As gentility (to refume my former illuf tration) appears in the minutest action, and improves the most inconfiderable gefture; fo Grace is difcovered in the placing even a ingle word, or the turn of a mere expletive. Neither is this inexpreffible quality confined to one fpecies of compofition only, but extends to all the various kinds; to the humble paftoral as well as to the lofty epic; from the lightest letter to the most folemn difcourfe. I know not whether Sir William Temple may not be confidered as the first of our profe authors, who introduced a graceful manner into our language. At least that quality does not feem to have appeared early, or fpread far, amongst us. But wherefoever we may look for its origin, it is certainly to be found in its highest perfection in the effays of a gentlemen whofe writings will be diftinguished fo long as politeness and good-fenfe have any admirers. That becoming air which Tully etleemed the criterion of fine compofition, and which every reader, he fays, imagines fo eafy to be imitated, yet will find fo difficult to attain, is the prevailing characteristic of all that excellent author's moft elegant performances. In a word, one may juftly apply to him what Plato in his allegorical language, fays of Ariftophanes; that the Graces, having fearched all the world round for a temple wherein they might for ever dwell, fettled at laft in the breaft of Mr. Addifon. Fitzborne. § 239. Concerning the Style of HORACE, in bis Moral Writings. In a Letter. Are you aware how far I may mislead you, when you are willing to refign yourfelf to my guidance, through the regions of criticism? Remember, however, that I take the lead in thefe paths, not in confidence of my own fuperior knowledge of them, but in compliance with a requeft, which I never yet knew how to refufe. In fhort, I give you my fentiments, becaufe it is my fentiments you require: but I give them at the fame time rather as doubts than decifions. After having thus acknowledged my in. futficiency for the office you have affigned me, I will venture to confefs, that the poet who has gained over your approbation, has been far lefs fuccefsful with mine. I have ever thought, with a very celebrated modern writer, that Le vers le mieux rempli, la plus noble penfée, BOILEAU. Thus, though I admit there is both wit in the raillery, and ftrength in the fentiments of your friend's moral epistle, it by no means falls in with thofe notions I have formed to myself, concerning the effential requifites in compofitions of this kind. He feems, indeed, to have widely deviated from the model he profeffes to have had in view, and is no more like Horace, than Hyperion to a Satyr. His deficiency in point of verfification, not to mention his want of elegance in the general manner of his poem, is fufficient to deftroy the pretended refemblance. Nothing, in truth, can be more abfurd, than to write in poetical measure, and yet neglect harmony; as, of all the kinds of falfe ftyle, that which is neither profe nor verfe, but I know not what inartificial combination of powerlefs words bordered with rhyme, is far, furely, the most infufferable. But you are of opinion, I perceive (and it is an opinion in which you are not fingular) that a negligence of this kind may be juftified by the authority of the Roman fatirift: yet furely thofe who entertain that notion, have not thoroughly attended either to the precepts or the practice of Horace. He has attributed, I confefs, his fatirical compofition to the inspiration of a certain Mule, whom he distinguishes by the title of the mufa pedeftris: and it is this expreffion which feems to have misled the generality of his imitators. But though he will not allow her to fly, he by no means intends the fhould creep: on the contrary, it may be faid of the Mufe of Horace, as of the Eve of Milton, that -grace is in all her steps. That this was the idea which Horace himfeif had of her, is evident, not only from the general air which prevails in his Satires and Epiftles, but from feveral exprefs declarations, which he lets fall in his progrefs through them. Even when he fpeaks of her in his greatest fits of modeity, and defcribes her as exhibited in his own moral writings, he particularly infitts upon the eafe and harmony of her motions. Though he humbly difclaims, indeed, all pretenfions to the higher poetry, the acer Spiritus et vis, as he calls it; he reprefents his flyle as being governed by the tempora certa modofque, as flowing with a certain regular and agreeable cadence. Accordingly, we find him particularly condemning his predeceffor Lucilius for the difforance of his numbers; and he profeffes to have made the experiment, whether the fame kind of moral fubjects might not be treated in more foft and eafy measures: Quid vetat et nofmet Lucili fcripta legentes, The truth is, a tuneful cadence is the fingle prerogative of poetry, which he pretends to claim to his writings of this kind; and fo far is he from thinking it uneffential, that he acknowledges it as the only feparation which diftinguishes them from profe. If that were once to be broken down, and the mufical order of his words deft:oyed, there would not he tells us, be the leaft appearance of poetry remaining. Non Invenias etiam disjecti membra poetæ However, when he delivers him felf in this humble frain, he is not, you will obferve, fketching out a plan of this fpecies of poetry in general; but fpeaking merely of his own performances in particular. His demands rife much higher, when he informs us what he expects of thofe who would fucceed in compofitions of this moral kind. He then not only requires flowing numbers but an expreffion concife and unincumbered; wit exerted with good-breeding, and managed with referve; as upon fome occafions the fentiments may be enforced with all the ftrength of eloquence and poetry: and though in fome parts the piece may appear with a more ferious and folemn cait of colouring, yet, upon the whole, he tells us it must be lively and riant. This I take to be his meaning in the following paflage: Ett brevitate opus, ut currat fententia, neu fe Such, then, was the notion which Horace had of this kind of writing. And if there is any propriety in thefe his rules, if they are founded on the truth of tafe and art; I fear the performance in question, with numberless others of the fame ftamp (which have not however wanted admirers) must inevitably ftand condemned. The truth of it is, most of the pieces which are ufually produced upon this plan, rather give one an image of Lucilius, than of Horace: the authors of them feem to miftake the awkward negligence of the favourite of Scipio, for the eafy air of the friend of Macenas. You will fill tell me, perhaps, that the example of Horace himself is an unanfwerable objection to the notion I have em braced; as there are numberless lines in his Satires and Epiftles, where the verfification is evidently neglected. But are you fure, Hortenfius, that thofe lines which found fo unharmonious to a modern ear, had the fame effect upon a Roman one? For myself, at least, I am much inclined to believe the contrary: and it seems highly incredible, that he who had ventured to cenfure Lucilius for the uncouthnefs of his numbers, fhould himself be notoriouly guilty of the very fault against which he fo ftrongly exclaims. Moft certain it is, that the delicacy of the ancients with refpect to numbers, was far fuperior to any thing that modern tafte can pretend to; and that they difcovered differences which are to us abfolutely imperceptible. To mention only one remarkable inftance; a very ancient writer has obferved upon the following verfe in Virgil, Arma virumque cano, Trojæ qui primus ab oris. that if inftead of primus we were to pronounce it primis (is being long, and as fhort) the entire harmony of the line would be deftroyed.-But whofe ear is now fo exquifitely fenfible, as to perceive the diftinction between thofe two quantities? Some refinement of this kind might probably give mufic to thofe lines in Horace, which now feem fo untuneable. In fubjects of this nature it is not poffible, perhaps, to exprefs one's ideas in any very precife and determinate manner, I will only therefore in general obferve, with refpect to the requifite ftyle of thefe performances, that it confifts in a natural eafe of expreffion, an elegant familiarity of phrafe, which though formed of the moft ufual terms of language, has yet a grace and energy, no leis ftriking than that of a more clevated diction. There is a certain lively colouring peculiar to compofitions in this way, which, without being fo bright and glowing as is neceflary for the higher poetry, is nevertheless equally removed from whatever appears harsh and dry. But particular inftances will, perhaps, better illuftrate my meaning, than any thing I can farther fay to explain it. There is scarce a line in the Moral Epiftles of Mr. Pope, which might not be produced for this purpofe. I chufe however to lay before you the following verfes, not as preferring them to many others which might be quoted from from that inimitable fatirift; but as they Peace is my dear delight-not Fleury's more; I will refer you to your own memory for Behold me blameless bard, How fond of peace! But he who hurts me (nay, I will be heard) Had better take a lion by the beard; His eyes fhall weep the folly of his tongue, By laughing crowds in rueful ballad fung. There is a ftrength and fpirit in the former of thefe paffages, and a flatnefs and languor in the latter, which cannot fail of being difcovered by every reader of the leaft delicacy of difcernment; and yet the words which compofe them both are equally founding and fignificant. The rules then, which I just now mentioned from Horace, will point out the real caufe of the different effects which thefe two paffages produce in our minds; as the paffages themfelves will ferve to confirm the truth and juftice of the rules. In the lines of Mr. Pope, one of the principal beauties will be found to confift in the thortness of the expreflion; whereas the fentiments in the other are too much incumbered with words. Thus for inftance, Peace is my dear delight, is pleafing, becaufe it is concife; as, Behold me blamelefs bard, how fond of peace! has the mien of a man in a passion; and His eyes fhall weep the folly of his tongue, though a good line in itfelf, is much too folemn and tragical for the undisturbed pleafantry of Horace. But I need not enter more minutely into an examination of thefe paffages. The general hints I have thrown out in this letter will fuffice to fhew you wherein I imagine the true manner of Horace confifts. And after all, perhaps, it can no more be explained, than acquired, by rules of art. It is what true genius can only execute, and juft talte alone difcover. Fitzofborne. It is well, my friend, that the age of transformation is no more: otherwife I should tremble for your fevere attack upon the Mufes, and expect to fee the story of your metamorphofis embellish the poetical miracles of fome modern Ovid. But it is long fince the fate of the Pierides has gained any credit in the world, and you may now, in full fecurity, contemn the divinities of Parnaffus, and fpeak irreverently of the daughters of Jove himfelf. You fee, nevertheless, how highly the Ancients. conceived of them, when they thus reprefented them as the offspring of the great father of gods and men. You reject, I know, this article of the heathen creed: but I may venture, however, to affert, that philofophy will confirm what fable has thus invented, and that the Muses are, in strict truth, of heavenly extraction. The charms of the fine arts are, indeed, literally derived from the Author of all nature, and founded in the original frame and conftitution of the human mind. Accordingly, the general principles cf taste are common to our whole fpecies, and arife from that internal fenfe of beauty which is, in comparison of the former, the verba every man, in fome degree at leift, evilefas onerantia aures. Another diftinguith-fo wholly void of all perceptions of this dently poffeffes. No rational mind can be ing perfection in the imitator of Horace, is that fpirit of gaiety which he has diffufed through thefe lines, not to mention thofe happy, though familiar, images of fliding into verfe, and bitching in rhyme; which can never be futficiently admired. But the tranflator, on the contrary, has caft too ferious an air over his numbers, and appears with an emotion and earnestnefs that dilap points the force of his fatire: Nay, I will be heard, fort, as to be capable of contemplating the various objects that furround him, with one certain forms which muft neceffarily fill the equal coldness and indifference. There are foul with agreeable ideas; and he is inftantly determined in her approbation of their ufe and convenience. It is upon thele them, previous to all reafonings concerning general principles, that what is called fine tafte in the arts is founded; and confequently is by no means to precarious and Pp unfettled unfettled an idea as you chufe to defcribe it. The truth is, tafte is nothing more than this univerfal fenfe of beauty, rendered more exquifite by genius, and more correct by cultivation: and it is from the fimple and original ideas of this fort, that the mind learns to form her judgment of the higher and more complex kinds. Accordingly, the whole circle of the imitative and oratorical arts is governed by the fame general rules of criticism; and to prove the certainty of thefe with refpect to any one of them, is to establish their validity with regard to all the reft. I will therefore confider the Criterion of Tafte in relation only to fine writing. Each species of compofition has its diftinct perfections: and it would require a much larger compafs than a letter affords, to prove their respective beauties to be derived from truth and nature; and confequently reducible to a regular and precife fandard. I will only mention therefore thofe general properties which are effential to them all, and without which they must neceffarily be defective in their feveral kinds. Thefe, I think, may be comprehended under uniformity in the defign, variety and refemblance in the metaphors and fimilitudes, together with propriety and harmony in the diction. Now, fome or all of thefe qualities conftantly attend our ideas of beauty, and neceffarily raife that agreeable perception of the mind, in what object foever they appear. The charms of fine compofition then, are fo far from exiting only in the heated imagination of an enthufiaftic admirer, that they refult from the conflitution of nature herfelf. And perhaps the principles of criticism are as certain and indifputable, even as thofe of the mathematics. Thus, for inftance, that order is preferable to confufion, that harmony is more pleafing than diffonance, with fome few other axioms upon which the fcience is built; are truths which trike at once upon the mind with the fame force of conviction, as that the whole is greater than any of its parts, o, that if from equals you take away equals, the remainder will be equal. And in both cafes, the propofitions which reft upon these plain and obvious maxims, feem equally capable of the fame evidence of demonstration. But as every intellectual, as well as animal, faculty is improved and strengthened by exercife; the more the foul exerts this her internal fenfe of beauty upon any par ticular object, the more she will enlarge and refine her relish for that peculiar fpecies. For this reafon the works of those great mafters, whofe performances have been long and generally admired, fupply a farther criterion of fine tafte, equally fixed and certain as that which is immediately derived from Nature herself. The truth is, fine writing is only the art of railing agreeable fenfations of the intellectu.l kind; and, therefore, as by examining thofe original forms which are adapted to awaken this perception in the mind, we learn what thofe qualities are which conftitute beauty in general; fo by obferving the peculiar construction of thofe compofitions of genius which have always plea ed, we perfect our idea of fine writing in particular. It is this united approbation, in perfons of different ages and of various characters and languages, that Longinus has made the teft of the true fublime; and he might with equal justice have ex tended the fame criterion to all the inferior excellencies of elegant compofition Thus the deference paid to the performances of the great mafters of antiquity, is fixed upon juft and folid reafons: it is not because Ariftotle and Horace have given us the rule of criticism, that we muft fubmit to their authority; it is because thofe rules are derived from works which have been diftinguished by the urinterrupted admiration of all the more improv ed part of mankind, from their earliet appearance down to this prefent hour. For whatever, through a long feries of ages, has been univerfally esteemed as beautiful, cannot but be conformable to our juft and natural ideas of beauty. The oppofition, however, which fometimes divides the opinions of those whofe judgments may be fuppofed equal and perfect, is urged as a powerful objection against the reality of a fixed canon of criticifin: it is a proof, you think, that after all which can be faid of fine tafte, it muft ultimately be refolved into the pecu liar relish of each individual. But thi diverfity of fentiments will not, of ite deftroy the evidence of the criterion; face the fame effect may be produced by numberlefs other caufes. A thoufand accidental circumftances may concur in counteracting the force of the rule, even allowing it to be ever fo fixed and invariable, when left in its free and uninfluenced state. Not to mention that falfe bias which party or perfonal diflike may fix upon the mind, the the most unprejudiced critic will find it difficult to dilengage himfelf entirely from thofe partial affections in favour of particular beauties, to which either the general courfe of his ftudies, or the peculiar caft of his temper, may have rendered him most fenfible. But as perfection in any works of genius refults from the united beauty and propriety of its feveral diftinct parts, and as it is impotlible that any human compofition fhould poffefs all thofe qualities in their highest and moft fovereign degree; the mind, when the pronounces judgment upon any piece of this fort, is apt to decide of its merit, as thofe circumflances which the most admires, either prevail or are deficient. Thus, for instance, the excellency of the Roman matters in painting, confifts in beauty of defign, noblenefs of attitude, and delicacy of expreffion; but the charms of good colouring are want ing. On the contrary, the Venetian fchool is faid to have neglected defign a little too much; but at the fame time has been more attentive to the grace and harmony of well-difpofed lights and fhades. Now it will be admitted by all admirers of this noble art, that no compofition of the pencil can be perfect, where either of these qualities are abfent; yet the most accomplished judge may be fo particularly ftruck. with one or other of thefe excellencies, in preference to the reft, as to be influenced in his cenfure or applaufe of the whole tablature, by the predominancy or deficiency of his favourite beauty. Something of this kind (where the meaner prejudices do not operate) is ever, I am perfuaded, the occafion of that diverfity of fentences which we occafionally hear pronounced by the most approved judges on the fame piece. But this only fhews that much caution is neceflary, to give a fine tafte its full and unobstructed effect; not that it is in itfelf uncertain and precarious. Fitzofborne. § 241. Reflections upon feeing Mr. POPE's Houfe at Binfield. In a Letter. Your letter found me just upon my return from an excurfion into Berkshire, where I have been paying a vifit to a friend, who is drinking the waters at Sunning-Hill. In one of my morning rides over that delightful country, I accidentally pafied through a little village, which afforded me much agreeable meditation; as in times to come, perhaps, it will be vifited by the lovers of the polite arts, with as much veneration as Virgil's tomb, or any other celebrated fpot of antiquity. The place I mean is Binfield, where the Poet, to whom I am indebted (in common with every reader of tafle) for fo much exquifite entertainment, fpent the earlicht part of his youth. I will not fcruple to confefs, that I looked upon the icene where he planned fome of those beautiful performances, which first recommended him to the notice of the world, with a degree of enthufiafm; and could not but confider the ground as facred, that was impreffed with the footsteps of a genius that undoubtedly does the highest honour to our age and nation. The fituation of mind in which I found myself upon this occafion, fuggested to my remembrance a paffage in Tully, which I thought I never fo thoroughly entered into the fpirit of before. That noble author, in one of his philofophical converfationpieces, introduces his friend Atticus as obferving the pleafing effect which scenes of this nature are wont to have upon one's mind: "Movemur enim," fays that polite Roman, " nefcio quo pacto, locis ipfis, "in quibus eorum, quos diligimus aut ad"miramur, adfunt veftigia. Me quidem "ipfæ illæ noftræ Athenæ, non tam ope"ribus magnificis exquifitifque antiquo"rum artibus delectant, quam recorda"tione fummorum virorum, ubi quifque " habitare, ubi federe, ubi difputare fit "folitus." Thus, you fee, I could defend myself by an example of great authority, were [ in danger upon this occafion of being ridiculed as a romantic vifionary. But I am too well acquainted with the refined fentiments of Orontes, to be under any apprehenfion he will condemn the imprcifions I have here acknowledged. On the contrary, I have often heard you mention with approbation, a circumftance of this kind which is related of Silius Italicus. The annual ceremonies which that poet performed at Virgil's fepulchre, gave you a more favourable opinion of his tafte, you confeffed, than any thing in his works was able to raife. It is certain, that fome of the greatest names of antiquity have diftinguished themselves, by the high reverence they fhewed to the poetical character. Scipio, you may remember, defired to be laid in the fame tomb with Ennius; and I am inclined to pardon that fuccefsful madman Alexander many of his extravagancies, for the Pp2 generous |