ides many sermons, he produced a treatise on _The First
Principles of Geology and Astronomy_; a work on _Logic, or the Right Use
of the Reason in the Inquiry after Truth_; and _A Supplement on the
Improvement of the Mind_. These latter have been superseded as text-books
by later and more correct inquiry.

_Edward Young_, 1681-1765: in his younger days he sought preferment at
court, but being disappointed in his aspirations, he took orders in the
Church, and led a retired life. He published a satire entitled, _The Love
of Fame, the Universal Passion_, which was quite successful. But his chief
work, which for a long time was classed with the highest poetic efforts,
is the _Night Thoughts_, a series of meditations, during nine nights, on
Life, Death, and Immortality. The style is somewhat pompous, the imagery
striking, but frequently unnatural; the occasional descriptions majestic
and vivid; and the effect of the whole is grand, gloomy, and peculiar. It
is full of apothegms, which have been much quoted; and some of his lines
and phrases are very familiar to all.

He wrote papers on many topics, and among his tragedies the best known is
that entitled _The Revenge_. Very popular in his own day, Young has been
steadily declining in public favor, partly on account of the superior
claims of modern writers, and partly because of the morbid and gloomy
views he has taken of human nature. His solemn admonitions throng upon the
reader like phantoms, and cause him to desire more cheerful company. A
sketch of the life of Young may be found in Dr. Johnson's _Lives of the
Poets_.

CHAPTER XXV.

ADDISON, AND THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE.

The Character of the Age. Queen Anne. Whigs and Tories. George I.
Addison--The Campaign. Sir Roger de Coverley. The Club. Addison's
Hymns. Person and Literary Character.

THE CHARACTER OF THE AGE.

To cater further to the Artificial Age, the literary cravings of which far
exceeded those of any former period, there sprang up a school of
Essayists, most of whom were also poets, dramatists, and politicians.
Among these Addison, Steele, and Swift stand pre-eminent. Each of them was
a man of distinct and interesting personality. Two of them--Addison and
Swift--presented such a remarkable contrast, that it has been usual for
writers on this period of English Literature to bring them together as
foils to each other. This has led to injustice towards Swift; they should
be placed in jux