Page:The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Volume 3.djvu/353

Rh immediately sunk into silence and oblivion."

The reasonableness of a Test is not hard to be proved; but perhaps it must be allowed that the proper test has not been chosen.

The attention paid to the papers, published under the name of "Bickerstaff," induced Steele, when he projected the "Tatler," to assume an appellation which had already gained possession of the reader's notice.

In the year following he wrote a "Project for the Advancement of Religion," addressed to Lady Berkeley; by whose kindness it is not unlikely that he was advanced to his benefices. To this project, which is formed with great purity of intention, and displayed with spriteliness and elegance, it can only be objected, that, like many projects, it is, if not generally impracticable, yet evidently hopeless, as it supposes more zeal, concord, and perseverance, than a view of mankind gives reason for expecting.

He wrote likewise this year a "Vindication of Bickerstaff;" and an explanation of an "Ancient Prophecy," part written after the facts, and the rest never completed, but well planned to excite amazement. Soon