himself to find a termination or a partner.

Such are the beauties and the faults which may be found in
profusion throughout the later works of Dryden. A more just and
complete estimate of his natural and acquired powers,--of the
merits of his style and of its blemishes,--may be formed from the
Hind and Panther, than from any of his other writings. As a
didactic poem, it is far superior to the Religio Laici. The
satirical parts, particularly the character of Burnet, are
scarcely inferior to the best passages in Absalom and Achitophel.
There are, moreover, occasional touches of a tenderness which
affects us more, because it is decent, rational, and manly, and
reminds us of the best scenes in his tragedies. His
versification sinks and swells in happy unison with the subject;
and his wealth of language seems to be unlimited. Yet, the
carelessness with which he has constructed his plot, and the
innumerable inconsistencies into which he is every moment
falling, detract much from the pleasure which such various
excellence affords.

In Absalom and Achitophel he hit upon a new and rich vein, which
he worked with signal success. They ancient satirists were the
subjects of a despotic government. They were compelled to
abstain from political topics, and to confine their attention to
the frailties of private life. They might, indeed, sometimes
venture to take liberties with public men,

"Quorum Flaminia tegitur cinis atque Latina."

Thus Juvenal immortalised the obsequious senators who met to