and the unqualified condemnation of Lord Orrery; the former asserting that the Life of Cowley has been written by an author whose pregnancy of imagination and elegance of language have deservedly set him high in the ranks of literature *, whilst the latter declares that " upon a review of Sprat's works, his language will sooner give you an idea of one of the insignificant tottering boats upon the Thames, than of the smooth noble current of the river itself +.”

We may justly consider Sprat as the first who introduced a peculiarly neat and clean style; not remarkable for much elegance it is true, or for much brilliancy or solidity of ornament; but perspicuous, pure, and, though generally faint, sometimes sharp and pointed. Two or three instances from his Life of Cowley shall accompany these remarks. "In his life," remarks the Bishop of his friend, "he joined the innocence and sincerity of the scholar with the humanity and good behaviour of the courtier. In his poems he united the solidity and art of the one, with the gentility and gracefulness of the other.

"If any shall think that he was not wonderfully curious in the choice and elegance of all

*Lives of the Poets.

+ Orrery's Remarks on the Life and Writings of Swift, p. 237, edition of 1752.

his words, I will affirm with more truth on the other side, that he had no manner of affectation in them; he took them as he found them made to his hands; he neither went before, nor came after the use of the age. He forsook the conversation, but never the language of the city and court. He understood exceeding well all the variety and power of poetical numbers; and practised all sorts with great happiness. If his verses in some places seem not as soft and flowing as some would have them, it was his choice, not his fault. He knew that in diverting men's minds, there should be the same variety observed as in the prospects of their eyes; where a rock, á precipice, or a rising wave, is often more delightful than a smooth even ground, or a calm sea. Where the matter required it, he was as gentle as any man; but where higher virtues were chiefly to be regarded, an exact numerosity was not then his main care. This may serve to answer those who upbraid some of his pieces with roughness, and with more contractions than they are willing to allow. But these admirers of gentleness without sinews, should know that different arguments must have different colours of speech; that there is a kind of variety of sexes in poetry, as well as in mankind: that as the peculiar excellence of the feminine kind, is smooth

ness and beauty; so strength is the chief praise of the masculine.

"He had a perfect mastery in both the languages in which he writ: but each of them kept a just distance from the other; neither did his Latin make his English too old, nor his English make his Latin too modern. He excelled both in prose and verse; and both together have that perfection, which is commanded by some of the ancients above all others, that they are very obvious to the conception, but most difficult in the imitation.

"His wit was so tempered, that no man had ever reason to wish it had been less: he prevented other men's severity upon it by his own: he never willingly recited any of his writings. None but his intimate friends ever discovered he was a great poet, by his discourse. His learning was large and profound, well composed of all ancient and modern knowledge. But it sate exceeding close and handsomely upon him: it was not imbossed on his mind, but enamelled *."

As in the first division of our series we had occasion to notice and to approve the style of Lord Bacon, so in the present shall we have equal commendation to bestow on the composition of ano

*Cowley's Life, prefixed to his Works, 2 vols. 8vo, 10th edition, p. 17, 18, and 35.

ther very eminent cultivator of philosophy and science. In the year 1690, LOCKE published his Essay concerning Human Understanding, a work which has established an era in our literature, and which unfolds the highest powers of intellect, and the profoundest energies of metaphysical acuteness.

The diction he has adopted is, in general, such as does honour to his judgment. Relinquishing ornament and studied cadences, he is merely solicitous to convey his ideas with perspicuity and precision. No affectation, no conceits, no daring metaphors or inverted periods, disfigure his pages; all is clear, easy, and natural, exhibiting a plain and simple style accommodated to the purposes of philosophy.

To philologers of the nineteenth century, indeed, the style of Locke will, no doubt, appear imperfect. His sentences, though clear as to their import, are but negligently constructed, and are sometimes totally deficient in modulation. He abounds too in colloquial idiom, and his choice of words is not select. These are faults, however, which have only lately been detected through the progress and refinement of our language. In the age of Locke, and for half a century afterwards his works were justly deemed the purest model of philosophical composition.

The customary style of this very valuable writer may be sufficiently appreciated by a page from almost any part of his elaborate Essay. He thus delivers his opinion on the adaptation of our faculties to our situation.

"The infinite wise contriver of us, and all things about us, hath fitted our senses, faculties, and organs, to the conveniences of life, and the business we have to do here. We are able, by our senses, to know and distinguish things; and to examine them so far, as to apply them to our uses, and several ways to accommodate the exigencies of this life. We have insight enough into their admirable contrivances and wonderful effects, to admire and magnify the wisdom, power, and goodness of their author. Such a knowledge as this, which is suited to our present condition, we want not faculties to attain.

But

it appears not, that God intended we should have a perfect, clear, and adequate knowledge of them that perhaps is not in the comprehension of any finite being. We are furnished with faculties (dull and weak as they are) to discover enough in the creatures, to lead us to the knowledge of the Creator, and the knowledge of our duty; and we are fitted well enough with abilities, to provide for the conveniences of living: these are our business in this world. But were