kind, from the very Compofition of their Being. Only with this Difference, that in thofe Parts of the World where Learning and Manners are cultivated, thefe Arts are nurtur'd, and rife in Perfection; but where the People are rude, and unpolished, they fuffer in the common Calamity of the Place. But ftill, even there, the Seeds fhoot forth; witness those barbarous, uncouth Songs, the mean Inftruments of Mufic, and imperfect Sketches in Painting, which are found, according to the Relation of Travellers, among the Indians, and almoft Savage People of the North.

This Fondness of Mankind for imitating, proceeds, probably, from nothing elfe but their Defire of Knowledge and Power. To produce fomething out of nothing, is the peculiar Property of the Almighty: As Man, therefore, cannot create, it is his Ambition to approach as near to the Exercise of that Power, as his Nature will allow him; and that can be only by imitating Things already made.

His Paffion for Harmony is no Wonder; because whatever we call beautiful arifes from a juft Proportion, and proper Arrangement of its Parts. It is this compofes the whole Frame of the Universe; and the more perfect every Individual of it is, the greater Share of Harmony it poffeffes.

So much for the Original and Caufe of Poetry. Of its Antiquity, in Comparison of Profe, I need fay bat very little, fince that feems, beyond all Doubt, to have been prior to it, in Point of Time, tho' behind it in Dignity. Some, indeed, have afferted, that Poetry was the ancienter, out of a Zeal, I fuppose, to its Honour, which needs no falfe Supports: But this Opinion is by no means credible. 'Tis certain, all Learners proceed, as Nature directs them, from the plaineft and eafieft Things, to thofe that are more compounded and difficult: For Men to

speak

fpeak Verfe before Profe, is the fame as if they fhould pretend to run, or dance, before they could ftand, or walk. It is a very weak Argument, with which Strabo (as Voffius cites it) endeavours to maintain the contrary Opinion. To prove Verfe the ancientest Way of Writing, he obferves, that Profe is ftyled Oratio Pedeftris, [as if we fhould fay creeping Profe.]" Now Speech was carried, before it ven"tured to walk. Voffius artfully replies, that it was "called Pedeftris, not because Men against Nature "condefcended to it, but becaufe they mounted "above it, as it were, and left it upon the Earth : "For Profe feems to creep, when compared with "the Loftinefs of Poetry. Now, to retort the Ar"gument, there's no Doubt but Men walk'd firft, " before they ventured on Horseback." If any one would see more of this, he may confult Voffius. That Poetry, as an Art, flourish'd before Oratory, or that the celebrated Profeffors of the one are not so ancient as those of the other, is clear from Hiftory; but that Men fpoke Verse before Profe, is past all Credit, or Probability.

If any Question fhould arife about the Prevalence of Nature and Art in Poetry, I cannot answer it bet ter than in the Words of Horace':

Natura fieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
Quafitum eft; Ego nec ftudium fine divite vena,
Nec rude quid profit video ingenium; alterius fie
Altera pofcit opem res, & conjurat amice.

Some think, that Poets may be form'd by Art,
Others maintain, that Nature makes them fo,
I neither fee what Art without a Vein,
Nor Wit without the Help of Art can do ;
But mutually they need each other's Aid.

Rofcom.

Art. Poet. 408.

C 4

But

But if this is the Cafe, whence comes that Saying fo common in every one's Mouth, That a Man must be born, not made a Poet; whereas, in Horace's Judgment, a Man is both born and made fo? In answer to this, No more to be sure is intended by the Proverb, than that Strength of Genius enters more into the Compofition of a Poet, than the Refinements of Art; tho' both are neceffary to the forming him a great one. Writings that betray a true poetic Spirit, how unpolifh'd foever they are, extort from us Praise and Admiration; but thofe that are cold and lifeless, tho' form'd upon the most scrupulous Obfervation of the Laws of Poetry, are neglected, or condemn'd. The Sloth or Inaccuracy of the one, demands our Cenfure; but the ftupid Rigidnefs, and labour'd Dulnefs of the other, provokes at once our Rage, our Hate, and Difdain. It is of little Confequence that Horace seems to put thefe upon the Foot of Equality. A Poet that lays down general Rules in Verfe, and in fo fhort a Compass, cannot be fupposed to enter minutely into every Distinction. Befides, the Saying above may be true in this Refpect; that Poetry especially, and beyond all other Sciences, requires a Fecundity of Nature; and befides fuch a peculiar Turn of Wit, as is feldom found, and few are bleft with.

And this is partly the Reason, why Poets were faid to be infpired; partly, I fay, for the chief Reafon is probably owing to that Fire, or more than human Impulfe, called by the Greeks vooμès, which diftinguifhes them from other Writers. That this was no real Infpiration in the ancient Poets, (except in thofe facred ones that communicated God's Will to Mankind) nor is now fo in the Moderns, I fuppofe needs no Proof; but it is certain, however, that not only the Poets faid it was, but the Heathens, alfo, thought it divine. Hence

arofe

arofe that more than common Reverence, the Populace paid to them. Hence the Title given of them of facred, and divine. Hence that folemn Invocation of the Mufes and Apollo, and fometimes other Deities, with which the Poets, and the Poets only, introduce their Works.

I have no Inclination to spend my Time in examining into the Fables which have long fince become an Appendage to Poetry, nor to search out the hidden Meaning of them: I leave that Task to those. whom we call the Mythologifts; let them, if they please, explain the Allegory of the two Tops of Parnaffus, of the Number Nine among the Mufes, the Mystery of the Wings of Pegafus, and of the Foun tains rifing at the Stroke of his Hoof. Thefe, I would only observe, are the Stains of Poetry, contracted from the Corruption of Heathenifm, which infected Religion no lefs with its trifling Puerilities; and it is but just that we, upon whom the clearer Light of Truth has fhone, fhould at length learn to defpife fuch ridiculous Tales, which, by Repetition, are now grown nauíeous; and to refine Poetry, as well as true Religion, from the Drofs and Alloy of Falfhood.

There are fome other Things, of less Moment, which I fhall pass over with barely mentioning. Poets had anciently Crowns of Laurel and Ivy, to denote by thofe Ever-greens the Immortality they gain to themselves, and confer on others. Moun tains, Groves, and Springs, were facred to the Mufes, because Poets naturally fly from the Noise and Tumult of the City, to the peaceful Solitude of the Country; that fo, difengaged from Care and Interruption, they may dedicate the utmost Efforts of Nature to their beloved Profeffion: Besides,

Carmina feceffum fcribentis, & otia quærunt :

Leisure and green Retreats the Poets court.

Because Verse flows naturally there, and the Fancy is ftrangely awaken'd into Poetry with the Pleasures of Solitude around it.

Laftly, Another Question may poffibly be ask'd, and deservedly too, (for it is a Matter of fome Importance to know) how far Poetry and Oratory agree, and wherein they differ. To give a direct Answer to this, we say, that Eloquence is common to both ; Eloquence, therefore, ought to be confider'd as twofold; that of Oratory, and that of Poetry. Those Things that come under the Title of Eloquence in general, relate to both Arts; fuch as, Topicks of Praife, whether of Persons, Facts, or Things; Topicks of Exhortation, Congratulation, Confolation, and the like, with which the Orator, as well as the Poet, excites Anger, Love, Pity, and all other Paffons. Both obferve alike a proper Decorum of Manners, according to Age, Fortune, and Condition of Life. Ardent Expreffions, and lively. Thoughts, are the Embellishments of both. In both the Diction is elevated, or familiar, grave, florid, or ftrong, as Occafion ferves. For all these Things, as I faid before, are Branches of Eloquence. in general, are drawn from the fame Heads of Invention, and illuftrated by Examples fetch'd from Orators or Poets. So that it is impoffible almoft for him that treats of one of these Arts, not to mention fome Things that are in common to both. However, the Difference between them is very great ;and Poetry has feveral other Characteristics befides that of Metre; a Style, for instance, peculiar to itfelf, Fiction, copious Defcriptions, poetic Fire, and:

Ov. Trift. 1. El 1.

(to