Gratia, Fama, Fortunâ commendato: Humanioribus Literis unicè instructo; haud ignobili Poetae ; in Oratione solutâ contexenda Censori Morum Hoc monumentum sacrum esto." The Works of Mr. Addison are here faithfully and correctly printed. The first Volume contains all Mr. Addison's Poetical Works, including the Tragedy of Cato; which are too well known to need any remark that we could give. To say, therefore, that the Bishop's Notes are excellent and judicious, is all that is necessary; but we shall copy the Introductory Note on Mr. Addison's " Epistle to Dryden." "It would not be fair to criticise our Author's Poetry, especially the poetry of his younger days, very exactly. He was not a Poet born; or, he had not studiedwith sufficient care the best models of English Poetry. Whatever the cause might be, he had not the command of what Dryden so eminently possessed, a truly poetic diction. His Poetry is only pure Prose, put into Verse. And " non satis est puris versum perscribere verbis.' However, it may not be amiss to point out the principal defects of his expression, that his great example may not be plead ed in excuse of them." The Second Volume begins with "Remarks on several Parts of Italy, &c. in the years 1701, 1702, and 1703." "These Travels are entertaining; especially to the classical reader. But the expression in this agreeable narrative is frequently careless: or possibly the author, in the time of his travels, had not acquired the habit of that exact style, for which he was afterwards so famous. However, the general cast of the composition is elegant, and is even marked, occasionally, with that vein of humour which characterizes the best works of Mr. Addison; as the reader will observe, more especially, in the chapter on the little republick of St. Marino, and that of Meldingen in Switzerland." The remainder of the second Volume is filled with Mr. Addison's Papers in the Tatler. "We now enter on those parts of Mr. Addison's prose works, which have done him the greatest honour, and have placed him at the head of those whom we call our polite writers. I know that many readers prefer Dr. Swift's prose to his; but, whatever other merit the Dean's writings may have (and they have, certainly, a great deal), I affirm it with confidence (because I have examined them both with care), that they are not comparable to Mr. Addison's, in the correctness, propriety, and elegance of expression. Mr. Addison possessed two talents, both of them very uncommon, which singularly qualified him to excel in the following essays: I mean an exquisite knowledge of the English tongue, in all its purity and delicacy; and a vein of humour, which flowed naturally and abundantly from him on every subject; and which experience hath shown to be inimitable. But it is in the these papers; and I shall do it with seformer respect only, that I shall criticise verity, lest time, and the authority of his name (which, of course, must become sacred) should give a sanction even to his defects. If any man of genius should be so happy, as to equal all the excellencies of his prose, and to avoid the few blemishes, which may, haply, be found in it, he would be a perfect model of style, in this way of writing: but of such an one, it is enough to say at present (and I shall, surely, offend no good writer in saying it), Omitting what is contained between the crotchets, for obvious reasons." The Spectator extends through the Third and Fourth Volumes, and to a part of the Fifth. "Of the three periodical papers, in which Mr. Addison was happily induced to bear a part, the only one, which was planned by himself*, was the Spectator. And, how infinitely superior is the contrivance of it, to that of the other two! -The notion of a club, on which it is formed, not only gave a dramatic air to the Spectator, but a sort of unity to the conduct of it; as it tied together the several papers, into what may be called one work, by the reference they all have to the same common design. - This design too, was so well digested from the first, that nothing occurs afterwards (when the characters come out and shew themselves at full length, in the course of the work) for which we are not prepared, by the general outline of them, as presented to us in the introductory papers; so that, if we did not know the contrary, we might suspect that these papers, like the preface to a book, had been written after the whole was printed off, and not before a syllable of it was composed. Such was the effect of the original plan, and the care of its author, • Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum ?" "As for his coadjutor, Sir Richard Steele, he knew the world, or rather what is called the town, well, and had a considerable fund of wit and humour; but his wit was often forced, and his humour ungraceful; not but his style would give this appearance to each, being at once incorrect and heavy. His graver papers are universally hard and laboured, though, at the same time, superficial. Some better writers contributed, occasionally, to carry on this but its success was, properly, work; owing to the matchless pen of Mr. Addison." The Guardian is next in order: "The part which Mr. Addison took in the Guardian seems to have been accidental, and owing to the desire he had of serving poor D'Urfey: for his first appearance is on that occasion, at No. 67, though, when he had once broken through his reserve, for this good purpose, we afterwards find his hand very frequently in it." Of No. LXVII. Bp. Hurd says, * Mr. Tickell says, it was projected in concert with Sir Richard Steele, which comes to the same thing. "This exquisite paper is above all praise. It apparently gave Mr. Pope the hint of his ironical compliment to Dennis; which, indeed, is finely written, but has not, I think, altogether, the grace and unforced pleasantry of his original." We now meet with Mr. Addison as a Political Writer, in "The present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation, considered;" and in the Whig Examiner. "The design of this work is to censure the writings of others, and to give all persons a rehearing, who have suffered under any unjust sentence of the Examiner. As that author has hitherto proceeded, his paper would have been more properlyentitled the Executioner." The Sixth Volume opens with the Freeholder. "It is but justice to a great writer to distinguish between his hasty, and his deliberate compositions; between such of his works, as he had planned at his leisure, and finished with care, and such as he was called upon to furnish, on the sudden, not with a view to his own fame, but to the discharge of some occasional duty, which a present emergency, or his character and station in life, imposed upon him. Such was apparently the case of the Freeholder; "a set of periodical essays, undertaken in the heat of the rebellion in 1715, and with the best purpose, of reconciling an abused people to the new succession; at a time when the writer was deeply engaged in public business, and had scarce the leisure to produce these papers so fast as they were demanded from him. For it was important,in that conjuncture, that the minds of men sbould be calmed and softened by some immediate applications; and the general good taste of that age made it expedient, that such appli cations should be administered, not by an ordinary hand, but by the most polite and popular of our writers. If these considerations be allowed their just weight, The Freeholder will be read with pleasure, and must even be thought to do no small credit to its author, though it be not always written with that force, or polished every where up to that perfect "We are to impute to this provocation the peculiar keenness of our author's reproof in these papers. But one is surprised to observe how much of that keenness is directed against the style of his antagonist, The reason is, that the good taste of that time would not endure a want of correct and just composition, even in a party-writer." Bp. HURD. grace, grace, which we admire so much in the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian." The next Tract is," On the Christian Religion." "The following work on the Christian Religion, has great merit; but, from the nature of it, required a greater detail in the execution. For, as an antient writer has well observed, fit totum et minus plenum, cum tanta rerum multitudo in angustum coarctanda sit; et brevitate ipsd minus clarum, maximè cùm et argumenta plurima et exempla, in quibus lumen est probationum, necesse sit præteriri. However, the plan was ably conceived, and would, without doubt, if the author had lived, have been drawn out to a just extent. For we are told, he had taken great pains in collecting` materials for it, and was more assiduous in digesting them, than his health would well allow+-Thus our Addison, like the admirable Pascal, closed his valuable life in meditating a defence of the Christian Religion. One is not surprised to find this agreement in the views of two such men; the one, the sublimest genius, and the other, the most cultivated, of modern times. But there was this lamented difference in their story. The spirit of Jansenism, falling on a temper naturally scrupulous, and a constitution, always infirm, threw a sombrous fanatic air on Pascal's religious speculations, as it did on his life: while our happier countryman, by the benefit of better health, and juster principles, maintained a constant sobriety in the conduct of each." "The Drummer, or the Haunted House, with a Preface by Sir Richard Steele, in an Epistle dedicatory to Mr. Congreve, occasioned by Mr. Tickell's Preface to the four volumes of Mr. Addison's Works." The Works are closed with "A Discourse on Antient and Modern Learnjng; on which the Bishop says, "There can be no doubt of the genuineness of this piece. The internal marks of its author are many and unequivocal; as must, I think, appear to every attentive reader who has anyacquaintance with Mr. Addison's style and manner. But I should guess that it was drawn up by him in his younger days, and that it was not retouched, or at least finished by him, The reason might be, that he had afterwards worked up the principal observations of this piece into his critical papers on Milton." A copious Index is annexed to each of the Volumes. * "Lactantius, Ep. D. J. præf.” " : "Before the dispersion of his grand collection, died John Bridges, a gentleman, a scholar, and a notorious bookcollector. The catalogue of his books is almost the first classically arranged one in the eighteenth century and it must be confessed that the collection was both curious and valuable. Bridges was succeeded by Anthony Collins, the Free Thinker; a character equally strange and unenviable. Book-fanciers now and then bid a few shillings for a copy of the catalogue of his library; and some sly free-thinkers, of modern date, are not backward in shewing a sympathy in their predecessor's fame, by the readiness with which they bid a half-guinea, or more, for a priced copy of it." "Maittaire's collection must have been uncommonly numerous; and of their intrinsic value the reader will best judge by the following extract from the 'Advertisement,' by Cock the auctioneer, at the back of the title-page: Though the books, in their present condition, make not the most ostentatious appearance, yet, like the late worthy possessor of them, however plain their outside may be, they contain within an invaluable treasure of ingenuity and learning. In fine, this is, (after fifty years' diligent search and labour in collecting) the entire library of Mr. Maittaire; whose judgment in the choice of books, as it ever was confessed, so are they, undoubtedly, far beyond whatever I can attempt to say in their praise. In exhibiting them thus to the publick, I comply with the will of my deceased friend; and in printing the catalogue from his own copy just as he left it (though by so doing it is the more voluminous) I had an opportunity not only of doing the justice I owe to his memory, but also of gratifying the : compared with the life, vigour, animation, and competition which thy example infused into the book-world!-The tears shed by virtuous bibliomaniacs at Harley's death, were speedily wiped away, when the recollection of thine, and of thy contemporary's, Folkes's fame, was excited in their bosoms. Illustrious Bibliomaniacs! your names and memories will always live in the hearts of noble-minded Literati the treasures of your museums and libraries -your liberal patronage and ever-active exertions in the cause of virtú-whether connected with coins, pictures, or books -can never be banished at least from my grateful mind:—And if, at this solemn hour, when yonder groves and serpentine walks are sleeping in the quiet of moon-light, your spirits could be seen placidly to fit along, I would burst from this society, dear and congenial as it is to take your last instructions, or receive your last warnings, respecting the rearing of a future age of Bibliomaniacs! Ye were, in good earnest, noble hearted book-heroes!" "It is almost impossible to dwell on the memory of this great man (Mead) without emotions of delight-whether we consider him as an eminent phy sician, a friend to literature, or a collector of books, pictures, and coins. Benevolence, magnanimity, and erudition, were the striking features of his character. His house was the general receptacle of men of genius and talent, and of every thing beautiful, precious, or rare. His curiosities, whether books, or coins, or pictures, were freely laid open to the publick; and the enterprising student, and experienced antiquary, alike found amusement and a courteous reception. He was known to all foreigners of intellectual distinction, and corresponded both with the artisan and the potentate. The great patron of literature, and the leader of his profession, it was hardly possible for modest merit, if properly introduced to him, to depart unrewarded or ungratified. The clergy and, in general, all men of learning, received his advice gratuitously and Italy and Germany. The works on natural history, coins, medals, and inscriptions, and on the fine arts in general, formed the most valuable department -those on the Greek, Latip, and English classicks, were comparatively of inferior importance." "But there is yet," says Mr. Dibdin, "an illustrious tribe to be recorded. We have, first, Richard Rawlinson, brother of the renowned Tom Folio, whose choice and tasteful collection of books, as recorded in auctioneering annals, is deserving of high commendation. But his name and virtues are better known in the University to which he was a benefactor, than to the noisy circles of the mebooks followed hard upon that of tropolis. The sale of Orator Henley's Richard Rawlinson's; and if the spirit of their owner could, from his " gilt tub,' have witnessed the grimaces and jokes which marked the sale- the dis torted countenances and boisterous laughter which were to be seen on all sides-how it must have writhed under the smart of general ridicule, or groaned under the torture of contemptuous indignation. Peace to Henley's vexed manes!- and similar contempt await the efforts of all literary quacks and philosophical knaves!" : "We have just passed over the bar that separates the one half of the 18th century from the other and among the ensuing eminent collectors, whose brave fronts strike us with respect, is General Dormer: a soldier who, I warrant you, had faced many a cannon, and stormed many a rampart, with success. could not resist the raging influence of the Book-Mania; nor could all his embrasures and entrenchments screen him from the attacks of this insanity. His collection was select and valuable.We have before noticed a celebrated di But he plomatic character, Consul Smith, and spoken with due respect of his library. let us here, therefore, pass by him, in order to take a full and complete view of a Non-Pareil Collector: the first who, since the days of Richard Smith, revived the love of black-letter lore and Cax West? his doors were open every morning to the most indigent, whom he frequently tonian typography-need I say James assisted with money. Although his income, from his professional practice, was very considerable, he died by no means a rich man-so large were the sums which he devoted to the encouragement of literature and the fine arts!" "The collection of Mr. Folkes was an exceedingly fine one; enriched with many books of the choicest description, which he had acquired in his travels in "All hail to thee-transcendent bib liomaniac of other times!-of times, in which my father lived, and procured, at the sale of thy precious book-trea sures, not a few of those rare volumes which have so much gladdened the eyes of Lisardo." "In the preceding, the same, and subsequent year, there was sold by auc tion a very curious and extraordinary collection of Books and Prints belonging to honest Tom Martin, of Palgrave, in Suffolk; a collector of whom Herbert has, upon several occasions, spoken with a sort of veneration. If Lavater's system of physiognomy happen to receive your approbation, you will conclude, upon contemplating Tom's frank countenance of which a cut precedes the title-page of the first catalogue that the collector of Palgrave must have been a fine old fellow.' Martin's book pursuits were miscellaneous, and perhaps a little too wildly followed up: but some good fortune contributed to furnish his collection with volumes of singular curiosity." - "The year following the sale of Mr. West's books, a very curious and valuable collection, chiefly of English literature, was disposed of by auction, by Paterson, who published the catalogue under the following title: Bibliotheca Monastico-Fletewodiana." In noticing Dr. Askew, we stop to correct a small error, He died in "1774," not "1775." "Those who recollect the zeal and scholarship of this illustrious bibliomaniac, and the precious volumes with which his library was stored, from the choice collections of De Boze, Gaignat, Mead, and Folkes, cannot but sigh with grief of heart on reflecting upon such a victim! How ardently, and how kindly, (as I remember to have heard one of his intimate friends say) would Askew unlock the stores of his glittering booktreasures! -open the magnificent folio, or the shining duodecimo, printed upon vellum, and embossed with golden knobs, or held fast with silver clasps! How carefully would he unrol the curious manuscript, decipher the half effaced characters—and then, casting an eye of ecstacy over the shelves upon which similar treasures were lodged, exult in the glorious prospect before him! But Death-who, as Horace tells us, equally exercises the knocker of the palace and cottage-door, made no scruple to rap at that of our renowned Doctor-when Askew, with all his skill in medicine and knowledge of books, yielded to the summons of the grim tyrant-and died lamented, as he lived beloved!" "Dr. Askew had eminently distinguished himself by a refined taste, a sound knowledge, and an indefatigable research, relating to every thing connected with Grecian and Roman literature. It was to be expected, even during his life, as he was possessed of suf ficient means to gratify himself with what was rare, curious, and beautiful in literature and the fine arts, that the publick would, one day, be benefited by such pursuits: especially as he had expressed a wish that his treasures might be unreservedly submitted to sale after his decease. In this wish the Doctor was not singular. Many eminent collectors had indulged it before him: and, to my knowledge, many modern ones still indulge it." "Dr. Askew's sale has been considered a sort of era in bibliography. Since that period, rare and curious books in Greek and Latin literature have been greedily sought after, and obtained [as a recent sale abundantly testifies] at most extravagant prices. It is very well for a veteran in bibliographical literature, as was Mr. Cracherode, or as are Mr. Wodhull, and Dr. Gosset-whose collections were, in part, formed in the days of De Bure, Gaignat, Askew, Duke de la Valliere, and Lamoignon-it is very well for such gentlemen to declaim against modern prices! But what is to be done; Classical books grow scarcer every day, and the love of literature, and of possessing rare and interesting_works, increases in an equal ratio. Hungry bibliographers meet, at sales, with wellfurnished purses, and are resolved upon sumptuous fare! Thus the hammer vibrales, after a bidding of forty pounds, where formerly it used regularly to fall at four !" "It remains only to add, that Dr. Askew was a native of Kendal, in Westmoreland; that he practised as a physician there with considerable success, and, on his establishment in London, was visited by all who were distinguished for learning, and curious in the fine arts. Dr. Mead supported him with a sort of paternal zeal; nor did he find in his protegé an ungrateful son. [See the Director, vol. I. p. 309.] Few minds were probably more congenial than were those of Mead and Askew the former had, if I may so speak, a magnificence of sentiment, which infused into the mind of the latter just notions of a character aiming at solid intellectual fame; without the petty arts and dirty tricks which we now see too frequently pursued to obtain it. Dr. Askew, with less pecuniary means of gratifying it, evinced an equal ardour in the pursuit of books, MSS. and inscriptions. I have heard from a very worthy old gentleman, who used to revel 'midst the luxury of Askew's table, that few men exhibited their books and pictures, or, as it is called, shewed the Lions, better than did the |