The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume III.Cibber, Theophilus
General
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume III.
Cibber, Theophilus
Poets, English -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Poets, Irish -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
Dr. Garth is said to have been a man of the most extensive benevolence;
that his hand and heart went always together: A circumstance more
valuable than all the lustre which genius can confer. We cannot however,
speak of his works with so much warmth, as the author just quoted seems
to indulge. His works will scarce make a moderate volume, and though
they contain many things excellent, judicious, and humorous, yet they
will not justify the writer, who dwells upon them in the same rapturous
strain of admiration, with which we speak of a Horace, a Milton, or a
Pope. He had the happiness of an early acquaintance with some of the
most powerful, wisest, and wittiest men of the age in which he lived; he
attached himself to a party, which at last obtained the ascendant, and
he was equally successful in his fortune as his friends: Persons in
these circumstances are seldom praised, or censured with moderation.
We have already seen how warmly Addison espoused the Dr's. writings,
when they were attacked upon a principle of party, and there are many of
the greatest wits of his time who pay him compliments; amongst the rest
is lord Lansdowne, who wrote some verses upon his illness; but as the
lines do no great honour either to his lordship, or the Dr. we forbear
to insert them.
The following passage is taken from one of Pope's Letters, written upon
the death of Dr. Garth, which, we dare say, will be more acceptable.
'The best natured of men (says he) Sir Samuel Garth has left me in
the truest concern for his loss. His death was very heroical, and yet
unaffected enough to have made a saint, or a philosopher famous. But ill
tongues, and worse hearts have branded his last moments, as wrongfully
as they did his life, with irreligion: you must have heard many tales
upon this subject; but if ever there was a good christian, without
knowing himself to be so, it was Dr. Garth.'
Our author was censured for his love of pleasure, in which perhaps it
would be easier to excuse than defend him; but upon the whole, his
character appears to have been very amiable, particularly, that of his
bearing a tide of prosperity with so much, evenness of temper; and his
universal benevolence, which seems not to have been cramped with party
principles; as appears from his piety towards the remains of Dryden.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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