Dr. Barnes on Poetry. 69 
was once haranguing the people. When that 
Orator pronounced the following fentence; ‘ Pa- 
tris di£him fapiens temeritas filii comprobavit/ 
it was aftonifhjng, fays he, to obferve the gene¬ 
ral applaufe, which followed that harmonious clofe. 
And he tells us, that, if the final meafure had 
been changed, and the words placed in a different 
order, their whole eflfeft would have been abfo- 
lutcly deftroyed.” 
This muficalntfs, and flow of numerous com- 
pofition, which charms the ear of every judicious 
reader, is certainly felt moft ftrongly, when it 
is read aloud , with tafie and expreflion. But 
when read with the eye only , without the accom¬ 
paniment of the voice, there is a fainter ajfociaticn 
of the found, the fhadowof themujic , as it were, con¬ 
nected with the words 3 fo that, we can judge as 
cxadly of the compofition, as if were audible 
to the ear. This pow'er, of aflociating/crWwith 
vfion, is formed gradually by habit3 for com¬ 
mon people, who are not much accuftomed to 
books, hardly underhand any thing they, read, 
unlefs it be accompanied with the voice. And 
fome Gentlemen are faid to have acquired this 
art of mental combination fo perfectly, as to 
read, even the notes of a mufical compofition, 
with confiderable pleafure. 
The difference of modulation in languages, 
muft give a different chara&er and expreflion 
to their poetic compofitions. The Grecian and 
F 3 Roman 
