1711.

No. 253. that Elegance and Perspicuity in which they are Thursday, delivered. As for those which are the most known, Dec, 20, and the most received, they are placed in so beautiful a Light, and illustrated with such apt Allusions, that they have in them all the Graces of Novelty, and make the Reader, who was before acquainted with them, still more convinced of their Truth and Solidity. And here give me Leave to mention what Monsieur Boileau has so very well enlarged upon in the Preface to his Works, that Wit and fine Writing doth not con sist so much in advancing Things that are new, as in giving things that are known an agreeable Turn. It is impossible, for us who live in the later Ages of the World, to make Observations in Criticism, Morality, or in any Art or Science, which have not been touched upon by others. We have little else left us, but to represent the common Sense of Mankind in more strong, more beautiful, or more uncommon Lights. If a Reader examines Horace's Art of Poetry, he will find but very few precepts in it, which he may not meet with in Aristotle, and which were not com/ monly known by all the Poets of the Augustan Age. His Way of Expressing and Applying them, not his Invention of them, is what we are chiefly to admire,

For this Reason I think there is nothing in the World so tiresome as the Works of those Críticks, who write in a positive dogmatick Way, without either Language, Genius or Imagination. If the Reader would see how the best of the Latin Criticks writ, he may find their Manner very beautifully described in the Characters of Horace, Petronius, Quintilian and Longinus, as they are drawn in the Essay of which I am now speaking.

Since I have mentioned Longinus, who in his Reflec tions has given us the same Kind of Sublime, which he observes in the several Passages that occasioned them; I cannot but take notice, that our English Author has after the same manner exemplified several of his Precepts in the very Precepts themselves. I shall produce two or three Instances of this Kind. Speaking of the insipid Smoothness which some Readers are so much in Love with, he has the following Verses,

These

These Equal Syllables alone require,
Tho' oft the Ear the open Vowels tire,

While Expletives their feeble Aid do join,

And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line.

The gaping of the Vowels in the second Line, the Expletive do in the third, and the ten Monosyllables in the fourth, give such a Beauty to this Passage, as would have been very much admired in an Ancient Poet. The Reader may observe the following Lines in the same View.

A needless Alexandrine ends the Song,

That like a wounded Snake, drags its slow Length along.
And afterwards,

'Tis not enough no Harshness gives Offence,
The Sound must seem an Eccho to the Sense,
Soft is the Strain when Zephir gently blows,
And the smooth Stream in smoother Numbers flows;
But when loud Surges lash the sounding Shore,

The hoarse, rough Verse shou'd like the Torrent roar.
When Ajax strives, some Rock's vast Weight to throw,
The Line too labours, and the Words move slow;
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the Plain,

Flies o'er th' unbending Corn, and skims along the Main,

The beautiful Distich upon Ajax in the foregoing Lines, puts me in mind of a Description in Homer's Odyssey, which none of the Criticks have taken notice of. It is where Sisyphus is represented lifting his Stone up the Hill, which is no sooner carried to the Top of it, but it immediately tumbles to the Bottom. This double Motion of the Stone is admirably described in the Numbers of these Verses. As in the four first it is heaved up by several Spondees, intermixed with proper Breathing-places, and at last trundles down in a continued Line of Dactyls.

Καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον εἰσεῖδον, κρατέρ ̓ ἄλγε' ἔχοντα,
Λάαν βαστάζοντα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρησιν.

Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπτόμενος χερσίν τε ποσίν τε
Λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον· ἀλλ' ὅτε μέλλοι

No. 253.
Thursday,
Dec, 20,

1711.

Ακρον ὑπερβαλέειν, τότ ̓ ἀποστρέψασκε Κραταιίς,
Αντις ἔπειτα πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λάας αναιδής.

It would be endless to quote Verses out of Virgil

No. 253. which have this particular Kind of Beauty in the Thursday, Numbers; but I may take an Occasion in a future Paper Dec, 20, to shew several of them which have escaped the Obser vation of others.

1711,

I cannot conclude this Paper without taking notice that we have three Poems in our Tongue, which are of the same Nature, and each of them a Master-piece in its Kind; the Essay on Translated Verse, the Essay on the Art of Poetry, and the Essay upon Criticism,

No. 254,
[STEELE.]

WHE

Friday, December 21.

C

Σεμνὸς ἔρως ἀρετῆς, ὁ δὲ κύπριδος ἄχος οφέλλει. HEN I consider the false Impressions which are received by the Generality of the World, I am troubled at none more than a certain Levity of Thought which many young Women of Quality have entertained, to the Hazard of their Characters and the certain Misfortune of their Lives. The first of the following Letters may best represent the Faults I would now point at, and the Answer to it the Temper of Mind in a contrary Character.

'My dear Harriot,

If thou art she, but oh how fall'n, how chang'd, what an Apostate! How lost to all that's gay and agreeable! To be marry'd I find is to be bury'd alive; I can't conceive it more dismal to be shut up in a Vault to converse with the Shades of my Ancestors, than to be carried down to an old Mannor House in the Country, and confin'd to the Conversation of a sober Husband and an aukward Chambermaid. For Variety I suppose you may entertain your self with Madam in her Grogram Gown, the Spouse of your Parish Vicar, who has by this Time I am sure well furnish'd you with Receipts for making Salves and Possets, distilling Cordial Waters, making Syrups, and applying Poultices.

Blest Solitude! I wish thee Joy, my Dear, of thy lov'd Retirement, which indeed you would perswade me is very agreeable, and different enough from what I have

here

here describ'd: But, Child, I am afraid thy Brains are a No. 254.
little disordered with Romances and Novels: After six Friday,
Dec, 21,
Month's Marriage to hear thee talk of Love and paint 1711
the Country Scenes so softly, is a little extravagant;
one would think you lived the Lives of Sylvan Deities,
or roved among the Walks of Paradice like the first
happy Pair, But prithee leave these Whimsies, and

come to Town in order to live and talk like other
Mortals, However, as I am extremely interested in
your Reputation, I would willingly give you a little
good Advice at your first Appearance under the Character
of a married Woman: 'Tis a little Insolence in me,
perhaps, to advise a Matron; but I am so afraid you'll
make so silly a Figure as a fond Wife, that I cannot
help warning you not to appear in any publick Places
with your Husband, and never to saunter about St.
James's Park together: If you presume to enter the
Ring at Hide Park together, you are ruin'd for ever;
nor must you take the least Notice of one another at
the Play-House or Opera, unless you would be laugh'd
at for a very loving Couple most happily pair'd in the
Yoke of Wedlock. I would recommend the Example
of an Acquaintance of ours to your Imitation; she is
the most negligent and fashionable Wife in the World;
she is hardly ever seen in the same Place with her
Husband, and if they happen to meet you would think
them perfect Strangers: She never was heard to name
him in his Absence, and takes Care he shall never be
the Subject of any Discourse that she has a Share in.
I hope you'll propose this Lady as a Pattern, tho' I am
very much afraid you'll be so silly to think Porcia, &c.
Sabine and Roman Wives, much brighter Examples,
I wish it may never come into your Head to imitate
those antiquated Creatures so far, as to come into Publick
in the Habit as well as Air of a Roman Matron.
make already the Entertainment at Mrs. Modish's Tea
Table; she says she always thought you a discreet
Person, and qualified to manage a Family with admir
able Prudence; she dies to see what demure and serious
Airs Wedlock has given you, but she says she shall
never forgive your Choice of so gallant a Man as
Bellamour

You

No. 254,
Friday,

Dec. 21, 1711.

Bellamour to transform him in to a meer sober Husband;
'twas unpardonable: You see, my Dear, we all envy
your Happiness, and no Person more than,
Your humble Servant,

Lydia,'

'Be not in Pain, good Madam, for my Appearance in Town; I shall frequent no publick Places, or make any Visits where the Character of a modest Wife is ridiculous: As for your wild Raillery on Matrimony, 'tis all Hypocrisy; you and all the handsome young Women of your Acquaintance shew your selves to no other Purpose than to gain a Conquest over some Man of Worth, in order to bestow your Charms and Fortune on him. There's no Indecency in the Confession, the Design is modest and honourable, and all your Affecta tion can't disguise it.

I am marry'd, and have no other Concern but to please the Man I love; he's the End of every Care I have; if I dress 'tis for him, if I read a Poem or a Play 'tis to qualify my self for a Conversation agreeable to his Taste: He's almost the End of my Devotions, half my Prayers are for his Happiness-I love to talk of him, and never hear him named but with Pleasure and Emotion, I am your Friend and wish you Happiness, but am sorry to see by the Air of your Letter that there are a Set of Women who are got into the commonPlace Raillery of every Thing that is sober, decent, and proper: Matrimony and the Clergy are the Topicks of People of little Wit and no Understanding. I own to you I have learned of the Vicar's Wife all you tax me with: She is a discreet, ingenious, pleasant, pious Woman; I wish she had the handling of you and Mrs. Modish; you would find, if you were too free with her, she would soon make you as charming as ever you were, she would make you blush as much as if you never had been fine Ladies. The Vicar, Madam, is so kind as to visit my Husband, and his agreeable Conversation has brought him to enjoy many sober happy Hours when even I am shut out, and my dear Master is entertained only with his own Thoughts. These