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    showed the sincerity of his desire to promote the famous satirist ' s pecuniary interests by offering him the place of private chaplain to * his household . Here was a provision for life , waiting the acceptance of a man absolutely withcmt certain resources of any kind—> and the man refused it . The ' position of a chaplain in a nobleman ' s family was , in those days , a degraded ; one ; and manly Oldham would not stoop dependeatly so much as one inch towards all the ease and competence which all the noblemen in the world could offer him . Lord Kingston ' s conduct on receiving tlie poet ' s refusal is beyond all praise . He showed most delicately and nobly he appreciated Oldham ^ e character , by asking Trim to his Louse as guest and friend . JTiis invitation was gratefully accepted . It was the fit reward for a-brave and an honourable life . But though it came early ( Oldham was then only

    4 ; li . I 1 * fl -trA if / tavna +. nf \ Iaf 4 > Willie RfnVlTlnr in T , rvr » rl T ^ mmo + rtn'ca Iiaiioa fVirk -r \ rm 4-tmrly ) , it came too late . While staying in Jjord Jiangston ' s house , the poet was attacked by the small-pox . In the prime of his life and of "his intellectual powers , in the house where he had at last gained the honour and the ease which had so long been his due , John Oldham dieaT ^ He Had not gained the fame of his iLlustrious friend Dryden ; but he had done what neither Dryden nor any other author of that time could do—he had respected his vocation as a man of letters , and had " kept himself unspotted from the world . " In an age of abject dedications , not a line of flattery disgraced the pages of John Oldham . His was the true manhood , and the genuine greatness ; and in virtue of bis life alone—leaving the merit of his writings out of the question—he has better claims to be remembered by posterity than many of his luckier inferiors , who have left notorious names behind them .

    The fate of his poems has been a strange one . Having been widely successful during his lifetime , they were collected after his death , and published , accompanied by tributes to his memory from all the famous poets of his time . In 1710 : ttey got to a seventh edition ; were again printed in 1722 ; and were for the last time repliblisfoed in 1770 . Since that period they have most unfairly and ignorantly been refused admission , even in detached portions , into all collections of English poetry . On the score of Justice as well as of taste , every credit is due to Mr . Bell for having restored Oldham to his proper place among our national poets . If coarseness is to be considered an objection to him , the objectors must be referred to Dryden , who is quite as coarse . If poetical merit be considered as a claim , he has , with all his faults , a .. letter title to be included among the classical English poets than many of tie writers who figure at full length in all our Authologies . Such poets as Dyer , Granger , and Phillips , for instance , are not to be mentioned in the same breath with him .

    The great merit of his life is also the great merit of his poetry—he lived in earnest and he wrote in earnest . He has no graces of expression—his lines are often clumsy and halting—his rhymes no rhymes at all—of the delicacies , subtleties , and refinements of poetical art he knew , and cared to know , nothing . He feels strongly , impetuously , fiercely ; and writes exactly as he feels . He never stops to consider his subjeet under various aspects , but dashes at it at once from his own point of view . Occasionally he hits on some ferocious felicities of expression , which are unsurpassed by any other poet . As a . satirist ( and satires form the great "bulk of his works ) he hardly ever sneers at corruption and vice—he always storms at them -with might and main . He is often unjust , sometimes absolutely inexcusable , in his Satires against the Jesuits—but his hatred of priests is a genuine fanaticism ---he firmly believes limself in the justice and truth of every wild and wanton word that he utters against them . As he was a true man in his life , so , with all his faults , he is a true man in his poetry .

    We will now give our readers such specimens of Oldham ' s genius as we hope will induce them to read and appreciate the volume of his collected works . W " e are no £ afraid to match him , at the outset , with two famous men . Boileau , first imitated the third satire of Juvenal , and applied it to Paris ; Oldham followed him , and applied it to London : and Johnson , in one of the noblest moral poems ever written , followed Oldham . These lines appear to us to be superior to Boileau , and to be in point of vigour , fully equal to Johnson : —> ' I live in London ! What should I do ( ihero ? I cannot lie , nor flatter , nor forswear ; I can ' t commend a book , or piece of wit . Though a lord were the author , dully writ t

    I ' d * no Sir SL&rophol to read the stars , An < l cast nativities for longing heirs , "WTaon fathers shall drop off ; no Gadbury To tell the minute when the king shall die , An < l you know what—came in ; nor can I steer , An < l tack about my conscience , ¦ wh . ensoe ' or To a new point I see religion veer . Lot others pimp to courtiers lechery , I'll draw no oity cuckold ' s curse > on me ; Mot Would I do it , though to he made great ,. Arul raised to bo chief minister oE state .

    Therefore I think it-fit to rid the town Of ono , that is an usoless membor grown . * ' Besides , who has pretence to favour now , But ho , who hidden villainy does know , tVlioso broast docs with some burning secret glow r * By none fhoii ahalt preferred or valued bo , That trusts theo with an honest secrecy ; He only may to great men ' s iGriendehlp r « ach f W ho groat men , when h « ploaaos , can impeach . Lot others ttiua aspire to dignity ; Far me , I'd not their envied grandeur buy Fo > r nil the Exchango in worth , that Paul ' s "will coat , Or was of late in tho Scotch voyage lost . What would fr boot , if I , to gain ray ond j Forego my qiuot , and my ease of mind , Still feared , at last betrayed by my groat friend ?

    Here ia another passage ftom the same Satire which , in addition to its indubitablo poetical merit , exhibits the value of Oldham to tho present age as a delineator of manners and cuetoms among ou-r ancestors in the seventeenth century : — . 11 Ileaideti , what storo of gibing acoflfa are ftirown On one thntVpoor and meanly clad in town *

    If his apparel seem but overworn , His stockings out at heel , or breeches torn , One takes occasion his ripped shoe to flout , " And swears 't has been at prison-gates hung out ; Another shrewdly jeers Ms coarse cravat , Beeausa himself wears point ; a third his hat , And most unmercifully shows his -wit , If it be old , or does not cock aright . Nothing in poverty so ill is borne , As its exposing men to grinning scorn , To be by tawdry coxcombs jeered upon , And made the jesting Stock of each buffoon . ' Turn out there , friend V cries one at church , ' the pew Is not for such mean scoundrel curs as you ; 'Tis for your betters kept : ' belike some sot

    That knew no father , was on bulks begot , But now is raised to an estate sad pride , By having the kind proverb on . his side ; Let Gripe and Cheatwell take their places there , And Dash , the scrivener's gaudy sparkish heir , That wears three ruined orphans on his back ; Meanwhile you in the alley stand , and sneak : And . you therewith must rest contented , since Almighty wealth does put such difference . What citizen , a son-in-law will take , Bred ne'er so well , . that can't a jointure Make ? What man . of sense , that ' s poos , e ' er summoned is Amongst the common council to advise ? At vestry-consults when does lie appear , For choosing of some parish officer , Or making leather buckets for the choir ?

    " Tis hard for any man to rise , that feels His virtue clogged with poverty at heels ; But harder ' tis by miich in London , where A sorry lodging , coarse and slender fare , Fire , water , breathing , everything is dear ; Yet such as these an earthen dish disdain , With which their ancestors , in Edgar ' s reign , Were served , and thought it r » o disgrace to dine , Though they were rich , had store of leather coin Low as their fortune is , yet they despise A man that walks the streets in homely frieze ;

    To speak the truth , great part of England now , In . their own cloth will scarce vouchsafe to go ; Only , the statute ' s penalty to save , Some few perhaps wear woollen in the grave . Here all go daily dressed , although it be Above their means , - their rank , and quality ; The most in . borrowed gallantry are clad , For which the tradesmen's books are still unpaid ; This fault is common in the meaner sort That they nmst needs affect to bear the port Of gentlemen , though they want income for't . "

    How true is much of this as applied to ourselves in these modern day ' s ' . One more extract and we must have done . The following passage is front the Satire Addressed to a Friend . " Oldham ' s own free , fine spirit speaks in almost every line of it . As a picture of the condition of domestic chaplains it supplied Macaulay with material for an admirable passage in the History of England . Some t ! hink themselves exalted to the sky , If they light in some noble family ; Diet , a horse , and thirty pounds a year , Besides the advantage of his lordship ' s ear , The credit of the business , and the state , Are things that in a youngster ' s sense sound great . Little the inexperienced wretch does know , What slavery he oft must undergo , Who though in silken scarf and cassock dressed , Wears but a gayer livery at best ;

    When dinner calls , the implement must wait , With holy words to consecrate the meat , But hold it for a favour seldom known , If he be deigned the honour to sit down . Soon as the tarts appear , Sir Crape , withdraw I ThoBe dainties are not for a spiritual maw ; Observe your distance , and be sure to stand Hard by tho cistern with your cap in hand ; There for diversion you may pick your teeth , Till the kind voider comes for your relief . For mere board wages such their freedom Bell , Slaves to an hour , and vassals to a boll ; And if tho enjoyment of ono day bo stole , They are but prisoners out upon parole * , Always the marks of slavery remain , AjuI they , though loose , stilL drag about their chain

    And -whore ' s the irrighty prospect after all , A chaploingiiip served up , and seven years' thrall 2 The menial thing , perhaps , for a reward , Is to some slender "benoflce preferred , With this proviso tjonnd , that ho must weel My lady ' s antiquated waiting maid , In dressing only skilled , and marmalade . Let others , who such meannesses can . brook , Strike countenance to every great mnn ' a Took ;

    Let those that have a mind , turn slaves to oat , And Uvo contented by anotlior ' a pinto ; I rate my freedom higher , nor will I ! For food and raiment truck my liberty . But , If I must to my last shifts bo pnt , To fill a bladder , and twelve yards of gub , Kathor with counterfeited wooden leg , And my right arm tied up , I'll choosm to bog ; I'll rather chooso to starve at largo , than t > o Tho giradicsrt vassal to dependency . "f l » ao ever booa tho top a ? my desiroa , Tho utmost height to whieU my wlah a » pireay

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    SteO THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 7, 1854, page 950, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2059/page/14/