acquired the energy of the satirist, the gravity of the moralist,
the rapture of the lyric poet. The revolution through which
English literature has been passing, from the time of Cowley to
that of Scott, may be seen in miniature within the compass of his
volumes.

His life divides itself into two parts. There is some debatable
ground on the common frontier; but the line may be drawn with
tolerable accuracy. The year 1678 is that on which we should be
inclined to fix as the date of a great change in his manner.
During the preceding period appeared some of his courtly
panegyrics--his Annus Mirabilis, and most of his plays; indeed,
all his rhyming tragedies. To the subsequent period belong his
best dramas,--All for Love, the Spanish Friar, and Sebastian,--
his satires, his translations, his didactic poems, his fables,
and his odes.

Of the small pieces which were presented to chancellors and
princes it would scarcely be fair to speak. The greatest
advantage which the Fine Arts derive from the extension of
knowledge is, that the patronage of individuals becomes
unnecessary. Some writers still affect to regret the age of
patronage. None but bad writers have reason to regret it. It is
always an age of general ignorance. Where ten thousand readers
are eager for the appearance of a book, a small contribution from
each makes up a splendid remuneration for the author. Where
literature is a luxury, confined to few, each of them must pay
high. If the Empress Catherine, for example, wanted an epic
poem, she must have wholly supported the poet;--just as, in a
remote country village, a man who wants a muttonchop is sometimes