having had the happiness of calling the author of "The Rambler" my friend.
Oxford,
Sept. 1782.
OF Young's Poems it is difficult to give any general character; for he has no uniformity of manner: one of his pieces has no great resemblance to another. He began to write early, and continued long; and at different times had different modes of poetical excellence in view. His numbers are some times smooth, and sometimes rugged; his style is sometimes concatenated, and some times abrupt; sometimes diffusive, and some times concise. His plan seems to have started in his mind at the present moment, and his thoughts appear the effect of chance, some times adverse, and sometimes lucky, with very little operation of judgment.
He was not one of the writers whom experience improves, and who observing their own faults become gradually correct. His Poem on the "Last Day," his first great performance, has an equability and propriety,
