J'Jifl' ON POETICAL GENIUS. l8l 



fald, to lii3 fubjecl. He mud have the is viag/ia fanaiu- 

 ram. This quality, fo eflential in poetry, as it is mofl 

 capable of cultivation, deferves the more to be at- 

 tended to, and cultivated. Perhaps nature muft 



.confer imagination and fenfibility ; but force and ele- 

 gance, at leaft perfpicuity and correftnefs of expref- 

 iion may be attained by ftudy. What that ftudy, or thofe 

 exercifes may be which tend to the improvement of 

 expreffion, is foreign from our prefent fubjeft. Suffice 

 it that we have fliewn, that invention, fenfibility, and 

 expreffion are the eflential qualities of poetical genius. 



Ingeniiim cui fit, cui mens divinior, atque os 

 Magna fonaturuRi ; dcs nominis hujus honorem. 



CRITO. 



ON TALE-BEARING. 



To the Editor of the Beef 



"^A'lierc there is no Tale-bearer, the Strife ceafeth. Solomok. 



Sir, 



jH^mong the ufeful and injfenious eflays that have ap- 

 peared in your Mifcellany, I fee none on the fubjeci I 

 have chofen. — -I propofe, therefore, Mr Editor, to 

 point out fome of the bad confequences which follow 

 this moft dctcftable of all vulgar vices. 



Vices that terminate in immediate deftruiThion are 

 feldom extenfively fatal, becaufe they are carefully 

 guarded againft, and rarely praftifed ; but cunning, 

 fraud, and hypocrify, produce their effedls without 

 being adverted to. 



Slander is the eflence of tale-bearing ; and flander 

 alTumcs fo many (hapes to miflead, that the moft cau- 

 tious are not always able to refift its influence ; and 

 by its concealed venom it becomes the moft excruciat- 

 ing fcourge to mankind ! It difturbs the peace of fo- 

 cietics, families, and friends. 



