jfj i ' Gn'glnal Letters hetwetn Dr. Young and Mr. rtUhardson. [Nov. 1, 



}'a£;e 18. — "To be the follower of an- 

 ci'-»t authors." 



"The writer's own geUins," &c. I« not 

 that which foliows the^e woids latber too 

 I'old? Miglit not the paiagrajih end at 

 the word worshipped ! 



For "the god of sons," suppose A|)ollo, 

 a« tiie patron nf poetry ; as, aftcr'Aards, 

 yhwbiis as the owner oi" the chariot ? 



P. 19. — Pi,pe's, sir, I venture to say, was 

 not th<: genius to lift our souls to Heaven, 

 Ii;kJ it soured ever so freely, since it soared 

 fiot in the Ciiristian beam ; but tliere is an 

 pa»;ie, whuse eyes pierce thronaih the 

 shades of midnight, that does indeed tran- 

 fftm-t ns, and tlie apotheosis is yonr's. 

 \i hether tliis may sui<%est any softenintr, 

 pr any improvement to the passage, must 

 be submitted to you ; but, surely, an he- 

 mic poem ought not to be mentioned in 

 these terms, which so exactly belont; to a 

 (titine one. The aiitlior of one wishes to 

 fcive bis name swim down the stream of 

 time on the wrt'ik of Bolinpbroke; the 

 ctlwr dedicates his early muse to Him who 

 f;ave him voice, and conserjucutly his tcork 

 ii Tcrvitefriim all imitation. .Should there 

 fiot be here some distinction oi' imittitors 

 of nther authors, and imitation of nature, 

 iu vihich respect poetry is called one of 

 the imitative arts? The tame nnitator of 

 Oil:er poets is a copier of portraits, the 

 true genius a nolile painter of originals, *o 

 ■whom nature deiighis to sit in every va- 

 riety of altitude. 



Indeed, sir, I cannot imagine tliat Pope 

 would have shor.e in bliiuk vei5e ; and do 

 you \v,\\'\ think he h.id invention enough 

 Vo make him a great poet ? Did he not 

 want the assistance of rhyme, of jingle? 

 Wlial oii'^inality is there in the works for 

 wliich he is most famed ? .Shall I say, that 

 J wi.-h yon would be pleased to reconsider 

 all you "say of the creative power of Pope ? 

 Tliire is a hasty scratch through some of 

 till? lines in this page ; excuse it, sir, and 

 J^t me beg- of you to alter, particularly, 

 tlw same paragrap!:s, lest you should be 

 fhoughl to degrade, by a too minuie allii- 

 5ion, tlie awful wonders of creation. .Siip- 

 po e. sir, when you ask, Wiiat does the 

 Hanie ot poet mean? yon answer after 

 soiiic sircli manner as this—" It means a 

 tfntker, and, coiiseipicntly, his wo<li is 

 snm thivi; ori!>iiui',iiuilc Ids own. It is not 

 tiie labiinrcci improvement of a modeiii 

 Cultivator bestowed on a soil a'ready fer- 

 tile, and icfiiiing on a plan already formed; 

 l);'.t the touch of Armida's wand, that calls 

 for'.h blooming spiiug out of the ^liapeiess 

 waste, and presents in a monieiit objects 

 new and various, which his genius only 

 could have foimcd in that peculiar nian- 

 BtT, and his taste or.iy' arranged with that 

 pt'Ciibar g;a' e. These two enchanting 

 eiil-5 of' taste and genius were jio.tstssrd hij 

 Skaks:iM'e in ,a suqi: Isiag digrcC) in both 

 ihuii.ii.,'' c«.c. 



Page 2t. — " An infallible receipt against 

 disturbing our passions." 



Coiisiderin'4 how very licentior»s and 

 wretched in every view most of Dry den's 

 comedies are, can it bo said he writ them 

 fsr eternity ? Suppose it be thus altered, 

 " He writ tragedy for sivhsistence, and his 

 other compositions for fame ; and if Ae /i«d 

 hii'l no otlter wins: to reach even eternal 

 fame hut his incompurnble ode,' &c. 



"Tuliy's assassin found him readins,"* 

 &c. Should not the authority for this be 

 quoted? 



Page 23. — " Shakspeare, Bacon, Ncvr- 

 fou," are great originals. Forgive iiie for 

 otvit<'mg great men, because, strictly speak- 

 ing. Bacon — 



The uisist.l>rigklesl, meavest, of mankind, 

 Was not therefore, strictly speaking, a 

 great man ; and, though Shakspeare as an 

 author was so far (greater than Addison, as 

 more an origimil, \et was he inferior to biin 

 as a raan^ because, in Ins best writings, 

 less useful — for man to man is only grca^ 

 with respect to Iiis fulfilling the important 

 purposes for which man was made. But 

 are not the tlnee orii'inals I liave named 

 men of detached excellence, bordering, 

 &c. 



Pray, sir, may it not be hinted, as a 

 piece of justice, that Addison was some-' 

 limes origin d; and, in his Sir Roger, as 

 much so as Shakspeare. 



Page 21. — If, sir, you disapprove not of 

 the above ciitieisin on originals, may not 

 what is placed between books be omitted? 



And may not also what is said of Cain 

 be dispensed with; the passage running 

 thus — -'become ancients ourselves; and 

 old Time, that sure weigher of merit," ifc. 



Page i'4, i.'.T. — lluw iiobie, how adniiia- 

 ble, is your conciiisiun ! I am inspired by 

 it to otter the following to your forgiving 

 con^ideratiim. 



" Are not love of vain fame, and forget- 

 fiilne-s of certain death, both to be ac- 

 counted for flora human abuse of divine 

 goodness ? Oil a second review, you will 

 pos«ihly approve the small additions pro- 

 posed in this view. 



Suppose, after the words, " I find it in 

 tlie marvellous gooibiess of God," cihn.ieU 

 bi/ Ike murveU'ius pnTcistness oj man! In 

 this point, ic. 



Page vo. — " In absolute oblivion of a 

 fall." 'l"!;is, us the forintsr ease, proceeds 

 from 7nan's fidlif and vice, \wr\vitiii<^ to his 

 destruction the wisdom and goodness ofi 

 G<id. The all gracious Creator dtsigned 

 that he should huve a c: rtaiii task, 6cc. 



" In the next," But the task of life 

 would be ovei looked, and its enjoyments 

 tasteless, if that terrible pmportlin. 



.After tiie \\o\i\a draw its sling, suppose 

 the following ? 



Some merit it hath, but, like all human 



merit, nothing whereof to glory, 'i'hongh 



our Learta are iu luerc^ Laideued against 



«uutiuual 



