lovers of the bottle, though the former did not dislike the delicacies of a luxurious table; perhaps he has mentioned a little too strongly this weakness of his friend; certain it is, that Parnell did not lose the respect of society, or the attachment of his patrons; for Archbishop King, at the request of Swift, gave him a prebendal stall in 1713, and in May, 1716, presented him with the vicarage of Finglass, in the diocess of Dublin, worth about four hundred pounds a year.1 He did not, however, long live to enjoy his preferment and prosperity; and died at Chester in July, 1717, in his thirty-eighth year, while on his way to Ireland, and was buried at Trinity Church in that town. His estate devolved on his only nephew, Sir John Parnell, whose father was younger brother to the when the Queen's sudden death destroyed all his prospects, and at a juncture when he found preaching to be the readiest road to preferment. This fatal stroke broke his spirits; he took to drinking, became a sot, and soon finished his course.' See Ruffhead's Life of Pope, p. 492, who says that Pope gave the above account to Warburton; much difference exists between Pope's own account of his friends, and the characters of them, which Warburton subsequently gave as Pope's; see an instance of this in Johnson's Life of Rowe. There seems to be some error in the value which the biographers of Parnell have placed on this living; for Swift in his Vindication of his Excellency Lord Carteret,' speaks of him as bestowing on Mr. James Stafford the Vicarage of Finglass, worth about one hundred pounds a year. This was written in the year 1730. I have no doubt but that Goldsmith's valuation is erroneous; for Swift seems to doubt whether his own Deanery was worth more than four hundred pounds a year. Archdeacon, and one of the Justices of the King's Ut neque Sacerdoti Suavitas poeta Nec Poetæ Sacerdotis Sanctitas deesset.' Such is the small amount of facts which has been preserved relating to the poet. I must now borrow from Goldsmith's narrative some account of his mental qualities and habits, for which the biographer was indebted to the information of his father and uncle: while I just mention, that if the account given is correct, the poems of Parnell do not form a clear transcript of his mind; nor could we, through the veil of their light and graceful gaiety, discern the feelings of a person whose passions were so strong, and whose life was an unfortunate alternation of rapture and agony. I shall leave to others to explain how far such violent and unrestrained habits were compatible with his delightful qualities as a companion; 'With sweetest manners gentlest arts adorn'd.' but it is said, that he knew the ridicule which his strongly contrasted character2 excited; though he 1 Boswell's Johnson, vol. iv. p. 54. 2 In his preface to Homer, p. xxxviii. Pope says, 'I must add the names of Mr. Rowe and Dr. Parnell, though I shall take a farther opportunity of doing justice to the last, whose GOOD NATURE (to give it a great panegyrick), is no less extensive than his learning.' could not soften or subdue the impetuous feelings that formed it. He "Parnell," says his biographer, "by what I have been able to collect from my father and uncle, who knew him, was the most capable man in the world to make the happiness of those he conversed with, and the least able to secure his own. wanted that evenness of disposition which bears disappointment with phlegm, and joy with indifference. He was ever much elated or depressed, and his whole life spent in agony or rapture. the turbulence of these passions 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 his triumphs. But "How much his company was desired, appears from the extensiveness of his connexions and the number of his friends. Even before he made any figure in the literary world, his friendship was sought by persons of every rank and party.1 The wits at that time differed a good deal from these who are most eminent for their understanding at present. It would now be thought a very indifferent sign of a writer's good sense, to disclaim his 1 Parnell was well acquainted with Bolingbroke; see the poem called Queen Anne's Peace, 1713 (Posth. Poems, p. 248). I fly with speed, To sing such lines as Bolingbroke may read.' And see p. 253. private friends for happening to be of a different party in politics, but it was then otherwise. The Whig wits held the Tory wits in great contempt, and those retaliated in their turn. At the head of one party were Addison, Steele, and Congreve; at that of the other, Pope, Swift, and Arbuthnot. Parnell was a friend to both sides, and with a liberality becoming a scholar, scorned all those trifling distinctions that are noisy for the time and ridiculous to posterity. Nor did he emancipate himself from these without some opposition from home. Having been the son of a commonwealth's man, his Tory connexions on this side of the water gave his friends in Ireland great offence; they were much enraged to see him keep company with Pope, Swift, and Gay; they blamed his undistinguishing taste, and wondered what pleasure he could find in the conversation of men who approved the treaty of Utrecht, and disliked the Duke of Marlborough." His conversation is said to have been extremely pleasing. The letters which were written to him by his friends are full of compliments upon his 'These toils the graceful Bolingbroke attends, A genius fashion'd for the greatest ends,' &c. And the poem on the different styles of poetry is dedicated to him, and also contains high praise of him : 'Oh! Bolingbroke! O favourite of the skies,' &c. See also the extracts from Swift's Journal, when the acquaintance had ripened into intimacy. talents as a companion, and his good nature as a man. Pope was particularly fond of his company, and seems to regret his absence more than the rest. The letters which he addressed to Parnell will be read with interest; they bear ample testimony of his affection, and show that Pope knew and respected Parnell's acquirements as a scholar.1 From one of the letters it appears, that Parnell assisted him in the translation of the Scholiasts and Commentators 2 on Homer, a task afterwards more fully performed by Jortin. Pope's scanty and superficial knowledge of Greek must have made this assistance of great value; nor am I aware that the translator of Homer numbered among his friends, another scholar of equal acquirements.3 Gay, as Goldsmith observes, was obliged to him on another account; for being always poor, he was not above receiving from Parnell the copy-money which the latter got for his writings. I Warton, vol. viii. p. 301---313, vii. 299. 2 See Pope's Letters (Warton's ed.), vol. viii. p. 276, Let. LXXXVIII. 'The first gentleman who undertook the task of making extracts from Eustathius, and who grew weary.' Was this person Parnell, or some one else, whose name has not reached us? 3 In the Posthumous Poems (Elysium) he gives a wrong quantity to Laodamia, p. 268, Fair Laodamia mourns her nuptial right,' &c. which perhaps he took from Dryden's Ovid, who uses the word Deidamia, with the penultimate syllable short. |