A great deal of wit has been wasted on antiquarians, whose studies are not only pleasing to the imagination, but attended with many advantages to society, especially since they have been im proved, as they lately have been, in elucidating the most important part of all history, the History of Manners.

40. Oh when shall Britain, conscious of her claim, Stand emulous of Greek and Roman fame ?

In living medals see her wars enroll'd,

And vanquish'd realms supply recording gold.*

ADDISON, in the ninety-sixth paper of the Guardian, has given us a proposal, here alluded to, which he drew up and delivered to the Lord Treasurer. The paper ends thus: "It is proposed, 1. That the English farthings and halfpence be recoined upon the union of the two nations. 2. That they bear devices and inscriptions alluding to all the most remarkable parts of her Majesty's reign. 3. That there be a society established for the finding out of proper subjects, inscriptions, and devices. 4. That no subject, inscription, or device, be stamped without the approbation

* Ver. 53.

approbation of this society, nor, if it be thought proper, without the authority of the privy-council. By this means, medals, that are at present only a dead treasure, or mere curiosities, will be of use in the ordinary commerce of life, and, at the same time, perpetuate the glories of her Majesty's reign, reward the labours of her greatest subjects, keep alive in the people a gratitude for public services, and excite the emulation of posterity. To these generous purposes nothing can so much contribute as medals of this kind, which are of undoubted authority, of necessary use and observation; not perishable by time, nor confined to any certain place; properties not to be found in books, statues, pictures, buildings, or any other monuments of illustrious actions."

41. Then shall thy CRAGGS (and let me call him mine) On the cast ore another POLLIO shine.*

TICKELL, in his preface to the Works of Addison, concludes a copy of highly elegant, polished

Ver. 63.

In the few things that Tickell wrote, there appear to

be a peculiar terseness and neatness.

lished and pathetic verses, addressed to the Earl of Warwick, with the following fine lines:

These works divine, which, on his death-bed laid,
To thee, O, Craggs, th' expiring sage convey'd,
Great, but ill-omen'd monument of fame,
Nor he surviv'd to give, nor thou to claim.
Swift after him thy social spirit flies,

And close to his, how soon! thy coffin lies.
Blest pair! whose union future bards shall tell,
In future tongues; each other's boast,* farewell!
Farewell! whom join'd in fame, in friendship try'd,
No chance could sever, nor the grave divide.

42. Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honour clear;
Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end,
Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend;
Ennobled by himself, by all approv'd,

And prais'd, unenvy'd, by the muse he lov❜d.†

These

* Addison's Works (says Atterbury, Letter x. v. 8.) came to my hands yesterday, Oct. 15, 1721. I cannot but think it a very odd set of incidents, that the book should be dedicated by a dead man to a dead man, (Mr. Craggs;) and even that the new patron, (Lord Warwick,) to whom Tickell chose to inscribe his verses, should be dead also before they were pub lished. Had I been in the Editor's place, I should have been a little apprehensive for myself, under a thought that every one who had any hand in that work, was to die before the publication of it.

↑ Ver. 67.

These nervous and finished lines were afterwards inscribed as an epitaph on this worthy man's monument in Westminster Abbey, with the alteration of two words in the last verse; which there stands thus:

Prais'd, wept, and honour'd, by the Muse he lov'd.

It was CRAGGS, who, in the most friendly and alluring manner, offered our author a pension of three hundred pounds per annum; which, if he had accepted, we should have been deprived of his best satires. Poets have a high spirit of liberty and independence: They neither seek or expect rewards. MECENASES do not create geniuses. Neither SPENSER or MILTON, or DANTE or TASSo, or CORNEILLE,* were patronised by the governments under which they lived. And HORACE, and VIRGIL, and BOILEAU, were formed before they had an opportunity of flattering AUGUSTUS and LEWIS XIV.

Though

Il n'aimoit point le Cour, (says Fontenelle, speaking of his uncle Corneille,) il y apportoit un visage presqu' inconnu, un grand nom qui ne s'attiroit que des louanges, & un merite qui n'etoit point le merite de ce pays-là. Tom. iii. p. 126.

Though POPE enlisted under the banner of BOLINGBROKE, in what was called the country party, and in violent opposition to the measures of WALPOLE, yet his clear and good sense enabled him to see the follies and virulence of all parties; and it was his favourite maxim, that, however factious men thought proper to distinguish themselves by names, yet, when they got into power, they all acted much in the same manner; saying,

I know how like Whig ministers to Tory.

And among his manuscripts were four very sensible, though not very poetical, lines, which contain the most solid apology that can be made for a minister of this country:

Our ministers like gladiators live;

'Tis half their business blows to ward, or give;
The good their virtue would effect, or sense,

Dies between exigents and self-defence.

Yet he appears sometimes to have forgotten this

candid reflection.

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