possesses, and
translated in our authorized version in language not to be surpassed for
dignity and simplicity.

In 1719 his _Busiris_ was performed. _The Revenge_, a better known
tragedy, written on the French model, followed in 1721, and kept the
stage for some time. Seven years later _The Brothers_, his third and
last tragedy, was in rehearsal, but the poet, who had lately taken holy
orders, withdrew it at the last moment. These tragedies, which are full
of sound and fury, are destitute of tragic power. _The Revenge_, in
which Zanga acts the part of an Iago, has some forcible scenes, and so,
despite much rant and fustian, has _Busiris_. Plenty of blood is shed,
of course, and the heroines of the plays die by their own hands. Tragedy
is supposed to exercise an elevating influence, but to counteract this
happy result, _Busiris_ and _The Revenge_ are followed by indecent
epilogues, in which the speakers jest at the feelings which the plays
may have excited. For _The Brothers_ Young wrote his own epilogue. It is
decent and dull. His genius was better fitted for satire than for the
drama, and _The Universal Passion_, which consists of seven satires
published in a collected form in 1728, brought him reputation and money.
The poet Crabbe was never more surprised in his life than when John
Murray (the famous 'My Murray' of Byron) gave him L3,000 for the
copyright of his poems; Young received the same sum for work
immeasurably inferior in value, and in a less legitimate way. Two
thousand pounds, it is stated, was a gift from the Duke of Grafton, who
said it was the best bargain he ever made, as the satires were worth
L4,000. Young, it will be seen, preceded Pope as a satirist. He is more
generous and humane, and has none of the venomous attacks on living
persons by which Pope added piquancy to his verse. But he is a careless
writer, and for the most part lacks the exquisite precision, the subtle
wit, the rhythmical felicity, which make the couplets of Pope so
memorable. _The Dunciad_, the _Moral Essays_, and the _Imitations_ are
read by all lovers of literature, but _The Universal Passion_ is
forgotten. Of the six satires, the two on women are the most spirited,
and may be compared with Pope's on the same subject. The different
foibles, and faults worse than foibles of the women of that day are
exhibited with a satirist's licence, and occasionally with a Pope-like
terseness. Take the following, for example:

'There is