of expreffing it. This demand, however, his tranflation will not fatisfy; what he found obfcure, I do not know that he has ever cleared. Among his fmaller works, the Eclogue of Virgil and the Dies Ira are well tranflated; though the beft line in the Dies Ira is borrowed from Dryden. In return, fucceeding poets have borrowed from Rofcommon. In the verfes on the Lap-dog, the pronouns thou and you are offenfively confounded; and the turn at the end is from Waller. His verfions of the two odes of Horace are made with great liberty, which is not recompenfed by much elegance or vigour. His political verfes are fpritely, and when they were written must have been very popular. Of the fcene of Guarini, and the prologue to Pompey, Mrs. Phillips, in her letters to Sir Charles Cotterel, has given the history. "Lord Rofcommon," fays fhe, "is "certainly one of the most promifing 66 young noblemen in Ireland. He has "paraphrafed a Pfalm admirably, and "a fcene of Paftor Fido very finely, in "fome places much better than Sir "Richard Fanfhaw. This was under"taken merely in compliment to me, "who happened to say that it was "the beft fcene in Italian, and the "worst "worst in Englifh. He was only two "hours about it. It begins thus: "Dear happy groves, and you the "dark retreat "Of filent horrour, Reft's eternal "feat." From these lines, which are fince fomewhat mended, it appears that he did not think a work of two hours fit to endure the eye of criticism without revifal. When Mrs. Phillips was in Ireland, fome ladies that had seen her tranflation of Pompey, refolved to bring it on the stage at Dublin; and, to promote their 7 their defign, Lord Rofcommon gave them a prologue, and Sir Edward Dering an epilogue; "which," fays he, "are the best performances of those "kinds I ever faw." If this is not criticifm, it is at least gratitude. thought of bringing Cæfar and Pompey into Ireland, the only country over which Cæfar never had any power, is lucky. The Of Rofcommon's works, the judgement of the publick seems to be right. He is elegant, but not great; he never labours after exquifite beauties, and he feldom falls into grofs faults. His verfification is smooth, but rarely vigorous, and his rhymes are remarkably exact. He |