n company. His Chloe,
probably, was sometimes ideal; but the woman with whom he cohabited was
a despicable drab[10] of the lowest species. One of his wenches, perhaps
Chloe, while he was absent from his house, stole his plate, and ran
away; as was related by a woman who had been his servant. Of this
propensity to sordid converse I have seen an account so seriously
ridiculous, that it seems to deserve insertion[11].

I have been assured that Prior, after having spent the evening with
Oxford, Bolingbroke, Pope, and Swift, would go and smoke a pipe, and
drink a bottle of ale, with a common soldier and his wife, in Long-acre,
before he went to bed; not from any remains of the lowness of his
original, as one said, but, I suppose, that his faculties,

"Strain'd to the height,
In that celestial colloquy sublime,
Dazzled and spent, sunk down, and sought repair."

Poor Prior! why was he so _strained_, and in such _want_ of _repair_,
after a conversation with men, not, in the opinion of the world, much
wiser than himself? But such are the conceits of speculatists, who
_strain_ their _faculties_ to find in a mine what lies upon the surface.

His opinions, so far as the means of judging are left us, seem to have
been right; but his life was, it seems, irregular, negligent, and
sensual.

* * * * *

Prior has written with great variety, and his variety has made him
popular. He has tried all styles, from the grotesque to the solemn, and
has not so failed in any as to incur derision or disgrace.

His works may be distinctly considered, as comprising Tales,
Love-verses, Occasional Poems, Alma, and Solomon.

His Tales have obtained general approbation, being written with great
familiarity and great sprightliness; the language is easy, but seldom
gross, and the numbers smooth without appearance of care. Of these tales
there are only four. The Ladle; which is introduced by a preface,
neither necessary nor pleasing, neither grave nor merry. Paulo Purganti;
which has likewise a preface, but of more value than the tale. Hans
Carvel, not over-decent; and Protogenes and Apelles, an old story,
mingled, by an affectation not disagreeable, with modern images. The
Young Gentleman in Love has hardly a just claim to the title of a tale.
I know not whether he be the original author of any tale which he has
given us. The adventure of Hans Carvel has passed through many
successions of merr