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Similar habits of thinking, and fimilar difpofitions of mind 

 will more or lefs prevail among inhabitants of the fame country, 

 and thus lay the foundation of a national ftyle of thought and 

 fentiment. The different idioms of different languages prevent 

 clofe tranflation. The variety in minds and habits of different 

 countries caufe an equal difficulty in imitating an author of a 

 different nation. But a fimilarity of individual mind will 

 overcome the difficulty, and enable a writer of whatever country 

 to imitate or tranflate with fuccefs. From this caufe is derived 

 the excellence of Rowe's tranflation of Lucan : and to the fame 

 caufe we may afcribe the fuperiority of Swift's imitations of 

 Horace to thofe of the other wits of his age. The journey to 

 Brundufium fhews us what circumftances made impreflion on 

 the mind of Horace, and traditional ftories of Swift's habits 

 fhew that many of them would with him have met a fimilar 

 reception. Swift had Horace's knowledge of common life, his 

 fondnefs for familiar incident, and his turn of eafy and natural 

 expreffion. Milton, according to his own tafle, has imitated 

 one of Horace's odes, by giving an Englifli verfion with all the 

 Latin conflrudlions ; and Pope has followed his own eftablifhed 

 habits by imitating fome of the fatires in ornamented phrafe- 

 ology and harmonious verfification. 



If the proper objedl of mankind be man, an enqiiiry into 

 the varieties of the human mind, a difcovery of them in their 

 natural effetfls, in the flyle of thought, traced oiTt through the 

 medium of literary produdlions and flyle of language, could 

 not fail of being highly ufeful. Critics, who have confined their 



obfervations 



