DIAL. will be apt to leave us no eloquence at all. I. I must further beg leave to tell you, that W the averfion you express from those who

seek elevation of thought, without an anxious regard to rules, puts me in mind of Marcus Aurelius Severus. He was fo rigorous a lover of juftice, that his blood flufh'd in his face, and his choler was ftirr'd even to vomiting, at the very fight of a corrupt judge. Methinks you are almoft as fqueamish at the fight of a corrupt ftyle.

EUDOX. That Emperor, Sir, you know was however not cruel, nor ever put any one to death who was not condemn'd by the fenate. Thus whatever averfion I may have from corrupt authors, I wou'd not have any of their periods condemn'd, but by the fentence of thofe judges who make the fenate of eloquence; fuch as Ariftotle, Cicero and Quintilian. They, I am sure, will agree, that it is not in vaft terms, and rattling words, nor in fwelling epithets and bold metaphors, nor in haughty expreffions and ftrutting periods, that true nobleness of Style confifts: But in a modeft grandeur, in a smooth rifing of the pen, till it reaches, not till it exceeds the greatness of the thought and fubject.

CLEAND. Yet as Alexander has gain'd the name of Great, though not all his actions can be excufed from rafhnefs, and fome

We

I.

we must own were mean; fo a greatness DIAL. of Style may be the proper character of fome writers, tho' fome of their expreffions may fly too high, and others fall too low.

EUDOX. And therefore it is not one or two faults which fhould degrade an author. But when his ambition and paffion generally lead him beyond bounds, when a common violence, and, as it were, tumultuoufness of Style, makes him infringe establifh'd principles of writing, when by a frequent abuse or mistake of wit, or under a popular pretence of writing to the humour of the age, he affects a domineering kind of tyranny in the republic of learning, by open neglect of fundamental laws, he puts me in mind of the Gracchi, who, according to the faying of Velleius Paterculus, if they wou'd have contented themselves with an honourable fhare of civil government, might have quietly received from the common-wealth, all they cou'd hope by those tumultuous measures which brought 'em to an end equally miferable and unpitied, notwithstanding their feveral good qualities.

CLEAND. But ftill, why fhou'd it not be here as in many other things, where we are most pleased by the boldeft adventures?

Gracchi optimis ingeniis malè ufi--- fi civilem dignitatis concupiffent modum, quidquid tumultuando adipifci geftierunt, quietis obtuliffet Refpublica. Lib. 2. fub Initium,

C 2

EUDOX.

DIAL.

I.

EUDOX. Why, Cleander, wou'd you have the pleasure of reading, like that of seeing rope-dancers, where people take a pleasure in feeing men in danger of their lives? And indeed the boldeft in both those kinds do generally break their necks at laft. I have another odd comparison in my head, that those writers are like bold fwimmers. To be able to swim may fometimes fave a man in a fudden occafion of danger: But when practised too much, it proves the ruin of many, by encreafing their confidence, and leading them too far out of their depth. Thus the methods I fpeak of, are sometimes ufeful, but in the like manner dangerous. Those venturefome gentlemen advance fo far, that either the ftream grows too strong for 'em, and they are hurried into a gulph, or feized by a cramp, and fink of a sudden.

CLEAND. There is however a strong and elevated way of writing, which expofes not to those fatal dangers. Happy those Authors who can hit it right. They are fure to please by their agreeable unexpected

turns.

EUDOX. I fear they are not fure to please beyond the first reading. Those airy turns, which I perceive you admire, may amuse at first, and may pass in a work that is to be laid afide after the firft perufal. For

as

~

as Callicrates obferves, if the Sun were not DIAL.
to rife again, it would look bigger for I.
him to tumble from the fky at noon with all
his light and heat about him, than to walk
equally and smoothly down below the Ho-
rizon. So one who does not defign his
works for a fecond reading, may be flashy,
and full of your furprizes. But if he would
be often perused, a different method wou'd
be more fure of fuccefs. Falfe gems shine
bright at first, but a little ufe decays their
luftre, and fhews what they are. The fame
happens in your unnatural, furprizing Styles.
Thus a perpetual Laconifm ftrikes at first, but
upon reflection you will find it extremely
weak. The imagination cannot always keep

up
to that constraint. 'Tis above the capacity
of man to be always extraordinarily witty,and
whoever aims at it in every fentence, muft
of neceffity fall into affectation, false con-
ceits, flat and impertinent ideas". Then,
being ever in fearch of what Horace calls
ambitiofa ornamenta, he will often run to
thofe expreffions where the words are too
large for the fense; and by swelling his
phrases with bluftering words, will make
noise pass for wit; and upon a closer ex-
amination, you will be fo far from true
wit, that it will be hard to find the fenfe.

"Inde minuti corruptique fenficuli & extra rem petiti. Hoc quoque accidit quod folas captanti fententias, multas neceffe eft dicere leves, frigidas, ineptas. Neque enim aliter poteft effe ubi de numero laboratur. Quint. 1.8.

cap.5.

DIAL. I fhou'd be very forry to lay this with any I. general charge to Callicrates's account : But when he fays that defpair cafts a gloominefs upon the foul, and lays her in a dungeon beyond the notion of pre-existence, it founds, no doubt, extremely high; yet I fancy you wou'd be puzzled to give a clear and diftinct perception of the meaning. If I might exprefs myself in the way of fome writers, I wou'd fay, it is all meer gloom and dungeon.

CLEAND. Tho' now and then you meet with an expreflion that is too far ftretch'd, yet if it is but feldom, the other beauties of the work fhou'd attone for a few miftakes. Unless you will be more fevere than Horace *.

EUDOX. They may attone for them in part. But ftill thofe fort of expreflions are fo incident to authors who will be ever aiming at your furprizing Style, that this very thing fhou'd make that way of writing be lefs admired, and followed; and when under high words there comes a mixture of mean thoughts, it gives this kind of Style fuch an air, as makes it ftill more infupportable. Callicrates is a man of so much sense, that nothing but the misfortune of his way of writing cou'd lead him into something of

* Tibi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis offendar maculis. Art. Poët.

this

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