Page:Poetical Works of John Oldham.djvu/15



student, curious in the lore of old book-stalls, may chance to have lighted upon a stout little volume of poems, printed in the seventeenth century, and bearing the name of John Oldham. Unless he happened to be familiar with the history of the period, he might never have heard the name before, and would, probably, conclude that Oldham was one of the swarm of scurrilous doggrel-mongers who abounded in those days of literary anarchy and licentiousness, and who, like other ephemera, perished as soon as they were born. The inference would be natural enough. Nearly a hundred years have elapsed since the publication of the last edition of these poems; and in the interval they have gone down into oblivion. To the present generation of readers they are almost unknown. Yet they obtained considerable celebrity in the lifetime of the author, and present legitimate claims to a place in every complete collection of English poetry. As a satirist, Oldham possesses incontestable merits of a high order. His subjects, like those of all writers who have lashed the vices of their day, are for the most part temporary; but the spirit, point, and freedom of the treatment inspires them with permanent interest. His Satires throw a flood of light on the politics, morals, and manners of the Restoration, and are everywhere marked by the broad hand of vigorous and original genius. Nor is this his greatest excellence. Throughout the whole of his writings he displays a courage and independence which honourably distinguish him in an age of corruption and servile adulation; and the few incidents of his life with which we are acquainted bear practical