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have been made to set up some other living poets, in comparison with Lord Byron, but these are futile; the noble poet is perfectly sui generis; he stands alone, and if not actually the very best of the existing bards of Britain, he shines more conspicuously original than any of them. It were to be wished indeed that he paid more regard to the purity of his sentiments, the harmony of his style, and the dignity of his subjects; but, as it is, his poetical abstractions, the vigour of his language, and the romantic cast of the creatures of his lively imagination, have procured him a lofty eminence, from which he will not fall but by his own indiscretion. The versatility of his talents shows that he is capable of the boldest flights, and that there is nothing within the range of poesy to which he may not aspire. Judgment alone is wanting to secure for him the high rank which he has already attained, and to carry him yet farther in the career of literary distinction. As yet the world has only witnessed astonishing efforts of daring genius, without one steady direction, or the accomplishment of any valuable object. If the noble lord will, in due season, form a proper estimate of his talents, and consider that utility is the only permanent consecration of

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them, he may, notwithstanding his occasional errors, assure to himself the gratitude of the living age, and the admiration of posterity. Much has been said of the pernicious tendency of his lordship's latter productions; but it admits of a doubt whether his serious and metaphysical performances are not infinitely more dangerous. His meretricious stories may create a laugh, or perhaps shock the feelings; but the others contain the seeds of false and vicious principles which being imbibed by unsuspecting minds may take root, and prove injurious through life. Both his levities and his disquisitions are licentious; and it is painful to observe, that through them all there is, as in the writings of Voltaire, an assiduous desire to render those objects ridiculous, which have for ages been regarded as sacred. It is melancholy to see the fire of genuine poetry, applied to such baneful purposes; when it should only have been devoted to the sublimest of all services, that of promoting the cause of virtue and the welfare of mankind.

In spite of his misanthropy, the noble lord has a strong propensity to humour; but his love of joking is not always governed by discretion, and too often

it betrays him into gross indelicacies, profane allusions, and personal ribaldries; offences which neither wit can palliate nor provocation excuse. This propensity to sensuality and ridicule has increased with the popularity of the author, who, in proportion to the extension of his influence, seems to have studied how the power of verse might be most effectually applied in corrupting the heart.

Such a perversion of talent was never before witnessed in this country; for though one or two poets have mixed up scepticism in their works, they have done it in a disguised manner: and though others have delighted in prurient description and virulent satire, they have not ventured to justify crime or to attack religion. That the author of Childe Harold has committed these violations of the morality of literature, no man can have the presumption to deny ; and that his example and writings will be attended with pernicious consequences to society cannot well be doubted.

Poetry takes a faster hold of the memory than any other species of composition; and by fascinating the

imagination it imposes upon the understanding fallacies which in a different form would be rejected.

When, therefore, a writer attains the high distinction of being universally read, translated, and imitated, the practical tendency of his performances becomes an object of importance; and if his personal history be necessary to the illustration of them, justice requires that it should be laid perspicuously open for the benefit of public morals and public taste, both of which are likely to be affected by his example.

Whether the portraiture here exhibited is a correct and spirited likeness must be left to the decision of competent judges; but this the Biographer can conscientiously aver that he has sedulously regarded the laws of Truth, and been more anxious to soften than to exaggerate the failings and errors of one who will occupy a proud station in the literary history of the nineteenth century.

THE END.

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