"little talent which he has is fan

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cy. He fometimes labours with a

thought; but, with the pudder he "makes to bring it into the world, 'tis "commonly ftill-born; fo that, for want "of learning and elocution, he will ne"ver be able to exprefs any thing either "naturally or juftly!"

This is not very decent; yet this is one of the pages in which criticifm prevails moft over brutal fury. He proceeds. He has a heavy hand at fools, "and a great felicity in writing nonsense "for them. Fools they will be in fpite "of him. His King, his two Empreffes, "his villain, and his fub-villain, nay. "his hero, have all a certain natural "caft of the father-their folly was

"born and bred in them, and fomething

"of the Elkanah will be vifible."

This is Dryden's general declama

tion; I will not withold from the reader a particular remark. Having gone thro' the first act, he fays, "To conclude this "act with the most rumbling piece of "nonsense spoken yet,

"To flatt'ring lightning our feign'd "fmiles conform,

"Which back'd with thunder do but

"gild a ftorm.

"Conform a fmile to lightning, make a Smile imitate lightning, and flattering

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lightning lightning fure is a threaten

ing thing. And this lightning muft

gild a form. Now if I must conform

་ my fimiles to lightning, then my

"fmiles

"fmiles muft gild a ftorm too: to gild " with fmiles is a new invention of gild-'

ing. And gild a ftorm by being backed "with thunder. Thunder is part of the "ftorm; fo one part of the ftorm must

help to gild another part, and help by backing; as if a man would gild a thing the better for being backed, or "having a load upon his back. So "that here is gilding by conforming, "fmiling, lightning, backing, and thun

dering. The whole is as if I fhould

fay thus, I will make my counterfeit "fmiles look like a flattering ftone"horfe, which, being backed with a trooper, does but gild the battle. I

I am miftaken if nonfenfe is not here

pretty thick fown. Sure the poet

"" writ

"writ thefe two lines aboard fome "fmack in a storm, and, being fea-fick, "fpewed up a good lump of clotted "nonfenfe at once."

Here is perhaps a fufficient fpecimen; but as the pamphlet, though Dryden's, has never been thought worthy of republication, and is not eafily to be found, it may gratify curiofity to quote it more largely.

Whene'er fhe bleeds,

He no feverer a damnation needs, That dares pronounce the fentence of her death,

Than the infection that attends that breath.

"That attends that breath.-The poet "is at breath again; breath can never

<< 'cape

fcape him; and here he brings in a "breath that must be infectious with pro "nouncing a fentence; and this fentence "is not to be pronounced till the con"demned party bleeds; that is, fhe muft "be executed first, and sentenced after; "and the pronouncing of this fentence. "will be infectious; that is, others will "catch the disease of that sentence, and "this infecting of others will torment "a man's felf. The whole is thus "when he bleeds, thou needeft no greater "hell or torment to thyfelf, than infecting

of others by pronouncing a sentence upon, "her. What hodge-podge does he"make here! Never was Dutch grout "fuch clogging, thick, indigeftible ftuff. But this is but a tafte to stay

"the