being; and our numbers were in their nonage till these last appeared *."

A transition must now be made to an author who, though contributing to the refinement of our language, has exhibited a style in almost every respect dissimilar to that which we have been immediately contemplating. SPRAT, bishop of Rochester, in his History of the Royal Society, and in his Life of Cowley, presents us, for the period in which he wrote, with composition of uncommon neatness, smoothness, and precision. Having given him this praise, however, we have nothing to add; a declaration which may excite some surprise when contrasted with the profuse eulogium which Dr. Johnson has bestowed on the style of this writer. They who shall study his pages will find no richness, ardour, or strength in his diction, but, on the contrary, an air of feebleness, and a species of imbecile spruceness, pervading all his productions. They must acknow·ledge, however, much clearness in his construction, and will probably agree that his cadences are often peculiarly well turned, especially those which terminate his paragraphs, and which sometimes possess a smartness which excites attention. A medium therefore must be taken between the extravagant praise of Dr. Johnson,

* Preface to the Fables. Malone's Dryden, vol. iii. p. 611, &c. &c.

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 where a rock, eyes; a 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 This was not then his main care. 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.