Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/332

322 Becauſe his fooliſh virtue was ſo nice As not to ſell his friends, according to his friends advice.


 * And thus he’s an example made,
 * To make men of their honeſty afraid,
 * That from the time to come they may
 * More willingly their friends betray,
 * Tell them the miniſters that plac’d him here,
 * Are ſcandal to the times,
 * Are at a loſs to find his guilt,
 * And can’t commit his crimes.

There are in the ſame volume many other poetical pieces, and political, and polemical trads, the greateſt part of which are written with great force of thought, though in an unpoliſhed irregular ſtile. The natural abilities of the author (for he was no ſcholar) ſeem to have been very high. He had a great knowledge of men and things, particularly what related to the government, and trade of theſe kingdoms. He wrote many pamphlets on both, which were generally well received, though his name was never prefixed. His imagination was fertile, ſtrong, and lively, as may be collected from his many works of fancy, particularly his Robinſon Cruſoe, which was written in ſo natural a manner, and with ſo many probable incidents, that, for ſome time after its publication, it was judged by moſt people to be a true ſtory. It was indeed written upon a model entirely new, and the ſucceſs and eſteem it met with, may be aſcertained by the many editions it has ſold, and the ſums of money which have been gained by it. Nor was he leſs remarkable in his writings of a ſerious and religious turn, witneſs his Religious Courtſhip, and his Family Inſtructor; both of which ſtrongly inculcate the worſhip of God, the relative duties of huſbands, wives,