* First advertised in the Spectator, No 65. May 15, 1711.

C ο Ν Τ Ε Ν Τ S.

PART I.

| Ntroduction. That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to

write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, ver. 1.

That a true Tafte is as rare to be found, as a true Genius,

ver. 9 to 18.

That most men are born with fome Tafte, but spoiled by false

Education, ver. 19 to 25.

The multitude of Critics, and causes of them, ver. 26 to 45.

That we are to fludy our own Tafte, and know the Limits of

it, ver. 46 to 67.

Nature the best guide of Judgment, ver. 68 to 87.

Improv'd by Art and Rules, which are but methodiz’d Nature,

ver. 88.

Rules derived from the practice of the Ancient Poets, ver. 88

to IIO.

That therefore the Ancients are necessary to be study'd by a

Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil, ver. 120 to 138.

Of Licenses, and the use of them by the Ancients, ver. 140

to 18o.

Reverence due to the Ancients, and praise of them, ver. 181, &c.

2.

PART II. Ver. 203, &c.

Causes hindering a true Judgment, 1. Pride, ver. 208.

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 toa
hard to please, or too apt to admire, ver.

or too apt to admire, ver. 384. 5. Partiality-
too much love to a Sect,-to the Ancients or Moderns, ver.
394. 6. Prejudice or Prevention, ver. 408. 7. Singularity,
ver. 424, &c. 8. Inconftancy, ver. 430. 9. Party Spirit,
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.

PART III. Ver. 560, &c.
Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic, 1. Çandour,

yer. 563. Modesty, ver. 566. Good-breeding, ver. 572.
Sincerity and Freedom of Advice, ver. 578. 2. When
one's Counsel is to be restrained, ver. 584. Character of an
incorrigible 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 Critics,
Aristotle, ver. 645. Horace, ver. 653. Dionyfius, ver.
665. Petronius, ver. 667. Quintilian, ver. 670. Longinus,
ver. 675. Of the Decay of Criticism, and its Revival.
Erasmus, ver. 693. Vida, ver. 705. Boileau, ver. 714.
Lord Roscommon, &c. ver. 725. Conclusion.

'T'S

is 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 NOTES. An Essay] For a person of only twenty years old to have produced such an Essay, so replete with a knowledge of life and manners, such accurate observations on men and books, such variety of literature, such strong good fense, and refined taste and judgment, has been the subject of frequent, and of just admiration. It may fairly entitle him to the character of being one of the first of critics, though surely not of poets, as Dr. Johnson afferts. For Didactic poetry being, from its nature, inferior to Lyric, Tragic, and Epic poetry, we should confound and invert all literary rank and order if we compared and preferred the Georgics of Virgil to the Æneid, the Epistle to the Pisos, to the Qualem Ministrum of Horace, and Boileau's Art of Poetry to the Iphigenie of Racine. But Johnson's mind was formed for the Didactic, the Moral, and the Satyric; and he had no true relish for the higher and more genuine species of poetry. Strong couplets, modern manners, present life, moral fententious writings alone pleased him. Hence his tasteless and groundless objections to The Lycidas of Milton, and to The Bard of Gray. Hence his own Irene is so frigid and uninteresting a tragedy; while his imitations of Juvenal are so forcible and pointed. His Lives of the Poets are unhappily tin&ured with this narrow prejudice, and confined notion of poetry, which has occafioned many false

and