which consist of light images or single conceits, are not always his
own. I have traced him among the French epigrammatists, and have
been informed that he poached for prey among obscure authors. The
"Thief and Cordelier" is, I suppose, generally considered as an
original production, with how much justice this epigram may tell,
which was written by Georgius Sabinus, a poet now little known or
read, though once the friend of Luther and Melancthon:-


"De Sacerdote Furem consolante.
"Quidam sacrificus furem comitatus euntem
Huc ubi dat sontes carnificina neci.
Ne sis moestus, ait; summi conviva Tonantis
Jam cum coelitibus (si modo credis) eris.
Ille gemens, si vera mihi solatia praebes,
Hospes apud superos sis meus oro, refert.
Sacrificus contra; mihi non convivia fas est
Ducere, jejunas hac edo luce nihil."


What he has valuable he owes to his diligence and his judgment. His
diligence has justly placed him amongst the most correct of the
English poets; and he was one of the first that resolutely
endeavoured at correctness. He never sacrifices accuracy to haste,
nor indulges himself in contemptuous negligence, or impatient
idleness; he has no careless lines, or entangled sentiments; his
words are nicely selected, and his thoughts fully expanded. If this
part of his character suffers an abatement, it must be from the
disproportion of his rhymes, which have not always sufficient
consonance, and from the admission of broken lines into his