"If I am thus eminent," faid he, " in the regions "of literature, I fhall be yet more confpicuous in << any other place: if I fhould now devote myself "to study and retirement, I must pass my life in "filence, unacquainted with the delights of wealth, "the influence of power, the pomp of greatness, "and the charms of elegance, with all that man. "envies and defires, with all that keeps the world "in motion, by the hope of gaining or the fear of lofing it. I will therefore depart to Tauris, where "the Perfian monarch refides in all the splendour "of abfolute dominion: my reputation will fly "before me, my arrival will be congratulated by my kinsmen and my friends; I shall see the eyes "of those who predicted my greatness sparkling with "exultation, and the faces of those that once

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despised me clouded with envy, or counterfeiting "kindness by artificial fmiles. I will fhew my "wisdom by my discourse, and my moderation by <c my filence; I will inftruct the modeft with easy "gentleness, and reprefs the oftentatious by feason"able fupercilioufness. My apartments will be "crowded by the inquifitive and the vain, by those "that honour and those that rival me; my name "will foon reach the court; I fhall ftand before "the throne of the emperor; the judges of the law "will confefs my wifdom, and the nobles will con"tend to heap gifts upon me. If I fhall find that

my merit, like that of others, excites malignity, or " feel myself tottering on the feat of elevation, I "may at last retire to academical obfcurity, and "become, in my lowest state, a professor of Baffora."

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Having thus fettled his determination, he declared to his friends his defign of visiting Tauris, and faw with more pleasure than he ventured to express, the regret with which he was difmiffed. He could not bear to delay the honours to which he was destined, and therefore hafted away, and in a fhort time entered the capital of Perfia. He was immediately immersed in the crowd, and paffed unobferved to his father's houfe. He entered, and was received, though not unkindly, yet without any excess of fondnefs or exclamations of rapture. His father had, in his absence, suffered many loffes, and Gelaleddin was confidered as an additional burthen to a falling family.

When he recovered from his furprize, he began to difplay his acquifitions, and practifed all the arts of narration and difquifition; but the poor have no leifure to be pleased with eloquence; they heard his arguments without reflection, and his pleasantries without a smile. He then applied himself fingly to his brothers and fifters, but found them all chained down by invariable attention to their own fortunes, and infenfible of any other excellence than that which could bring fome remedy for indigence.

It was now known in the neighbourhood that Gelaleddin was returned, and he fate for fome days in expectation that the learned would vifit him for confultation, or the great for entertainment. But who will be pleafed or inftructed in the manfions of poverty? He then frequented places of publick resort, and endeavoured to attract notice by the copioufnefs of his talk. The fpritely were filenced, and went away to cenfure in fome other place his arrogance

and his pedantry; and the dull liftened quietly for a while, and then wondered why any man fhould take pains to obtain fo much knowledge which would never do him good.

He next folicited the vifiers for employment, not doubting but his fervice would be eagerly accepted. He was told by one that there was no vacancy in his office; by another, that his merit was above any patronage but that of the emperor; by a third, that he would not forget him; and by the chief visier, that he did not think literature of any great ufe in publick bufinefs. He was fometimes admitted to their tables, where he exerted his wit and diffused his knowledge; but he observed, that where, by endeavour or accident, he had remarkably excelled, he was feldom invited a fecond time.

He now returned to Baffora, wearied and disgusted, but confident of refuming his former rank, and revelling again in fatiety of praife. But he who had been neglected at Tauris, was not much regarded at Baffora; he was confidered as a fugitive, who returned only because he could live in no other place; his companions found that they had formerly overrated his abilities, and he lived long without notice or esteem.

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NUMB. 76. SATURDAY, September 29, 1759.

SIR,

To the IDLER.

WAS much pleased with your ridicule of those fhallow criticks, whofe judgment, though often right as far as it goes, yet reaches only to inferior beauties, and who, unable to comprehend the whole, judge only by parts, and from thence determine the merit of extenfive works. But there is another kind of critick ftill worfe, who judges by narrow rules, and thofe too often falfe, and which, though they fhould be true, and founded on nature, will lead him but a very little way towards the just estimation of the fublime beauties in works of genius; for whatever part of an art can be executed or criticised by rules, that part is no longer the work of genius, which implies excellence out of the reach of rules. For my own part, I profefs myself an Idler, and love to give my judgment, fuch as it is, from my immediate perceptions, without much fatigue of thinking; and I am of opinion, that if a man has not thofe perceptions right, it will be vain for him to endeavour to fupply their place by rules, which may enable him to talk more learnedly, but not to diftinguish more acutely. Another reafon which has leffened my affection for the ftudy of criticism is, that criticks, fo far as I have obferved, debar them

305 felves from receiving any pleafure from the polite arts, at the fame time that they profefs to love and admire them for thefe rules, being always uppermoft, give them fuch a propensity to criticife, that, inftead of giving up the reins of their imagination into their author's hands, their frigid minds are employed in examining whether the performance be according to the rules of art.

To those who are refolved to be criticks in fpite of nature, and at the fame time have no great difpofition to much reading and study, I would recommend to them to affume the character of connoiffeur, which may be purchased at a much cheaper rate than that of a critick in poetry. The remembrance of a few names of painters, with their general characters, with a few rules of the academy, which they may. pick up among the painters, will go a great way towards making a very notable connoiffeur.

With a gentleman of this caft, I vifited last week the Cartoons at Hampton-court; he was juft returned from Italy, a connoiffeur of course, and of course his mouth full of nothing but the grace of Raffaelle, the purity of Domenichino, the learning of Poufin, the air of Guido, the greatnefs of taste of the Cha-. raches, and the fublimity and grand contorno of Michael Angelo; with all the rest of the cant of criticism, which he emitted with that volubilitý which generally thofe orators have who annex no ideas to their words.

As we were paffing through the rooms, in our way to the gallery, I made him obferve a whole length of Charles the first by Vandyke, as a perfect VOL. VIII.

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