fo great an honour and support to his family, fo "great a hope to his fortune, and comfort to his "life?""To go about to lofe my Lord of Effex. "a wife," is a fpecies of phrafeology fo quaint and comic, that one would fuppofe her Ladyfhip in. the midst of her affliction could not but smile in weeping. Some parts of this epiftle, however, are very beautifully written; and one paffage in particular is fo tender as well as elegant, that I cannot forbear to tranfcribe it, though foreign to my prefent purpose. "After all, Madam, I think 66 your lofs fo great, that would all the paffionate "complaints, all the anguifh of your heart, do any "thing to retrieve it; could tears water the lovely "plant, fo as to make it grow again after once it "is cut down; would fighs furnish new breath, or "could it draw life and fpirits from the wafting of "yours; I am fure your friends would be fo far from "accufing your passion, that they would encourage "it as much, and fhare it as deeply, as they could; "but alas the eternal laws of the creation extin"guifhall fuch hopes," &c. In general, I think, it may be laid down as a certain maxim, that to at tain to an high degree of excellence in Style, requires not only great tafte but real genius. The writers in our own language moft celebrated for Style, are Hume, Robertson, Gibbon, Johnfon, Swift, Addison, and Bolingbroke; all of them men of undoubted genius as well as taste. There is, indeed, another fet of writers, who must be allowed to poffefs great merit, who, with a.

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confiderable though inferior share of genius, combine an equal or fuperior degree of tafte; and their Style is accordingly equal in elegance, but inferior in energy and felicity of expreffion. Of this clafs are Beattie, Blair, Chesterfield, Melmoth, Jenyns, Walpole, &c. I do not however deny that there are fome writers, who, without a fpark of genius, by means of a good ear, and a certain degree of refinement, which falls fhort of a juft and correct tafte, have attained to a polished and harmonious Style of compofition, but then it is feeble, languid, and verbose; and though often affectedly pompous, and crowded with ornament, equally deftitute of the "callida junctura” and the "curiofa felicitas."

Upon the whole we may venture to conclude, that beauty of Style, or the art of compofition, depending upon a certain occult quality in language, or rather a certain inexplicable delicacy of per→ ception, is not to be acquired by rules. Not that rules are entirely useless..

An author who writes by rule, as has been obferved, will undoubtedly avoid grofs errors; but he cannot by the mere obfervance of rules attain to positive beauties. Nothing fhort of true original genius, improved and cultivated by a correct taste, can ever hope fuccessfully to attempt that bold and glowing Style of compofition which we so much admire in the productions of the great mafters of eloquence. The thoughts that breathe, and words that burn," do not fall to the lot of ordinary writers;

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and it shows a great defect of judgment whenever they afpire to them. Let not fuch perfons vainly pretend to fnatch those graces which are beyond the reach of art. "What then!" it may be faid, men of moderate talents to fit down in defpair of ever being able to acquire the faculty of expreffing their thoughts with ease, propriety, and elegance?" By no means. We have innumerable examples of fuch as, by care and attention alone, have in this refpect excelled many far fuperior to themselves in natural understanding and genius, but who unhappily affected to despise and depreciate this study, as paying that regard to words which is due only to things. All that I contend for is this, that though a Style which merits approbation may be acquired by diligence, a Style which commands admiration cannot. I therefore think that men who have little or no pretenfion to genius, fhould not aspire to the higher graces of compofition; for by fo doing they often make themselves ridiculous; when by aiming at nothing more than purity, perfpicuity, and fimplicity, they might with much lefs effort appear in a light much more refpectable. An acquaintance with the rules of compofition is no doubt of confiderable fervice; but I believe the beft method of acquiring a tafte for the beauties of Style and language, is by an attentive and repeated perufal of the beft authors, by a careful compa rifon of the productions of different writers, and by imitating in our own performances the Style

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and manner of those admired masters of compofition, so far as they are properly imitable by those who do not poffefs their fuperiority of genius.

I think experience fully evinces, that it is very poffible for a man to poffefs an elegant and claffical taste with respect to the beauties of Style and compofition in one language, and to be utterly destitute of it in another. One can fcarcely imagine, that if Ogilby, Hobbes, and Chapman, had not derived a fenfible pleasure from the poems of Homer, or Milbourne and Trapp from those of Virgil, that they would have engaged in the laborious work of tranflating those divine authors; and it is well known that a very general tafte for the beauties of the ancients prevailed long before the moderns had learned to express their ideas in their vernacular languages with grace or propriety; and indeed the languages themselves were most unjustly held in contempt, as little better than barbarous jargon, and fuppofed to be wholly undeferving of attention, and incapable of improvement. This prejudice is however greatly upon the decline; and it is generally allowed that the English language in particular may justly pretend to a rivality with the admired languages of antiquity. I make no fcruple at least to place it upon a level with the Roman; and perhaps that very circumftance which is fuppofed by many to give to the Greek language fo decided a fuperiority, I mean that wonderful copioufnefs which it derives from its variety of dialects, fhould rather be confidered as a real difad

vantage and I believe thofe who are moft inclined to admire and magnify this uncommon property of the Grecian tongue, would think the English language little improved by blending it with our provincial dialects. Spenfer has made fome attempts of this kind, with a degree of fuccefs which will scarcely encourage others to follow the example. In fact, the English language is fufficiently copious to exprefs all our ideas with great force and elegance, and with a degree of accuracy and precifion to which the Latin tongue is a ftranger, Its genius feems to refemble that of the people by whom it is spoken. The great characteristics of it are ftrength and energy, but it is very fufceptible of the gentler graces. There is a foftness, sweetnefs, and delicacy of Style to which feveral of our favourite writers, both in poetry and profe, have attained, which fufficiently rescue it from the reproach' of harfhnefs or diffonance. There is, moreover, a boldnefs and freedom in the idiom of our language which admits of the adoption of new terms, and new combinations of words, in a degree which perhaps no other language is capable of. The admirable powers and properties of the English language, as difplayed in the whole extent of Verfification, might alfo with propriety be mentioned in this general sketch of its excellencies; but this I referve for the fubject of a diftinct Effay.