. It is indirectly preferred by Goldsmith to Gray's "Elegy;" but, in Dr. Johnson's opinion, Gray has the advantage in dignity, variety, and originality of fentiment. The fabulous characters in the Elyfium are finely described, and the numbers are exquifitely harmonious. The Hermit is the most popular of his performances. The object of the pocm deserves high praise for its piety and conduciveness to human happiness. It is confpicuous for beautiful descriptive narration. The meeting with a companion, and the houses in which they are fucceffively entertained, of the vain man, the covetous man, and the good man, are pieces of very fine painting. It may be doubted whether the means employed for correcting the two first characters were altogether adequate to the purpose intended. It is not probable that a vain man would abstain from a custo.nary gratification of his vanity merely for the lofs of an inftrument of it, to a man of his wealth so easily supplied. Habitual avarice is not usually removed by unexpected acquifitions. The general doctrine inculcated by the Hermit's companion is founded in the best philofophy. The story is in Howell's Letters and More's Dialogues; and Goldfmith fuppofes it to have been originally Arabian. Among his pofthumous pieces, the Effay on the different Styles of Poetry, and the Vision of Piety, have fome paffages which deferve commendation. Few of the Scripture Pieces require particular criticism; and some of them have been made public with very little credit to his reputation.

"Parnell appears to me," fays Goldsmith, "to be the last of that great fchool that had modelled itself upon the ancients, and taught English poetry to resemble what the generality of mankind have allowed to excel. A ftudious and correct obferver of antiquity, he fet himself to confider nature with the light it lent him; and he found that the more aid he borrowed from the one, the more delightfully he resembled the other. Parnell is ever happy in the felection of his

images, and fingularly careful in the choice of his subjects. His poetical language is not lefs correct than his subjects are pleafing. He has confidered the language of poetry as the language of life, and conveys the warmest thoughts in the fimpleft expreffions."

"The general character of Parnell," says Dr. Johnson," is, not great extent of comprehenfion, or fertility of mind; of the little that appears, ftill lefs is his own. His praise must be derived from the easy sweetness of his diction; in his verses there is more happiness than pains; he is sprightly without effort, and always delights though he never ravishes; every thing is proper, yet every thing feems cafual. If there is fome appearance of elaboration in the Hermit, the narrative, as it is lefs airy, is lefs pleafing. Of his other compositions, it is impoffible to fay whether they are the productions of nature fo excellent as not to want the help of art, or of art so refined as to resemble

nature.

"This criticism relates only to the pieces published by Pope. Of the large appendages which I found in the last edition, I can only say I know not whence they came, nor have ever inquired whither they are going. They ftand upon the faith of the compilers."

POE M S.

HESIOD: OR, THE RISE OF WOMAN.

WHAT ancient times (thofe times we fancy wife) | From that embrace a fine complexion spread,

Have left on long record of woman's rife,
what morals teach it, and what fables hide,
what author wrote it, how that author dy'd,
All these I fing. In Greece they fram'd the tale
(In Greece 'twas thought a woman might be frail);
Ye modern beauties! where the poet drew
His fofteft pencil, think he dreamt of you;
And, warn'd by him, ye wanton pens beware
How heav'n's concern'd to vindicate the fair.
The cafe was Hefiod's; he the fable writ;
Some think with meaning, fome with idle wit:
Perhaps 'tis either, as the ladies please;
I wave the conteft, and commence the lays.

In days of yore (no matter where or when,
'Twas ere the low creation fwarm'd with men)
That one Prometheus, fprung of heavenly birth,
(Our author's fong can witnefs) liv'd on earth:
He carv'd the turf to mold a manly frame,
And ftole from Jove his animating flame.
The fly contrivance o'er Olympus ran,
When thus the monarch of the stars began:

O vers'd in arts! whose daring thoughts afpire,
To kindle clay with never-dying fire!
Enjoy thy glory paft, that gift was thine;
The next thy creature meets, be fairly mine:
And fuch a gift, a vengeance fo defign'd,
As fuits the counsel of a god to find;
A pleafing bofom-cheat, a fpecious ill,
Which felt the curfe, yet covets ftill to feel.

He faid, and Vulcan ftrait the Sire commands,
To temper mortar with ætherial hands;
In fuch a fhape to mold a rifing fair,
As virgin goddeffes are proud to wear;
To make her eyes with diamond-water shine,
And form her organs for a voice divine.
'Twas thus the Sire ordain'd; the power obey'd;
And work'd, and wonder'd at the work he made;
The faireft, fofteft, fweetest frame beneath,
Now made to feem, now more than feem to breathe.

As Vulcan ends, the cheerful queen of charms
Clafp'd the new-panting creature in her arms:

VOL. VII.

Where mingled whitenefs glow'd with fofter red,
Then in a kiss she breath'd her various arts,
Of trifling prettily with wounded hearts;
A mind for love, but ftill a changing mind;
The lifp affected, and the glance defign'd;
The sweet confusing blush, the secret wink,
The gentle swimming walk, the courteous fink;
The ftare for strangeness fit, for fcorn the frown;
For decent yielding, looks declining down;
The practis'd languifh, where well feign'd defire
Would own its melting in a mutual fire;
Gay fmiles to comfort; April fhowers to move;
And all the nature, all the art of love.

Gold fcepter'd Juno next exalts the fair;
Her touch endows her with imperious air,
Self-valuing fancy, highly-crefted pride,
Strong fovereign will, and fome defire to chide;
For which, an eloquence, that aims to vex,
With native tropes of anger, arms the sex.
Minerva, skilful goddefs, train'd the maid
To twirle the fpindle by the twisting thread;
To fix the loom, inftruct the reeds to part,
Crofs the long weft, and close the web with art,
An useful gift; but what profufe expence,
What world of fashions, took its rife from hence!
Young Hermes next, a close contriving god,
Her brows encircled with his ferpent rod;
Then plots and fair excufes fill'd her brain,
The views of breaking amorous vows for gain;
The price of favours; the designing arts
That aim at riches in contempt of hearts;
And, for a comfort in the marriage life,
The little pilfering temper of a wife.

Full on the fair his beams Apollo flung,
And fond perfuafion tipp'd her easy tongue;
He gave her words, where oily flattery lays
The pleafing colours of the art of praise;
And wit, to fcandal exquifitely prone,
Which frets another's fpleen to cure its own.

Thofe facred virgins whom the bards revere,
Tun'd all her voice, and fhed a sweetness there,

A