citly followed even by those who have tafte. These waihy dictators have learnt at school to admire fuch authors as have for ages been possessed of an undisputed renown but they would never have been the first to have difcovered strokes of true genius in a cotemporary writer, though they had lived at the court of Auguftus or of Queen Elizabeth.

So undiftinguiting is our Tafte, that if the most torpid dance this fruitful age can boast of, could by fome artful impofture prepoffefs the public, that the most infipid of all his own bread-fauce compofitions, to be published next winter,

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was a piece of Milton's, or any other celebrated author, recovered from duft and cbfcurity, it would be received with univerfal applaufe; and perhaps be tranf lated into French before the town had deated fix weeks upon it. One might venture to fay too, that if a work of true. fpirit and genius was to be introduced into the world, under the name of fome writer of low reputation, it would be rejected even by the greatest part of those who pretend to lead the taste. And no wonder, while an eminent vintner has miftaken his own old hock at nine fhillings the bottle for that at five.

OISE and blufter is what paffes for fublime with the great majority of readers; and there are people who think nothing can be ftrong or folid but what is clumley. Yet the genteel dignity of Whitehall, and the elegant chearful fimplicity of St. Paul's in Covent Garden, may ftand as long as that purfe-proud wittol the Treasury, or even the fquat folidity of the Horfe Guards. Unnatural, forced, exaggerated fwelling, whether in fentiments or language, is owing to falfe tafte and want of true genius. The Hercules of Goltzius is that very fublime in perfon. It is intended to exprefs the moft exceffive robustness of figure: but the painter, in endeavouring to reprefent the human form in it's utmost degree of strength, has aggravated the demi-god into a mere aukward monster; as ridiculous a giant as either of the brothers at Guildhall.

To take it in another view, that clumfey robuftness of manner, which, by the way, does not partake of true vigour, for that always performs it's bufinefs without training, is the fame thing to the fpirited eafe which is neceffary to good writing, that the aukward efforts of a huge, heavy, illfhaped dray-horse, and a lame one too, are to the easy actions of the most fupple Arabian that ever was dreffed by St. Amour.

That writing can never be very good which is not ealy; but it does not follow that all eafy writing is good. Writing may be very ealy, and yet, Heaven knows, very infipid. And when you begin to fufpect that your writing is eafy indeed, but wants fpirit, the wifeft thing you can do is to let your pen drop and go to bed.

name of all the hospitable

a filly book; otherwife, to be for ever aiming at Wit, would be as tearing and intolerable in writing as in converfat on. Too much even of genuine Wit is cloying, and the vanity of difplaying it inceffantly will fatigue and difgut every reader whofe tafte is true. Olives, cayedre, anchovies, and Dutch herrings, do very well in their place; but, in the

firft lay a foundation of good plain beef or mutton, if you picafe: for there is no living upon pickles or fweetmeats alone,

The ground work of every performance, even of those which admit or require the greatest profufion of ornaments, out to be plain and fimple. Obferve Nature: in the meadow, the B

Sweet

fweet green, which never dazzles the fight, is the predominant colour; while the gaudy flowers, red, white, yellow, blue, and purple, are carelessly interfperfed. This is infinitely more pleafing and beautiful than that infipid, childish, uncomfortable bauble called a flowerknot; and the wild variety of the woods as far excels the richest plantation of flowering fhrubs. I would not be above taking a hint even from the mechanic arts: if a fuit of cloaths is overcharged with lace, it becomes tawdry and ungenteel. In every work, the true tafte is to difpofe the ornaments with ease and propriety, and not to be affectedly or too oftentatiously prodigal of them. By this means you beftow upon your performance an elegant richness, and fuch a modeft dignity as will pleafe every true eye, though it may quite escape the notice of the vulgar, and falfe critics of all ranks, who delight in nothing but what is glaring, tawdry, and oftentatious.-No, I beg their pardon: for they are fometimes in raptures, or feem to be fo, with what is altogether infipid.

Let the ornaments be never fo well executed, if they are not easily and naturally introduced, they will have an aukward effect. The most beautiful woman may difguft you by oftentation, and a declared intention to charm. As often as it is poffible to contrive it fo, the or

naments fhould be, or at leaft appear to be, of fome ufe towards the main defign of the work: but when they are bluntly produced, and with too barefaced a purpofe to dazzle or entertain, inftead of your admiration, they raise your contempt. A mafque, a coronation, or a proceffion upon our ftage, is, for the most part, an inúpid, tawdry, the fome fhew. But if it was really an ornament, to introduce it with propriety and grace, it ought to be contrived as an incident to help on the business of the piece as in the mafque in Romeo and Julier; and the funeral proceffion, fuch as it is, in Richard the Third; which, notwithstanding fome want of decorum, as the critics call it, and of probability in the fcene, has ftill fome kind of pretence to affift in the business of the fable.

To conclude: the ornamental parts of a work coft the lealt trouble to a writer who has any luxuriance of imagination. To fupport the plain parts with an eafy dignity, fo as they fhall neither become flat on the one hand, nor difguftingly stiff on the other, is a much more difficult task. And yet, if you fuceeed never fo well here, you will receive little thanks from the generality of readers; who will be apt to imagine they could easily perform the fame kind of work themselves, till they come to try it.

S the first end of all writing and feems to follow, that Obfcurity must be the greatest fault in either. One would think it needless to insist upon this; yet there are readers fo abfurd as to admire an author the more for every now and then plunging into the unintelligible: as a dash of mystery procures more reverence from weak minds to any fcheme of religion, than it's most virtuous or most rational precepts. Some clumfey fcholars too, who mult needs be making aukward love to the fcornful Mufes, and tumbling them with their coarfe paws; when they come to an obfcure paffage in an author, whom they are determined to admire, tell us we must not always xpect the fame clearness in writers of the first clafs as in the more inferior ones. Such is their cant even in talking

of dramatic writing, in which Obfcurity

other kind of production. But the dulleft and most shallow of those critics could write obscurely himself; and if he writes much, he must have ill luck not to do it fometimes. For to write obfcurely requires no other talent or skill than to exprefs one's meaning imperfectly; or if that is not enough, to write without any meaning at all. However, amongst a different kind of critics, perfpicuity has always been reckoned an effential quality to good writing; and if fometimes a great author is found deficient inthis article, it only fhews how difficult it is to exprefs fome things with clearness and ease. For one may very fafely prefume that no good writer, where it was prudent to speak out, ever expreffed himfelf obfcurely from choice.

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ling to diftinguish himself.

Thefe innovations are pedantic and conceited trifles; and the beft, or rather the only good reason for ever altering a long established Spelling, is, that the writing may come the nearer to the pronunciation. But our reformers in the art of Spelling, who at prefent chiefly confine themselves to one clafs of words, to fubftantive nouns and verbs derived from the Latin, fuch as honour, favour, labour, while they write honor, favor, labor, increase the distance between the writing and pronunciation, or rather they produce one where there was none before; for the u in all these words, except in a few where it is generally omitted in the common fpelling, as horror, terror, is at least as much felt in the pronuncia tion as the retained vowel o. Some have, unhappily enough, fubjected to the fame innovation other words, which contain the diphthong ou, though they have no #elation at all to the Latin, and write,

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jectives too; and instead of invidious, odious, glorious, write invidios, odios, gloriós? As they have gone so far, I can fee no good reason why they should stop fhort here.

Trifles betray the character; and it is fomewhat ftrange, if it has escaped the penetration of thofe philofophers who have employed part of their talents in characterifing the age, that there hardly needed any other inftance to distinguish the prefent as an unmanly one than this very averfion to the honeft vowel u; without whofe affiftance it would be impoffible to pronounce fome of the most important and most interesting words, to any thing of a man, in the whole English language. And it is not unworthy our obfervation here, that a late noble Au thor, whofe parts were manly enough in the earlier days of his life, did not begin to caftigate his Spelling after this manner, till he was confiderably advanced in years.

Tis the easiest thing imaginable to coin words. The moft ignorant of the mobility are apt to do it every day, and are laughed at for it. What best can justify the introducing a new Word is neceffity, where there is not an established one to exprefs your meaning. But while all the world understands what is meant by the word pleasure,which founds very well too, what occafion can there be for faying volupty*?

Nothing can deform a language fo much as an inundation of new words and phrafes. It is, indeed, the readieft way to demolish it. If there is any need to illuftrate the barbarous effects which a mixture of new words must produce, only confider how a difcourfe, patched all over with fentences in different lan

* See fome pofthumous works of a right ago in defence of our holy religion.

guages, would found; or how oddly it would ftrike you in a ferious converfation to hear, from the fame person, a mixture of all the various dialects and tones of the feveral counties and fhires of the three kingdoms: though it is still the fame language. To make it fenfible to the eye; how greatly would a mixture of Roman, Italick, Greek, and Saxon characters, deform a page? A picture, imitating the ftyle of different mafters, which is commonly called a Gallery of Painters, can never be pleafing for the fame reafons, want of union and harmony.

The prefent licentious humour of coining and borrowing words, feems to portend no good to the English language: and it is grievous to think with what vohenourable Author, published not many years

lupty two or poetararorencouroac✶ eminent perfonages have opiniatred the inchoation of fuch futile barbaritms.

In short, the liberty of coining words ought to be used with great modelly. Horace, they fay, gave but two, and Virgil only one to the Latin tongue, which was fqueamish enough not to

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fwallow thofe, even from fuch hands, without some reluctance.

I cannot conclude without putting our writers and fpeakers in mind of an excellent advice from Mr. Pope, on this fubject of new and old words:: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the laft to lay the old afidet.

NSTEAD of creating a parcel of aukward new words, I imagine it would be an improvement to degrade many of the old ones from their peerage. I am but a private man, and without authority; but an abfolute prince, if he was of my opinion, would make it capital ever to say encroach or encroachment, or any thing that belongs to encroach. ing. I would commit inculcate, for all it's Latinity, to the care of the paviours; and it should never appear above ground again. If you have the leaft fympathy with the human ear, never fav purport while you breathe; nor betwixt, except you have first repeated between till we are quite tired of it. Methinks throngly refembles the broken language of a German in his first attempts to fpeak EngJih. Methought lies under the fame objection, but it founds better.

It is full time that froward should be turned out of all good company, efpecially as perverfe is ready at hand to fupply his place. Vouchsafe is a very civil gentleman; but as his courtefy is fomewhat old-fashioned, we with he would deign or condefcend, or be pleafed

to retire.

From what rugged road, I wonder, did fwerve deviate into the English language? But this fubject matter!-In the name of every thing that is difgufting and detestable, what is it? Is it one Or two ugly words? What is the mean

ing of it? Confound me if ever I could guefs! Yet one dares hardly ever peep into a preface, for fear of heing stared in the face with this nasty fubje& matter.

Wittol is an old fashioned, ill-founding word; but as there is frequent occafion for it, and no other word fo perfectly expreffes it's meaning, we cannot afford to part with it.

But to pick out all the aukward old words, which continue to be as current amongst us as the worn-out fixpences, it would be neceffary to peruse the dictionary from A to Z. A most desperate uncomfortable labour! As heartbreaking a task as it would be to wade through half a volume of the Statutes at Large; nay, by Heaven! I would almoft as foon take it upon me to read the most infipid tragedy that has been brought upon the stage these seven years. But if one could submit to this labour, and fhould prefumme to fet a mark upon every word one did not relish, there may be people of a different opinion; and no private perfon has authority enough to prohibit the ufe of any wod, if he finds it ever fo intolerable to his own ear. For my part, I fhall endeavour to pafs through life as inoffenfively as poffible, both to the world and my own con. fcience; and hope, and pray, I may ne ver be reduced to the neceflity of ufing One word, which dying, I would wish to blot‡

+ See Mr Pope's Effay on Criticifm.

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USIC, I prefume, can no further be properly called one of the imitative arts, than as it expreffes the Paffions; and in this refpect only can be admitted as the filter of Poetry and Painting. So that mere harmony has little pretenfion to fuch an alliance, for it is no more Mufic than mere verfification is poetry.

The Italian compofitions, for the most part, mean nothing beyond harmonious found; and are as much inferior to whatever is truly pathetic in Music, as a tragedy, which depends upon noife and thew, is to a plain paffionate one, which reprefents a natural and moving picture of life, and of the human mind. A family piece, even fuch a one as the cele. brated work of Vandyke at Wilton; where, though the drawing is exact, and the attitudes easy and natural, the figures are all gaping and unemployed; is a mighty tame performance when compared with a grand hiftory by Raphael, Rubens, or the fame Vandyke himself, where every thing is expreffive, warm, paffionate, and interefting.

But it is, not even mere harmony; difficulty of execution is the fublime, at which the greatelt part of our modern mafters afpire; as if it required the leaft genius either to compofe or execute difficult mufic. While thefe are the objects of emulation amongst our compofers and performers, the opera is likely to continue a moft ravishing entertainment.

We run mad, or rather foolish, after this imported mufic; while we have much better of our own. Most of the modern Italian compositions only trifle with the ear; the Welch, the Scotch, the Irish mufic, reaches the heart. The productions of our prefent Italian mafters are thrummed over for a feafon, because they are new; and forgot for ever afterwards, because when you have heard them twenty times, you find them still as infipid as at first. The mufic, which charmed thefe

inlands long before the boasted revival of this art in Italy, or rather in Flanders, is as eftablished as the antient claffics; and thofe compofitions, fhort and fimple as they are, never become thread-bare, but give delight and rapture every time they are heard.

There is a certain resemblance of air between the music of the antient Britons, the Irish, and the Scotch; and yet they are all very diftinguishable from one another. There is a remarkable difference of character even between the music of the north and the fouth of Scotland. The northern is generally martial, for the most part melancholy, and bears a strong refemblance to the Irish: the fouthern is paftoral and amorous, with fuch an air of tender melancholy, as love and folitude, in a wild romantic country, are apt to infpire. Each of them has a wildnefs peculiar to itfelf. The wild fpirit of the fouth breathes a fweeter air of rural folitude; that of the north is more folemn, and fometimes what one might almoft call dreadful. Befides, the gay fprightly airs which each of them has produced, are in as different ftyles as the genius and manners of the people in the two extremities of Scotland, or the face of the countries they inhabit; both of which are wild, but I believe, with a very different air.

The British poetry is univerfally allowed, by the best judges of both, to be much fuperior to the Italian; and why fhould you wonder to find the music of the one country brought into competition with that of the other? The music of these islands seems to agree in character with that of the antients; which, from the accounts we have of it, excelled in fimplicity and paffion. How fimple the mufic must have been that delighted Greece in the days of Alcæus, Sappho, Pindar, and Anacreon, feems to appear from the very make of their capital in ftrument the Lyre.

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