He had even attained so much character both as a poet and a philosopher, that the Essay on Man was at first attributed to him. It may not be impertinent to introduce here an anecdote, related by Dr. Warton, who was very intimate with Harte. Pope told Mr. Harte, that in order to disguise his being the author of the Second Epistle of the Essay on Man, he made, in the first edition, the following bad rhyme : A cheat! a whore! that starts not at the name, In all the inns of court, or Drury-Lane. "And Harte remembered to have often heard it urged, in inquiries about the author, whilst he was unknown, that it was impossible it could be Pope's, on account of this very passage."- Warton, it may be added, always spoke with respect of Harte's abilities. From every evidence, he appears to have been a man of extensive learning, and acquainted not only with the best authors of his time, but with the classics, the fathers of the church, and other eminent writers of antiquity, which Dr. Maty, rather inconsiderately, calls "Gothic erudition." It is true that he often discovers that kind of reading which is seldom read, but the illustrations he has appended to the poems in the Amaranth from the fathers, &c. are generally apt and judicious. Towards the close of life, he cheered his painful and solitary hours by devotional reading. Ile died unmarried, and at one time seems to have considered the married state as unfavourable to the exertions of genius. In his Essay on Painting, he very ungallantly recommends that the artist should be "Untouch'd by cares, uncumber'd with a wife." Notwithstanding the unfortunate reception of his history, he projected ano. ther undertaking of the same kind. This we learn from the concluding passage of his Gustavus: in which he says his intention was to carry the history of Germany down to the peace of Munster, but that he was deterred by the magnitude of the undertaking. He adds, however, in a note, that he had completed the history of the thirty years war, from the breaking out of the troubles in Bohemia in 1618 to the death of Gustavus in 1632. These papers, with whatever else he left, are supposed to have fallen into the hands of his servant Edward Dore, who after. wards kept an inn in Bath. Dore and his family are no more, and the manuscripts are probably irrecoverably lost. We have his own authority also, that he intended to have written a criticism on the poetry of Dryden, which he seems to have appreciated with just taste. The Advertisement to Religious Melancholy, from which this information is taken, is inserted almost entire, by Dr. Warton in his edition of Pope, as the result of a conference between Pope and Harte. Harte's poems in general are entitled to considerable praise, although it may probably be thought that he was a better critic than a poet, and exhibited more taste than genius. His attachment to Pope led him to an imitation of that writer's manner, particularly in the Essay on Reason and that on Satire, which are now added to his other works. His Essay on Reason has been somewhere called a fine philosophical poem. It might with more propriety be called a fine Christian poem, as it has more of religion than philosophy, and might have been aptly enti tled An Essay on Revelation. The Essay on Satire has some elegant passages, but is desultory, and appears to have been written as a compliment to the Dun ciad of Pope, whose opinions he followed as far as they respected the merits of the dunces whom Pope labelled. For his Essay on Painting, he pleads that it was written at intervals, upon such remarks as casually occurred in his reading, and is therefore deficient in connection. He adds that he had finished the whole before he saw Du Fresnoy, which may readily be believed. He discovers, however, a very correct notion of an art which was not at that time much studied in this country, and has laid down many precepts which, if insufficient to form a good painter, will at least prevent his falling into gross improprieties. So much knowledge of the art, and acquaintance with the works of the most eminent painters, argues a taste surprising at his early age. He had some turn for drawing, and made several sketches when abroad, which were afterwards engraved as head pieces for the poems in the Amaranth. In this Essay, he delights in images, which although in general pleasing and just, are perhaps too frequently, and as it were periodically introduced. With all his admiration of Pope, he was not less attached to Dryden as a model, and if he has less harmony than Pope, has at the same time less monotony. His translations are faithful and not inelegant. His acquaintance with the classics was very intimate, and he has decorated his Essays on Husbandry with a profusion of apt illustrations. The Soliloquy occasioned by the chirping of a Grasshopper is tender and playful, but his other small pieces are not entitled to particular notice. The Amaranth was written, as he informs us" for his private consolation under a lingering and dangerous state of health." There is something so amiable, and we may add so heroic in this, that it is impossible not to make every allowance for defects; but this collection of poems does not upon the whole stand so much in need of indulgence as may be expected. Some of them were sketched when he was abroad, and now were revised and prepared, but others may perhaps be the effusions of a man in sickness and pain. Yet there are more animated passages of genuine poetry scattered over this volume than we find in his former works. The whole of the Amaranth is of the serious cast, such as became the situa tion of the author. We have, indeed, heard of authors who have sported with unusual glee in their moments of debility and decay, and seemed resolved to meet death with an air of good humour and levity. Such a state of mind, where it does really occur, and is not affectation, is rather to be wondered at, than envied. It is not the feeling of a rational, and an immortal creature. In these poems he adopts various measures, according to his subject. The transition from the ode to the heroic, in the Ascetic, he justifies by the example of Cowley, and from the nature of the precepts, which are most suitable to the solemnity of heroic verse. The Ode to Contentment has many splendid passages and the recurrence of "All, all from Thee, &c." is particularly graceful. The exclamation of "Bless me," is, however, a puerility unworthy of the general strain of this poem. In the Vision of Death, he professes to imitate Dryden by the introduction of more triplets and alexandrines than "he might otherwise have done." But if by this he avoids the perpetual restraint of the couplet, there is too much of visible artifice in the method he takes to relieve himself. This, however, is one of the most ingenious fables of which immortality is the subject; the figure and habitation of Death, are poetically conceived and expressed, and the address of Death is energe tic and striking. The Courtier and Prince is one of the most instructive and interesting fables in our language. Its length will perhaps be objected, but not by those who at tend to the many scattered beauties of sentiment and imagination, and whatever opinion may be entertained on the merit of this and his other poems, it ought not to be forgot that in all be prefers no higher claims than The sounds of verse, and voice of Truth. Ir will be necessary to inform the reader, that the author was under nineteen when all these poems were written. Lought here to say a word or two of my Essay on Painting. This performance is by no means correct in all its parts; I had neither health, leisure, nor abilities equal to my design. 'Twas written at intervals, upon such remarks as casually occurred in my reading. Of course no exact connexion must be expected: though I might allege, that Horace uses as little in his Art of Poetry. I had finished the whole, before ever I saw Du Fresnoy; as will appear by comparison, AN ESSAY ON PAINTING. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS EARL OF PEMBROKE. Μιμητική [Ποιήσεως] τέχνη καὶ δύναμις ἔσιν ἀγα τίςροφος τη ζωγραφία ζωγραφίαν μὲν λέγωσιν είναι ΦΘΕΓΓΟΜΕΝΗΝ τὴν Ποίησιν, Ποίησιν δέ ΣΙΓΩΣΑΝ τὴν ζωγραφίαν. Plutarch. de audiend. Poet. -Poema Est pictura loquens, mutum pictura poema. WHATEVER yet in poetry held true, The means may vary, but the same their end. same: Alike by turns they touch the conscious heart, And each on each reflects the lights of art. You nobler youths who listen to my lays, And scorn by yulgar arts to merit praise : Look cautious round, your genius nicely know, Aud mark how far its utmost stretch will go; Pride, envy, hatred, labour to conceal, And sullen prejudice, and party-zeal; Approve, examine, and then last believeFor friends mislead, and critics still deceive. Who takes his censure, or his praise on trust, Is kind, 'tis true, but never can be just. But where's the man with gen'rous zeal inspir'd, Dear in each age, in ev'ry art admir'd? Blest with a genius strong, but unconfin'd, art. Such Titian was, by nature form'd to please, But ah! how long will nature ask to give A proper taste we all derive from Heav'n, Its dubious light, in glimm'ring intervals. Like Maro first with trembling hand design And write as tasteless lines-as I do now. 'Tis hard a sprightly fancy to command, 3 1 Sit vir talis, qualis verè sapiens appellari possit, nec moribus modo perfectus, sed etiam scientià, & omni facultate dicendi, qualis fortasse adhuc nemo fuerit. Quintilian. 2 Titian was created count Palatine by Charles V. and most intimately acquainted with Ariosto, Aretine, &c. * Odiosa cura est-Optima enim sunt minimè Each painful stroke disgusts the lively mind; Still let due decencies preserve your fame, But Nature first must be your darling care; |