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which villa he continued to live to the end of his days. He lost his father, who died suddenly in November 1717, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. This event affected him deeply, and suspended his literary labours for a time. The property which he inherited from his father, together with the fruit of his own literary labours, raised him to such independence of means, that he proceeded to improve on a large scale his beautifu! villa at Twickenham. The grotto in which he took such delight fortunately remains as an interesting memento of the poet; but it is much to be regretted that the mansion which he built should have fallen into Vandal hands, and been demolished. In 1720 the two concluding volumes of the "Iliad," the fifth and sixth, were given to the world. The first three volumes of the "Odyssey" were published in 1725, and in the following year the fourth and fifth, which completed the work. He was visited by Swift in 1726, who took up his residence with him at Twickenham. The party was also enlivened by the presence of Gay. It is scarcely necessary to follow the poet in the detail of his numerous subsequent works. The "Dunciad," the "Epistle on Taste," addressed to Lord Burlington, the "Essay on Man," and many other productions, were given to the world, with greater or less acceptance and success. After a long and prolific literary career, his health at last began to give signs of decay by violent headaches

H

and other kindred disorders.

He died on the 30th of

ants.

May, 1744, about eleven o'clock at night, yielding his breath so imperceptibly, it is said, that the exact moment of his departure was not marked by his attendConsidering the great weakness of his frame during by far the greater part of his life, his industry was something altogether remarkable. Such was that weakness, indeed, that after middle life he required assistance both in undressing for bed and in rising from it. He was not free from that occasional fretfulness and peevishness of temper common to confined valetudinarians. He had, however, many excellent qualities as a man and a friend; and his conduct and feeling as a son were beyond all praise. His devotedness to both his parents, and especially to his mother, was exemplary in the highest degree. As a poet, he could not lay claim to the faculty of invention in an eminent degree, although the "Rape of the Lock," and the "Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard," show that he was not destitute of that quality. His principal merit, however, lay in the lucid arrangement of his subject,-condensation of thought and expression,-a subtle and exquisite fancy lighting up his page with a variety and brilliancy of illustration which were fascinating in the highest degree.

The following are the concluding remarks of a judicious and able biographer :

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