"

of mine. You have no lefs right to correct me, then the fame hand that rais'd a tree has to prune. it. I am convinced as well as you, that one may correct too much; for in poetry, as in painting, a man may lay colours one upon another, till they stiffen and deaden the piece. Befides, to bestow heightening on every part, is monftrous: fome parts ought to be lower than the reft; and nothing looks more ridicu lous than a work, where the thoughts, however different in their own nature, feem all on a level: 'tis like a meadow newly mown, where weeds, grafs, and flowers, are all laid even, and appear undiltinguifh'd. I believe too that fometimes our first thoughts are the best, as the first squeezing of the grapes makes the finest and richeft wine.

and in all places; not

I have not artempted any thing of a Paftoral comedy, becaufe, I think, the taste of our age will not relifh a poem of that fort. People feek for what they call wit, on all subjects, confidering that nature loves truth fo well, that it hardly ever admits of flourishing: Conceit is to natu, re what paint is to beauty; it is not only needlefs, but impairs what it would improve. There is a certain majefty in fimplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit: infomuch that the critics have excluded wit from the loftieft poetry, as well as the lowest, and forbid it to the Epic no less than the Paftoral. I fhou'd certainly displease all those who are charm'd with Guarini and Bonarelli, and imitate Taffo not only in the fimplicity of his Thoughts, but in that of the Fable too. If furprizing discoveries fhould have place in the ftory of

a paftoral comedy, I believe it would be more agree. able to probability to make them the effects of chance than of defign; intrigue not being very confiftent with that innocence, which ought to conftitute a fhepherd's character, There is nothing in all the Aminta (as I remember) but happens by mere accident; unless it be the meeting of Aminta with Sylvia at the fountain, which is the contrivance of Daphne; and even that is the moft fimple in the world: the contrary is obfervable in Paftor Fido, where Corifca is fo perfect a mistress of intrigue, that the plot could not have been brought to pafs without her. I am inclined to think the paftoral comedy has another difadvantage, as to the manners: its general defign is to make us in love with the innocence of a rural life, so that to introduce fhepherds of a vicious character muft in fome measure debafe it; and hence it may come to pass, that even the virtuous characters will not fhine fo much, for want of being oppos'd to their contraries. Thefe thoughts are purely my own, and therefore I have reafon, to doubt them but I hope your judgment will fet me right.

I would beg your opinion too as to another - point: it is, how far the liberty of borrowing may extend? I have defended it fometimes by faying, that it feems not fo much the perfection of fenfe, (a) to fay things that had never been faid before, as to exprefs thofe beft that have been faid ofteneft; and that writers, in the cafe of borrowing

(4) le fhould rather, have faid, the perfection of conception,

from others, are like trees which of themselves would produce only one sort of fruit, but by being grafted upon others may yield variety. A mutual commerce makes poetry flourilh; but then poets, like merchants, should repay with fomething of their own what they take from others; not, like pyrates, make prize of all they meet. I defire you to tell me fincerely, if I have not ftretch'd this licence too far in thefe Paftorals? I hope to become a critic by your precepts, and a poet by your example. Since I have feen your Eclogues, I cannot be much, pleas'd with my own; however you have not taken away all my vanity, fo long as you give me leave to profefs myself Yours, &c.

I

LETTER IV.

From Mr. WALSH.

July 20, 1706. thanks for the favour was in hopes of gi

had fooner return'd you of your letter, but that I ving you an account at the fame time of my journey to Windfor; but I am now forced to put that quite off, being engaged to go to my corporation of Richmond in Yorkshire. I think you are perfe&ly in the right in your notions of Pastoral; but I am of opinion, that the redundancy of wit you men tion, tho' 'tis what pleafes the common people, is not what ever pleases the belt judges. Paftor Fido indeed has had more admirers than Aminta; but I

will venture to fay, there is a great deal of difference between the admirers of one and the other. Corifca, which is a character generally admir'd by the ordinary judges, is intolerable in a Paftoral; and Bonarelli's fancy of making his fhepherdess in love with two men equally, is not to be defended, whatever pains he has taken to do it. As for what you afk of the liberty of Borrowing; 'tis very evident the beft Latin Poets have exrended this very far; and none fo far as Virgil, who is the belt of them. As for the Greek Poets, if we cannot trace them fo plainly, 'tis perhaps because we have none before them; 'tis evident that most of them borrowed from Homer, and Homer has been accus'd of bur ́ ning those that wrote before him, that his thefts might not be discover'd. The best of the modern Poets in all languages, are thofe that have the nea reft copied the Ancients. Indeed in all the common subjects of Poetry, the thoughts are fo obvious (at least if they are natural) that whoever writes laft, must write things like what have been faid before: But they may as well applaud the Ancients for the arts of eating and drinking, and accuse the moderns of having ftolen thofe inventions from them: it being evident in all fuch cases, that whoever liv'd firft, mult first find them out. 'Tis true, indeed, when

unus alter

Affuitur pannus,

when there are one or two bright thoughts ftolen, and all the rest is quite different from it, a poem makes a very foolish figure: But when 'tis all mel

ted down together, and the Gold of the Ancients fo mix'd with that of the Moderns, that none can distinguish the one from the other, I can never find fault wirh it. I cannot however but own to you, that there are others of a different opinion, and that I have fhewn your verses to fome who have made that objection to them. I have fo much company round me while I write this, and fuch a noise in my ears, that 'tis impoffible I fhould write any thing but nonfense, so muft break off abruptly. I am, Sir,

Your most affectionate,

and most humble Servant.

then. Having been absent about fix weeks, I read over your Pastorals again, with a great deal of plea fure, and to judge the better read Virgil's Eclogues, Spenfer's Calendar, at the fame time; and, I affure you, I continue the fame opinion I had always of them. By the little hints you take upon all occafions to improve them, 'tis probable you will make them yet better against winter; tho' there is a mean to be kept even in that too, and a man may correct his verses till he takes away the true fpirit of