INTRODUCTION. 5 But farther than all this, Poetry has occasionally a great influence on the state of society, by the turn which it gives to public taste, opinion, and manners. Thus Virgil reconciled, in a great degree, the Roman people to imperial authority; and, in more modern times, Chaucer certainly paved the way for the Reformation, and the dissolution of the religious orders, by the ridiculous light in which his popular tales placed the monks and friars. Such then being the magic power of this delectable art, it becomes a duty as well as a pleasure to examine into the character of the prevailing poetry of the age and country in which we live, as thereby a correct idea may be formed of the advance that has been made both in literary taste and moral sentiment. Perhaps at no period were there so many contemporary poets in one country as are now to be found in this island; and though, where the candidates for distinction are numerous, the palm of excellence can be but the lot of few, it is a proud triumph to literature that original genius, instead of being on the decline, is flourishing in full vigour, and putting forth new shoots every day. In this luxuriant enclosure, this "wilder ness of sweets," one object towers above the rest in lofty and fantastic majesty, demanding universal homage, and certainly attracting general admiration. It is beyond question that the writings of Lord Byron have thrown the works of the other poets of the day comparatively into shade; and this celebrity has, with the accustomed effect of popularity, raised a host of imitators, who, if they cannot catch a portion of their master's genius, make up for the deficiency by aping his misanthropy, and exceeding him, if possible, in licentiousness. Thus standing, as he does, at the head of a new order, or school of poetry, which, whatever be its period of duration, cannot but affect the manners as well as the literature of the time in which it lasts; no excuse is necessary for an examination into the merits of one, whose performances directly and avowedly tend to produce a revolution in the feelings and principles of mankind. Where such is the aim of a writer, whose singularly versatile talents, elevated station, and peculiar circumstances, arm him with more than ordinary power to enable him to carry his object into effect, it becomes a duty to lay open his personal history, that it may be seen whe INTRODUCTION. 7 ther he, who seeks to create a new state of things, or rather to disorganize all that constitutes social union, has, by the propriety of his own conduct, established the right to be a dictator in morals, as well as in poetry. Living biography, if such a term may be used, is of a very delicate nature. Yet there want not sufficient authorities to warrant the practice of publishing the memoirs of men of eminence, while they are still shining above the horizon. The younger Patin did honour to his brother professors at Padua, by writing their history; the life and letters of that learned phenomenon, Anna Maria à Schurman, were printed with her own consent; and John Le Clerc published, as the production of a friend, his own memoirs for the double purpose of showing what a great scholar he was, and of abusing his antagonists Burman and Bentley, who had levelled his critical reputation in the dust;-in our own day, one of the best writers and most amiable characters that the republic of letters can boast, has prefixed an interesting account of his eventful life to his translation of the first of Roman satirists; and to crown all, we are credibly informed, that Lord Byron himelf has ventured, like the late veteran Cumberland, to write his own history, with an 8 со INTRODUCTION. injunction, however, that it shall not appear till he is numbered with his ancestors. Rich as such a piece of autobiography may be, both in style and incident, it will exhibit to those who shall chance to behold it, a veiled and not a naked portraiture of the noble writer's mind and actions. It is neither to be expected, nor desired, that a memoir written under his peculiar circumstances, and at so critical a period of his life, should display an exact representation of the master passion that rules the author's heart. Rousseau, indeed, left behind him a reflected image of his own character, sketched in all the minute accuracy of moral deformity; but who is there that would wish to see another instance of Confessions, in which there are no traces of humility, conscience, and respect for the common sense of mankind? The philosopher of Geneva, if such a splenetic spirit deserved the name of philosopher, was frank enough to own that he chose rather to be remarkable for his paradoxes than his prejudices; the plain sense of which amounted to this, that he was ready to sacrifice every thing to the love of singularity. Thus in declaiming against prejudice, he made it appear that he was the slave of the very worst of all prejudices-a selfish, ungovernable pride of intellect. Rousseau, in fact, made an idol of his own genius, and then quarrelled with his contemporaries for not falling down and worshipping the image which he had set up, as the very model of mental excellence. Impatient of restraint, he denounced war upon all received principles, and every established institution, as derogatoryto the liberty and independence of man, while at the same time he assumed the right of dictating, with more than oriental despotism, his opinions to others, without considering himself amenable to any laws of criticism or morals. This extraordinary character had, it must be admitted, a brilliant imagination; but as it was suffered to run wild for want of self-controul and proper direction, it produced more weeds than flowers; and, what is worse, the mind of Rousseau thereby became so morbid that he at length grew fonder of poison than of nutriment, and the deadly nightshade was more acceptable to his taste than the fruits of Paradise. The false views of human nature to which he had habituated himself, made him take a delight in the |