In the fame way, Spenfer wrote his pastorals professedly in imitation of the style of Chaucer, and to give them a more antiquated air adopted the name of an old book called the Shepherd's Kalender. "Spenfer, (fays Dryden) being master of our northern dialect, and skilled in Chaucer's, has fo exactly imitated the Doric of Theocritus, that his love is a perfect image of that paffion which God infused into both fexes, before it was corrupted with the knowledge of arts, and the ceremonies of what we call good manners." Once more: "One of Spenfer's reafons [fays T. Warton for using fo much ancient phrafeology in these pastorals, was undoubtedly the obvious one of cloathing rural characters in the dress of ruftic fimplicity." Note (g) p. 26.-What this writer fays here of the converfation of those who use the Scotifh, applies alfo to those who have written in, that dialect. Most of our Scotifh poets are, like Shakespeare's old hermit of Prague, people "that never faw pen and ink." Being uneducated therefore, taken from and writing to the Swinifh multitude, their works abound in low humour, and mean, but often ludicrous images. Note (b) p. 27. Thus imitated by Ben Jonfon in his Discoveries, "Words borrowed of antiquity do lend a kind of majesty to style, and are not without their delight fometimes: For they have the authority of yeares, and out of their intermiffion do lend a kind of grace like newnesse. But the eldest of the present, and the newest of the past language is beft."---This last sentiment is also from Quintilian : Ergo ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova.” The illustration in the original from Painting is admirable. cr In confirmation of these remarks, I beg leave to introduce a paffage from Horace, and one from Fenelon. Obfcurata diu populo bonus eruet, atque A writer fometimes will revive again Expreffive words, fcarce us'd fince Mary's reign; Words which, though fweet, fell fweeter from her tongue, Notre langue (fays Fenelon) manque d'un grand nombre de môts, ét de phrafes. Il me femble même qu'on l'a gênée, et appauvrie de. puis environ cent ans, en voulant la purifier. Il eft vrai qu'elle etoit un peu informe, et trop verbeufe. Mais le vieux langage fe fait regretter quand nous le retrouvons dans Marot, dans Amiot, dans le Cardinal d'Offat, dans les ouvrages les plus enjoués, et dans les plus ferieux. Il y avoit je ne fcais quoi de court, de nàif, de vif et de pafhoné.-Reflexions fur la Rhetorique. I must intreat the reader's pardon for thefe numerous quotations, which proceed neither from indolence nor pedantry, and the use of * which is abfolutely hoftile to fimple and elegant compofition. But I wifhed the fubject of this chapter to be clearly investigated, and firmly established; and I thought it would be both useless and unjust to write over what had already, but separately, been better expreffed by others. And indeed a writer at prefent ought rather to select from the mafs of materials prefented by others, and make them bear upon the point he would eftablifh, than repeat, but in a more crude and imperfect manner, what has been ten thousand times faid before, and infinitely better expreffed. "The fubject of quotation being introduced, (fays Bofwell in his Life of Johnfon) Mr Wilkes cenfured it as pedantry. Johnson. No Sir, it is a good thing; there is a community of mind in it. Claffical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world." NOTES Ꭲ Ꭴ DISSERTATION III. NOTE (a) p. 35.---Entendre parler des brebis, et de chevres, des foins qu'il faut prendre de ces animaux cela n'a rien par foi-meme qui puisse plaire, c'est l'idée de tranquillité attachée a la vie de ceux qui prennent foin des brebis, et de chevres.-Fontenelle Difcours. Fontenelle, in his admirable difcourfe on paftoral poetry, insists much on this tranquillity as the only thing pleasing, and as the effence of that kind of writing. That it forms a great part of it is without doubt true; but this is not all; a confiderable part of our pleasure fprings from the beauty of the scenery, of the smiling objects with which the persons are surrounded; and part arises from the gaiety of their ocupations. Nothing can be more tranquil than, fome of the hermit fcenes of Suanevelt; but their loneliness infpires a certain, though not unpleasing horror. Bishop Hurd has blamed Mr Hume for pronouncing, in his Essay on Simplicity and Refinement in Writing, that M. de Fontenelle's Difcourfe on Paftoral Poetry is one of the finest pieces of criticism in the world. "For my part (fays the Bishop) I can only fay, it is rather more tolerable than his paftorals."---In my opinion Mr Hume is in the right: Never, perhaps, did there a prose writer [for I limit my praife to his profe] exist of more justness of thought, with a certain inexpreffible finesse and delicacy, than Fontenelle. His pastorals are indeed very ridiculous; and Mr Hume could not have quoted a better proof of what he meant to establish, that a critic may difcourfe most admirably without inftructing his readers, or even understanding the matter himself: And that mere general criticism is of little use in rectifying the tafte, fince," however different the tastes of men, their general discourse on these subjects is commonly the fame.” A writer of fome talents, in the Bee, in Remarks upon Hume, after telling us that he attached himself to metaphysical reasoning from his infancy, fays, "A Shakespeare and a Milton were beyond the reach of his mental ken. Destitute of thofe perceptions which convey to the mind those exquisite sensations denominated by the word taste, he read their writings with a frigid indifference, and wondered what any person could fee in them to excite those extravagant emotions, which he viewed as little fhort of infanity." In this fame work, Adam Smith is represented as altogether devoid of taste. I confefs one is apt to wonder at these and fimilar affertions. If men of high abilities like thefe, acquainted intimately with the best models, and whose writings display fuch feeling, eloquence, and knowledge of mankind—If such men are deftitute of taste for composition, where is it to be found? Mr Hume has been much blamed for the feeming coldness with which he has spoken of the great geniuses of England: But he knew, with Bacon, that nothing is more dangerous than the idolatry of great names, pernicious to the living, and ufelefs to the dead. Thus, it generally happens; a perfon is perfecuted during his life, very often in proportion to his talents; but after he is dead, then eulogies begin, not for the fake of the poor man who is gone, but in order to difcourage or depreciate his competitors who are alive. Befides, it cannot be expected that a man of great genius should have, or pretend to have, the fame gaping aftonishment, and use the fame interjectional praise, with a writer of little or no talents. Corregio faw without astonishment the paintings of Raphael, whereas a Richardfon will Ob! and ah! divine! astonishing! wonderful! but fhall we thence conclude that Corregio was deftitute of taste, and could not estimate the beauties of Raphael as well as RichardLon? Note (b) p. 37.-"Exiftimaverunt viri cruditi (fays Bifhop Lowth in his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews) Theocritum poetam fuaviffimum, feptuaginta illis Interpretibus aequalem, et in aulâ Ptolemaei Philadelphi una florentem, aliqua ex hoc carmine (cantico fcilic. Salomonis) delibaffe, et pene ad verbum expreffa in fua Idyllia tranftuliffe, confer. Cant. i. 9. vi. 10. cum Theoc. xviii. 30. 26. Cant. iv. II. cum Theoc. xx, 26. Cant. viii. 6, 7, cum Theoc. xxiii. 23, 26."—" Learned men have thought that the sweet poet Theocritus, contemporary with the feventy interpreters, and flourishing along with them in the Court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, has culled fome paffages from the Song of Solomon, and almoft literally transferred them to his paftorals. Compare," &c. In fome of these paffages there is a resemblance, but I know not if it be fo close as to justify the fuppofition that Theocritus had studied the Song of Solomon. Befides, one should think that, if he copied at all, he would have copied more abundantly, or at least more evidently, from that divine compofition. Our finest paftoral fong perhaps, Tweedside, is composed of thoughts taken from the Hebrew pastoral. The Song of Solomon is indeed the Song of Songs, breathing every where the most ardent paffion, and painting every where the most amiable affections of the mind, and the fweeteft fcenery of nature. As an inftance of this laft, how beautiful is the defcription of Spring, and the invitation thereon, "Rife up, my love! my fair one, and come away! For lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone! The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the finging of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes are breathing fragrance. Rife up, my love! my fair one, and come arvay !" "Thou As a declaration of love, how paffionate is the following. haft ravished my heart, my fifter! my fpoufe! thou haft ravifhed my heart! How much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thy ointments than all fpices! Thy lips, O my fpoufe! drop as the honey comb: honey and milk are under thy tongue-turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me!" |