the obscurity of the Theban bard, however he may fall below his
sublimity; he will be allowed, if he has less fire, to have more
smoke. He has added nothing to English poetry, yet at least half
his book deserves to be read: perhaps he valued most himself that
part which the critic would reject.



WEST.



Gilbert West is one of the writers of whom I regret my inability to
give a sufficient account; the intelligence which my inquiries have
obtained is general and scanty. He was the son of the Rev. Dr.
West; perhaps him who published "Pindar" at Oxford about the
beginning of this century. His mother was sister to Sir Richard
Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham. His father, purposing to educate
him for the Church, sent him first to Eton, and afterwards to
Oxford; but he was seduced to a more airy mode of life, by a
commission in a troop of horse, procured him by his uncle. He
continued some time in the army, though it is reasonable to suppose
that he never sunk into a mere soldier, nor ever lost the love, or
much neglected the pursuit, of learning; and afterwards, finding
himself more inclined to civil employment, he laid down his
commission, and engaged in business under the Lord Townshend, then
Secretary of State, with whom he attended the King to Hanover.

His adherence to Lord Townshend ended in nothing but a nomination
(May, 1729) to be Clerk-Extraordinary of the Privy Council, which