of Greece or Rome? If the one never had any exiftence, neither have the other any at present, which, with respect to the final causes of our pasfions, is the fame thing. The faithful hiftorian, and the writer of romances, having the fame accefs to the fprings of the human paffions, it is no wonder that the latter generally moves them more forcibly, fince he hath the choice of every circumftance that contributes to raise them; whereas the former hath nothing in his power but the difpofition of them, and is reftricted even in that. I fancy, however, that no perfon of reading and obfervation can doubt of the fact, that more tears have been fhed, and more intense joy hath been expreffed in the perufal of novels, romances, and feigned tragedies, than in reading all the true hiftories in the world. Who ever, upon any occurrence in real history, ever felt what he muft feel in reading Clariffa, George Barnwell, Eloifa, and many other well-contrived fictions. It is to no purpose to say to ourselves, "This is all a fiction, why am I thus affected?" if we read, and form an idea of the scenes there exhibited, we must feel in spite of ourselves. The thought of its being a fiction enables us to make, but a feeble and ineffectual effort to repress our feelings, when the ideas which excite them are very strong and vivid. Some perfons, however, may have acquired fuch an averfion to all works of fiction, that they cannot be prevailed upon to give that unprejudiced attention to them which this experiment requires. The ufe of the present tenfe in the narration of past events contributes greatly to heighten the ideal prefence of any fcene. This form of narration is introduced with the most advantage when a preceding lively and animated defcription hath already, as it were, transported the reader into the fcene of action. In that fituation of mind, he is fo far from being fenfible of the real impropriety of that ftyle, that it appears to him the moft natural; and indeed no other would correfpond to his feelings and too precipitate a return to the proper ftyle of parration would have a very bad effect, as it would put an end to the pleasing illufion, which makes the fcene fo interefting, and which can continue no longer than while the reader conceives himself present with the objects that are prefented to his imagination. In the following poetical defcription of a battle, we have an example of a very natural, and therefore (for the reason given above) unperceived tranfition from the to the present time. And now with fhouts the fhocking armies clofed, preter LECT. XII. CRITICISM. ex In the following descriptions we cannot but feel the ill effect of too precipitate a return to the proper ftyle of narration, and of the ftill worse effect of paffing from time paft to the prefent, and from the present to the paft, as it were alternately in the fame scene. Here all the terrors of grim war appear, Here rages force, here tremble flight and fear; le And the dire orb portentous gorgon crown'd. on ILIAD V. 914. Then died Scamandrius, expert in the chace, ny ɔt, fe of In woods and wilds to wound the favage race: To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts: 'Thro' his broad back and heaving bofom wat: ch at al er, Since no form of expreifion can appear natural, It is a very extravagant ftretch of ftis figure particul paft or future as prefent in the very place of audience; for it requires an illufion capable not only of affecting the imagination, but of imposing upon the bodily fenfes too, to cover the abfurdity of fuch language. Let this obfervation be applied to fome preachers when they defcribe the day of judgment. Thefe obfervations relating to the vivid reprefentation of objects, fhew us the importance of a discreet use of fiction, and works of imagination, for the cultivation of the human heart. The heart is inftructed chiefly by its own feelings. It is of confequence, therefore, how they are directed, and it cannot be a matter of indifference what tales and novels are put into the hands of children and youth. When once perfons are of an age to form ideas of fuch defcriptions, and feel the fenfations refulting from them, reading a romance is nearly the fame thing as their feeing fo much of the world, and of mankind. Whatever, therefore, we should think improper for them to fee, it is improper for them to read or hear; for they have like fenfations, and retain fimilar impreffions from both. In the fecond place, I would observe, with regard to the conduct of the paffions, that to reprefent things to the life, in order thoroughly to affect and intereft a reader in the perufal of a compofition, it is of fingular advantage to be very circumftantial, and to introduce as many fenfible images as poffible. The The powers of art have no other means of exBarry citing our paffions than by prefenting fuch scenes as are found to excite them in real life. Now in rim nature, and real life, we fee nothing but particulars, and to these ideas alone are the ftrongeft fenfations and emotions annexed. General and abstract names are only fubftitutes for the particular, and are therefore farther removed from their connexion with real objects; infomuch, that when general and abstract terms are used, the imagination must be employed to reduce them to particulars, before any real fcene can be imagined, or any paffion raised. Now fince general terms do not, without an effort of the imagination, fuggeft thofe determinate ideas which alone have the power of exciting the paffions, and the very exertion of fuch an effort muft, in fome meafure, prevent that temporary illusion, which is requifite to the ideal prefence of objects, it is proper that the writer, who would thoroughly affect and intereft his reader, should, as much as poffible, make that effort unnecessary, by avoiding general and abstract terms, and introducing the proper names of perfuat fons and things, which have a more immediate connection with fcenes of real life. 7 Every body must have experienced, in relating any thing that really happened, how difficult it is cha to avoid mentioning those circumstances of time, place, and perfon, which were originally associated with the particulars of the story; and it is evident (not |