time ago. As to herself, I had one day fet the hundredth pfalm, and was finging the first line in order to put the congregation into the tune, fhe was all the while courtefying to Sir Anthony, in fo affected and indecent a manner, that the indignation I conceived made me forget myfelf fo far, as from the tune of that pfalm to wander into Southwell tune, and from thence into Windfor tune, ftill unable to recover myfelf, until I had with the utmoft confufion fet a new one. Nay, I have often feen her rife up and fmile, and curtefy to one at the lower end of the church in the midft of a Gloria Patri; and when I have fpoke the affent to a prayer with a long Amen, uttered with decent gravity, the has been rolling her eyes around about in fuch a manner, as plainly fhewed, however she was moved, it was not towards an hea venly object. In fine, the extended ber conquests fo far over the males, and raised fuch envy in the females, that what between love of thofe, and the jealoufy of thefe, I was almost the only perfon that looked in a prayer-book all church-time. I had feveral projects in my head to put a stop to this growing mifchief; but as I have long lived in Kent, and there often heard how the Kentish men evaded the conqueror, by carrying green boughs over their heads, it put me in mind of practising this device against Mrs. Simper. I find I have preferved many a young man from her eye-fhot by this means: therefore humbly pray the boughs may be fixed, until the fhall give fecurity for her peaceable intentions. Your humble fervant, T FRANCIS STERNHOLD, N° CCLXXXV. SATURDAY, JANUARY 26. NE, QUICUNQUE DEUS, QUICUNQUE ADHIBERITUR HEROS, HOR. ARS POET. VER. 227. BUT THEN THEY DID NOT WRONG THEMSELVES SO MUCH, NOR (TO AVOID SUCH MEANNESS) SOARING HIGH, HAVI, Gallearly die, ad of the fable, the characters, fentiments in the Paradife Loft, we are in the laft place to confider the language; and as the learned world is very much divided upon Milton as to this point, I hope they will excufe me if I appear particular in any of my opinions, and incline to thofe who judge the most advantageoufly of the author. It is requifite that the language of an heroic poem fhould be both perfpicuous and fublime. In proportion as either of thefe two qualitics are wanting, the language is imperfect. Perfpicuity is the firit and moft neceffary qualification; infomuch that a good-natured reader fometimes overlooks a little flip even in the grammar or fyntax, where it is impoffible for him to miftake the poet's fenfe. Of this kind is that paffage in Milton, wherein he fpeaks of Satan; God and his Son accept, ROSCOMMON. And that in which he defcribes Adam Eve. His fons, the fairest of her daughters Eve. paffages according to the natural fyntax, It is plain, that in the former of these the divine perfons mentioned in the first line are reprefented as created beings; and that, in the other, Adam and Eve are confounded with their fons and daughters. Such little blemishes as these, when the thought is great and natural, we should, with Horace, impute to a par donable inadvertency, or to the weaknefs of human nature, which cannot atthe last finishing to every circumftance tend to each minute particular, and give in fo long a work. The ancient critics candour, rather than that of cavilling, therefore, who were acted by a spirit of invented certain figures of speech, on purpofe to palliate little errors of this nature in the writings of thofe authors who * who had fo many greater beauties to atone for them. If clearness and perfpicuity were only to be confulted, the poet would have nothing else to do but to clothe his thoughts in the most plain and natural expreffions. But fince it often happens that the most obvious phrafes, and thofe which are used in ordinary converfation, become too familiar to the ear, and contract a kind of meanness by paffing through the mouths of the vulgar; a poet fhould take particular care to guard himself against idiomatic ways of speaking. Ovid and Lucan have many poorneffes of expreffion upon this account, as taking up with the first phrases that offered, without putting themselves to the trouble of looking after fuch as would not only have been natural, but alfo elevated and fublime. Milton has but few failings in this kind, of which, Embrios and idiots, eremites and friers A while difcourfe they hold, Who of all ages to fucceed, but feeling The great masters in compofition know very well that many an elegant phrafe becomes improper for a poet or an orator, when it has been debased by common use. For this reafon the works of ancient authors, which are written in dead languages, have a great advantage over those which are written in languages that are now spoken. Were there any mean phrafes or idioms in Virgil and Homer, they would not fhock the ear of the most delicate modern reader, so much as they would have done that of an old Greek or Roman, because we never heard them pronounced in our ftreets, or in ordinary converfation. feem ftiff and unnatural; he must not fwell into a falfe fublime, by endeavouring to avoid the other extreme. Among the Greeks, Æfchylus, and fometimes Sophocles, were guilty of this fault; among the Latins, Claudian and Statius; and among our own countrymen, Shakespeare and Lee. In thefe authors the affectation of greatnefs often hurts the perfpicuity of the ftile, as in many others the endeavour after perfpicuity prejudices it's greatnefs. Ariftotle has obferved, that the idiomatic stile may be avoided, and the sublime formed, by the following methods. Firft, by the ufe of metaphors; fuch are thofe of Milton. Imparadis'd in one another's arms. And in his hand a reed Stood waving tipt with fire.- In thefe and innumerable other inftances, the metaphors are very bold but just; I must however obferve that the metaphors are not fo thick fown in Milton, which always favours too much of wit; that they never clash with one another, which, as Ariftotle obferves, turns a fentence into a kind of enigma or rid dle; and that he feldom has recourfe to them where the proper and natural words will do as well. Another way of raifing the language, and giving it a poetical turn, is to make ufe of the idioms of other tongues. Virgil is full of the Greek forms of speech, which the critics call Hellenifms, as Horace in his odes abounds with them much more than Virgil. I need not mention the feveral dialects which Homer has made ufe of for this end. Milton, in conformity with the practice of the ancient poets, and with Aristotle's rule, has infufed a great many Latinisms, as well as Græcifms, and fometimes Hebraifms, into the language of his poem; as towards the beginning of it. Nor did they not perceive the evil plight It is not therefore fufficient, that the language of an epic poem be perfpicu-Who fhall tempt with wand'ring feet ous, unless it be alfo fublime. To this The dark unbottom'd infinite abyfs, end it ought to deviate from the com- And through the palpable obfcure find out "His uncouth way, or fpread his airy flight mon forms and ordinary phrases of Upborn with indefatigable wings fpeech. The judgment of a poet very Over the vaft abrupt!' much discovers itfelf in fhunning the -So both afcend common roads of expreffion, without falling into fuch ways of fpeech as may In the vifions of God 322 Book II. Under Under this head may be reckoned the placing the adjective after the fubftantive, the tranfpofition of words, the turning the adjective into a fubftantive, with feveral other foreign modes of fpeech which this poet has naturalized to give his verfe the greater found, and throw it out of profe. The third method mentioned by Aritotle is what agrees with the genius of the Greek language more than with that of any other tongue, and is therefore more used by Homer than by any other poet. I mean the lengthening of a phrafe by the addition of words, which may either be inferted or omitted, as alfo by the extending or contracting of particular words by the infertion or omiffion of certain fyllables. Milton has put in practice this method of raifing his language, as far as the nature of our tongue will permit, as in the paffage above-mentioned, Eremite, for what is hermit, in common difcurfe. If you obferve the meafure of his verfe, he has with great judgment fuppreffed a fyllable in feveral words, and fhortened thofe of two fyllables into one, by which method, befides the above-mentioned advantage, he has given a greater variety to his numbers. But this practice is more particularly remarkable in the names of perfons and of countries, as Beelzebub, Heffebon, and in many other particulars, wherein he has either changed the name, or made ufe of that which is not the most commonly known, that he might the better depart from the language of the vulgar. The fame realon reccommended to him feveral old words, which alfo makes his poem appear the more venerable, and gives it a greater air of antiquity. I must likewife take notice, that there are in Milton feveral words of his own coining, as cerberean, mifcreated, belldoom'd, Embryon atoms, and many others. If the reader is offended at this liberty in our English poet, I would recommend him to a difcourfe in Plutarch, which fhews us how frequently Homer has made ufe of the fame liberty. Milton, by the above-mentioned helps, and by the choice of the nobleft words and phrafes which our tongue would afford him, has carried our language to a greater height than any of the English poets have ever done before or after him, and made the fublimity of his ftile equal to that of his fentiments. I have been the more particular in thefe obfervations on Milton's ftile, because it is that part of him in which he appears the moft fingular. The remarks I have here made upon the practice of other poets, with my obfervations out of Ariftotle, will perhaps alleviate the prejudice which fome have taken to his poem upon this account; though after all, I must confefs that I think his ftile, though admirable in general, is in fome places too much stiffened and obfcured by the frequent ufe of those methods, which Ariftotle has prescribed for the raifing of it. This redundancy of those feveral ways of fpeech, which Ariftotle calls foreign language, and with which Milton has fo much enriched, and in fome places darkened the language of his poem, was the more proper for his ufe, becaufe his poem is written in blank verie. Rhyme, without any other af fiftance, throws the language off from profe, and very often makes an indifferent phrafe pafs unregarded; but where the verfe is not built upon rhymes, there pomp of found and energy of expreffion, are indifpenfably neceflary to fupport the ftile, and keep it from falling into the flatness of profe. Those who have not a taste for this elevation of ftile, and are apt to ridicule a poet when he departs from the common forms of expreffion, would do well to fee how Ariftotle has treated an ancient author called Euclid, for his infipid mirth upon this occafion. Mr. Dryden ufed to call thefe fort of men his profe-critics. I should, under this head of the language, confider Milton's numbers, in which he has made use of several elifions, that are not customary among other English poets, as may be particularly obferved in his cutting off the letter Y, when it precedes a vowel. This, and fome other innovations in the measure of his verfe, has varied his numbers in fuch a manner, as makes them incapable of fatiating the ear, and cloying the reader, which the fame uniform measure would certainly have done, and which the perpetual returns of rhyme never fail to do in long narrative poems. I fhall close these reflections upon the lan guage of Paradife Loft, with observing that Milton has copied after Homer rather than Virgil in the length of his pe riods, the copioufnefs of his phrafes, and the running of his verfes into one another. L N° CCLXXXVI, YORK, JAN. 18, 1712. MR. SPECTATOR, I Pretend not eye to inform a gentleman of fo juft a tafte, whenever he pleafes to use it; but it may not be amifs to inform your readers, that there is a falfe delicacy as well as a true one. True delicacy, as I take it, confifts in exactnefs of judgment and dignity of fentiment, or if you will, purity of affection, as this is oppofed to corruption and groffnefs. There are pedants in breeding as well as in learning. The that cannot bear the light is not delicate but fore. A good conftitution appears in the foundness and vigour of the parts, not in the squeamishness of the stomach; and a falfe delicacy is affectation, not politeness. What then can be the ftand. ard of delicacy but truth and virtue? Virtue, which, as the fatirift long fince obferved, is real honour; whereas the other distinctions among mankind are merely titular. Judging by that rule in my opinion, and in that of many of your virtuous female readers, you are fo far from deferving Mr. Courtly's accufation, that you feem too gentle, and to allow too many excules for an enormous crime, which is the reproach of the age, and is in all it's branches and degrees exprefsly forbidden by that religion we pretend to profefs; and whole laws, in a nation that calls itself christian, one would think fhould take place of thofe rules which men of corrupt minds, and thofe of weak underftandings, follow. I know not any thing more pernicious to good manners, than the giving fair names to foul actions: for this confounds vice and virtue, and takes off that natural horror we have to evil. An innocent creature, who would start at the name of ftrumpet, may think it pretty to be called a miftrefs, efpecially if her feducer has taken care to inform her, that a union of hearts is the principal matter in the fight of Heaven, and that the bufinefs at church is a mere idle ceremony. Who knows not that the difference between obfcene ment, ment, but a mere Spectator may look into the bottom, and come off without partaking in the guilt. The doing fo will convince us you purfue public good, and not merely your own advantage: but if your zeal flackens, how can one help thinking that Mr. Courtly's letter is but a feint to get off from a subject, in which either your own, or the private and bafe ends of others to whom you are partial, or thofe of whom you are afraid, would not endure a reformation? I am, Sir, your humble fervant and admirer, fo long as you tread in the paths of truth, virtue, and honour. TRIN. COL. CANTAB. JAN. 12, 1711-12. IT is my fortune to have a chamber greatest warmth of imagination, have told him, that night was made before day, and many more fine things, though without any effect: nay, laft night I could not forbear faying with more heat than judgment, that the devil ought to be painted white. Now, my defire is, Sir, that you will be pleated to give us in black and white your opinion in the matter of difpute between us; which will either furnith me with fresh and prevailing arguments to maintain my own talte, or make me with lefs repining allow that of my chamberfellow. I know very well that I have Jack Cleveland and Bond's Horace on my fide; but when he has fuch a band of rhymers and romance writers, with which he oppofes me, and is fo continually chiming to the tune of golden treffes, yellow locks, milk, marble, ivory, filver, fwans, fnow, daifies, doves, and the Lord knows what; which he is always founding with fo much. vehemence in my ears, that he often puts me into a brown ftudy how to anfwer him; and I find that I am in a fair way to be quite confounded, without your timely affiftance afforded to, Sir, your humble fervant, Z PHILOBRUNE. N° CCLXXXVII. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29. Ω φιλτάτη γῆ μήτερ, ὡς σεμνὸν σφόδς εν DEAR NATIVE LAND, HOW DO THE GOOD AND WISE I Look upon it as a peculiar happiness, that were I to choole of what religion I would be, and under what government I would live, I fhould most certainly give the preference to that form of religion and government which is eftablished in my own country. In this point I think I am determined by reafon and conviction; but if I fhall be told that I am acted by prejudice, I am fure it is an honeft prejudice, it is a prejudice that arifes from the love of my country, and therefore fuch an one as I will always indulge. I have in feveral papers endeavoured to exprefs my duty and efteem for the church of England, and defign this as an effay upon the civil part of our conftitution, having often entertained myself with reflections on this fubject, which I have not met with in other writers. MENAND. That form of government appears to me the most reasonable, which is most conformable to the equality that we find in human nature, provided it be confiftent with public peace and tranquillity. This is what may properly be called liberty, which exempts one man from fubjection to another, so far as the order and economy of government will permit. Liberty fhould reach every individual of a people, as they all thare one common nature; if it only fpreads among particular branches, there had better be none at all, fince fuch a liberty only aggravates the misfortune of those who are deprived of it, by fetting before them a difagreeable fubject of comparison. This liberty is bett preferved, where the legislative power is lodged in feveral perfons, efpecially if thole perfons are of |