Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/322

312 elegy and epic, ſtill handed about the univerſity in manuſcript, which ſhew a maſterly hand, and though maimed and injured by frequent tranſcribing, make their way into our moſt celebrated miſcellanies, where they ſhine with uncommon luſtre. As his parts were extraordinary, ſo he well knew how to improve them; and not only to poliſh the diamond, but enchaſe it in the moſt ſolid and durable metal.

“Though he was an academic the greateſt part of his life, yet he contracted no ſourneſs of temper, no tincture of pedantry, no itch of diſputation, or obſtinate contention for the old, or new philoſophy, no aſſuming way of dictating to others, which are faults which ſome are inſenſibly led into, who are conſtrained to dwell within the walls of a private college.” Thus far Mr. Oldiſworth, who has drawn the character of his deceaſed friend, with a laudable fondneſs. Mr. Smith, no doubt, poſſeſſed the higheſt genius for poetry; but it is certain he had mixed but too little in life. His language, however luxuriouſly poetical, yet is far from being proper for the drama, and there is too much of the poet in every ſpeech he puts in the mouths of his characters, which produces an uniformity, that nothing could reach him to avoid, but a more general knowledge of real life and characters. It is acknowledged that Mr. Smith was much inclined to intemperance, though Mr. Oldiſworth has gloſſed it over with the hand of a friend; nor is it improbable, that this diſpoſition ſunk him in that vis inertiæ, which has been the bane of many of the brighteſt geniuſes of the world. Mr. Smith was, upon the whole, a good natured man, a great poet, a finiſhed ſcholar, and a diſcerning critic. Mr.