34 



approbation of every sound and genuine critic." * Quinc- 

 tilian also tells that there are some who pay more attention 

 to elegance of expression, and brilliancy of metaphor, than 

 to real strength of conception, correctness of opinion, and 

 weight of argument. -j' Pope has said, that a little learning 

 is a dangerous thing, and his own Essay on Man is a memo- 

 rable and lasting instance of the truth of his observation. 

 Had he possessed that logical acumen which seems to be so 

 much despised, he would not have been seduced by the art- 

 ful sophistry of Bolingbroke into a defence and illustration of 

 the doctrine of fatalism. That he was seduced, is evident, 

 both from the conduct of Bolingbroke, who is said to have ri- 

 diculed him, among his confidential friends, for having adopt- 

 ed principles, of which he did not .perceive the tendenc}'-, 

 and also from that ardor of delight and profusion of grati- 

 tude, with which Pope accepted and acknowledged the gra- 

 tuitous defence set up by Warburton. 



That Pope was thus deceived by the specious arguments 

 of his insidious preceptor, cannot be attributed to a natural 

 defect in the discursive faculty, on the contrary the manner 

 in which he treats this very subject is a sufficient proof that 

 he possessed it in a very high degree: nor can we imagine 

 that he adopted these dogmas immediately and without ex- 



* Ml) Tiva jnEys^a; ej^o* ^a»Taj-*a» lavrnv 'r woXu -a^oc-KUza-i to eix« •m^oo'a.yx'sjXaTTCj/.mv, avasr- 



f Sunt qui ueglecto rcrum pondere et viribus stnteiiliarum, si vel inania verba in Iios 

 niodos depravaverint, suuiinos se judicent artifices, ideoque noii desiuuut eos nectere. 



