to higher scenes than these-conduct him to his seat in parliament, and describe his behaviour in the councils of his country.

He lived in the crisis of honesty, when, as Sir William Temple well expressed it, a brave man had a hard part to act, and it was dishonourable at Court to have truth and integrity. He lived when party rage and priestly pride ran high: when the church was in danger, and the rabble were

orthodox :
While the provoking ideot vows
Her lover fairer much than spouse.

Great Socrates but vainly try'd,
To footh the passions of his bride;
Her female empire still she holds,
And as he preaches peace, the scolds :
*In vain he talks, in vain he writes;
One kisling, while the other bites ;
Precepts with her, and moral rules,
Are only ginns to hamper fools;
And, preach and dictate what he will,
Madam persists Xantippe ftill.
But wedlock by thy art is got
To be a soft and easy knot
Which smiling spouse and kinder bride
Now seldom wish should be unty'd;
Think parting now the greatest fin,
And strive more close to draw the ginn:
Taught by those rules thy pen infiills,
Nobly to conquer human ills;
The female sufferer now sustains
Each mournful loss with lessen'd pains ;
A week is now enough to pine,
When puking lap-dog cannot dine;
While grief as real swells her eyes
When spouse, as when her párroi, diese
The fop no longer shall believe
Sense ty'd to every modish sleeve,

sor,

orthodox: when religious mobbings and factious incendiaries laboured to overthrow the constitution, and prevailed against an Administration, great in their abilities and uncommon success; a Ministry the boast of our nation, the glory of their own times, and the veneration of these. Nor did the faction stop at this; they even shocked the fucceffion itself; and that illustrious Family, now on our throne, had a doubtful

prospect whilst we were so divided a people.

And
Nor, conscious of his wants, presume
To measure merit by perfume;
That courage in Pulvilio dwells,
The boldest he, who strongest smells;
To prove his sense, no longer bring
The doughty proofs of box and ring;
Strongly professing ne'er to know
An ass conceal'd beneath a beau ;
Each taught by thee, shall hence confess
Virtue has no regard for dress;
That the bright nymph as often dwells
In homely bays as rural cells;
And in a ruff as fairly thin’d,
As now to modern peak confin'd;
Blushing, thus half expos’d to view,
Both herself and mistress too.

The widow, pining for her dear,
Shall curse no more the tedious year;
In fighs consume each pensive day,
Nor think it long from June to May.
See how the pensive reliet lies,
Oppress'd with spouse's fate, and dies;
That Betty with her drops in vain
Recalls her flying foul again ;
No colour now fo fair appears,
As is the fable vest the wears,
To be her only garment vow'd,
Till death exchange it for a shroud,
LI 2

And

And here the worthy person, to whom we pay deferved honours, rose with noble courage in that dangerous conjuncture: he thought inactivity infamous whilst all was at stake; and his private interest was below his regard, when his country's happiness became precarious : he did not, like little temporizing patriots, stay till his place was taken from him, he bravely resigned it before he commenced his opposition ; and his Letter to the then Lord Treasurer, since pub. lished to the world *, may thew how much he disdained any interest which might biass his judgement, or pervert his duty to the publick.

And her cold alhes kindly place
Once more within her lord's embrace.

The ladies, pleas’d with thee to dwell,
Aspire to write correct, and spell :
We scarce behold, though writ in hafte,
Five letters in a score misplac'd;
Marshal'd in rank they all appear,
With no front vowels in the rear,
Nor any, out of shame or dread,
Skulking behind, that should have led;
In every linė they now demur,
'Tis now no longer Wurthee Surr;
With half our usual sweat and pain,
We both unravel and explain,
Nor call-in foreign aid to find,
In mystic terms, the fair-one's mind.

Maintain, great Sage, thy deathless name,
Thou canst no wider ftretch thy fame,
Till, gliding from her native skies,
Virtue once more delighted fies;
By each adoring Patriot own’d,
And boasts herself by thee enthron'd !"
* See it in p. 371.

lo

In this proceeding he acted worthy of himself; he spoke in parliament, and appeared from the press, with a warm and generous freedom : he differed from those in authority, without libelling their persons; no scandalous parallels, no ungentlemanlike invectives, or womanish railings, are to be found in his writings: he spoke to facts, and things of public concern; nor invented, nor revived any little stories to blacken the reputation of others : in short, he was at war with no man's fortunes or places; and he greatly despised all lucrative considerations.

Add this to his character, he had an enthusiasm of honour, insomuch, that he was always most ready to appear for the truth when it was most difficult and dangerous : he thought himself obliged to stand in the breach when no man else would; and his intrepidity was a public advantage.

Witness his memorable Address to the Clergy in defence of the Revolution *; I mean his

Crisis," for which he was immortalized by the resentment of his enemies, and by the noble stand he made against them in his brave defence: For this he was expelled the House of Commons, whilst he triumphed in the judgement of his country; and raised such a spirit in the people by his writings, as greatly contributed to

* See p. 390.

save our declining liberties, and establish the precarious succession.

Such was his conduct, such his character, which was invariably honest; he flattered not his friends in their power, nor insulted his enemies in their distress: he opposed any measures which he could not approve, and exactly adhered to that excellent sentence, fari quæ fentiat.

This, indeed, was his principle ; and if ever man always acted inviolably by his opinion, or dared to preserve his integrity upon all occafions, Sir Richard Steele was the person.

And here we leave our common friend, here we drop the sacred pall on his last remains. It is not our business to shew his foibles, or expose the blemishes of an excellent nian to whoni we owe so much; those who loved him less will be fond of this : but we have pronounced his elogium, and . honoured his virtues. Let his warm heart for liberty and virtue, his great benevolence, that never saw distress without compassion, or spared to lend his hand when he could give affiftance—Let these engage our attention, and become our great example. Vice and Folly are always to be lamented; we heartily with them out of the world, and can have no delight to lay them to the charge of our departed friends, whose actions should only survive them whilst they may influence posterity in the pursuits of Virtue.