INTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as
to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, ver. 1. That
a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius, ver. 9. to
18. That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false
Education, ver. 19 to 25.
The Multitude of Critics, and causes
That we are to study our own Taste,
ver. 46 to 67. Nature the best guide
Improved by Art and Rules, which
ver. 88. Rules derived from the
That therefore
of them, ver. 26 to 45.
und know the Limits of it,
of Judgment, ver. 68 to 87.
are but methodis'd Nature,
practice of the Ancient Poets, ver. 88 to 110.
the Ancients are necessary to be studied by Critic, particularly
Homer and Virgil, ver. 120 to 138. Of Licenses, and the
use of them by the Ancients, ver. 140 to 180. Reverence due to
the Ancients, and praise of them, ver. 181, &c.
Ver. 203, &c. Causes hindering a true Judgment:
1. Pride, ver. 208. 2. Imperfect Learning, ver. 215. 3. Judging
by parts, and not by the whole, ver. 233 to 288. Critics in
Wit, Language, Versification, only, ver. 288. 305. 339, &c.
4. Being too hard to please, or too apt to admire, ver. 384.
5. Partiality-too much love to a Sect, to the Ancients or Mo-
derns, ver. 324. 6. Prejudice or Prevention, ver. 408. 7. Sin-
gularity, ver. 424. 8. Inconstancy, ver. 430. 9. Party Spirit,
ver. 452, c. 10. Envy, ver. 466. Against Envy and in
praise of Good-nature, ver. 508, &c. When Severity is chiefly
to be used by Critics, ver. 526, &c.
Ver. 560, &c. Rules for the Conduct of Manners
Good-breeding, ver. ver. 578. 2. When
1. Candour, ver. 563. 572 Sincerity and Freedom of Advice, one's Counsel is to be restrained, ver. 584. Character of corrigible Poet, ver. 600. And of an impertinent Critic, ver. 610, &c. Character of a good Critic, ver. 629. The History of Criticism, and characters of the best Crities, Aristotle, ver. 645. Horace, ver. 653. Dionysius, ver. 665. Petronius, ver. 667. Quintilian, ver. 670. Longinus, ver. 675.
of Criticism, and its Revival. Erasmus, ver. 693. Vida, ver. 705. Boileau, ver. 714. Lord Roscommon, &i. ver. 725. Conclusion.
"TIS hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' offence
To tire our patience, than mislead our sense.
Some few in that, but numbers err in this,
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone
expose,
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.
'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In poets as true genius is but rare,
True taste as seldom is the critic's share;
Both must alike from heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
Let such teach others who themselves excel,
And censure freely who have written well.
Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,
But are not critics to their judgment too?
Yet if we look more closely, we shall find
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimmʼring light ;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right.
But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac❜d,
Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd,
So by false learning is good sense defac'd:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs nature meant but fools.
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,
Or with a rival's, or an eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side..
If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spight,
There are, who judge still worse than he can write.
Some have at first for wits, then poets past,
36
Turn'd critics next, and prov'd plain fools at last.
Some neither can for wits nor critics pass,
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.
Those half-learn'd witlings, num'rous in our isle, 40
As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile ;
Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,
Their generation's so equivocal :
To tell 'em would an hundred tongues require,
Or one vain wit's, that might a hundred tire.
But you who seek to give and merit fame,
And justly bear a critic's noble name,
Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
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