f 
Hs 
~ 
/ 
him ; and of the latter, I truft, the follow- 
ing letter will as evidently acquit him. 
Tam, Sir, &c. 
Kirkby- Moorfide. W. COMBER. 
Nov. 7th, 1799. 

‘¢ Kirkby-Moorfide, Sept. 11th, 1793. 
ESC DayA Ro Shuts 
&* Underftanding that attempts are made 
to propagate an idea, that the late Arch-Dea- 
con Blackburne’s (your Ray father) fen- 
timents correfponded with thofe of the mo- 
dern Unitarians (as they call themfelves); 
my refpect for the memory of fo near and va- 
Fuable a relation, as well as my regard for 
the interefts of true religion, urge'me to fur- 
nifh yeu with a proof of his lateft opinion on 
the nature of our Saviour Jefus Chritt ; which 
i hope will, with any ingenuous mind, irre- 
fragably Tait any Rehr idea. And.as I-take’ 
it for granted you muft wifh to refcue your 
father’s character from fuch an extraordinary 
mifreprefentation, you are perfectly at liberty 
to make this information as public as you 
choofe, as T fhould be glad, by my teftimony, 
to be iA ‘umental in pies the falfehood 
of the report. 
<¢ You know, Sir, your father honoured 
me With a confiderable degree of his efteem 
‘and confidence, to the very conclufion of his 
life ;-it is not therefore furprifing, that he 
fhould communicate, to me, his fentiments 5 
efpecially when he was certain the know- 
ledge of them. would give me fatisfaéion. 
‘<< To the beft of fay memory, he, more’ 
than once, in fome of the lateft converfations 
t had with him, and I believe at the diftance 
of a year or two from each other, expreffed 
himfelf as follows, as nearly as I can recol- 
ject : 
Divinity of Fefus Chrift.’ My anfwer I think 
was: <“¢ | am very glad of it, Sir” He 
added, at the fame time, ‘‘ What Dr Pr iefiley 
Bclimincs concerning “fefus Hee I do not know as 
J never could get an anfwer to that quefiion either 
from bimfelf or any of his connections ;”” or words 
to that efea. 
‘© This declaration was not made accident-. 
4 
ally ; but with an evident defign,as appeared f 10 
to me, (and, I think, a politive requett) that. 
Ywouldtake particular notice of it ; which I 
therefore did ; fori felt great joyin is aris it. 
And as it Te made with much energy, and 
repeatedly ; and, as fareas I recollect, at the 
wery laft interviews I had with him, one of 
which, as you muft recollect, was afew wecks 
only before his death, 
thefe were his real and his /af# {fentiments on 
that: fubject. .I “ho Opes where this is known, 
it will ciectually do away the idea of his 
being affociated in opinion with the leaders of 
the modern Unitarians. I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate .kinfman, 
And obliged humble fervant, 
W. COMBER.” 
6¢ ‘The Rev. F. Blackburne.”’—in whofe 
potiefiion my original letter now is. 
20 Mr.Comber on Archd. Blackburn—Ohfervations on Metaftafio. [Feb.1. 
<¢ Coufin Comber, I firmly believe the. 
i have no doubt that? 
j 
Fer the Monthly Magazine. 
\[ Obfervations on the principal ftalian Poets, 
_ concluded from ise B72, of vol. viii. | 
M ETASTASIO. - This is the firft 
4 author that has reconciled me to 
foreign dramatic poets. The dull medi- 
ocrity of the beft French dramatifts, and 
the experience that the prolixity and gar- 
rulity of Guarini afforded of the Italian, 
had tempted me to believe that dramatic 
poetry had become an iflander, and feldom 
vilited the continent. In Metaftafio, how- 
ever, there is a vivacity of action, of fenti- 
ment, and of expreffion, fufficient-to banith 
a-bigotry which the phlegmatic declama-, 
tion of the French poets was more than far 
ficient to generate. In this refpeét, in- 
deed, the different conftruction of French 
“and Italian verfification gives the latter 
an eminent advantage. ‘The equally 
meted and inflexible dodecafyllabical length 
of the French heroic refules to exprefs ary 
variety of manner, or accommodate itfelf 
to any change of paflicn, or difference of 
aétion :—like Hudibras’s horfe,. 
‘* He was well ftaid, and in his gait 
. Preferved a grave majettic flate. 
At fpur, or fwitch, no moxe he fkipt, 
Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt.” 
Whilf the Italian verfe (like the famous 
coat that fits the moon in all its changes) . 
adapts itfelf to every variety of fentiment 
and ‘diétion,-and all the inflections of im- 
paflioned ¢ones, find an yielding verfifica- 
‘tion that. they can mould into their own 
form. There feems, however, a greater 
compafs and. capability “in Italian verfe, 
than even the plaftic powers of Metaftafio 
has exhibited.» For though he has, in 
general, animation enough £6 be intereft- 
ing, he has feldom ftrength enough to de- 
light, or even to furprife, with azy f{pe- 
cies of very vivid emotion. Both in the 
plan and in the conduét of his pieces, 
there is an equability obfervable ; and 
though it be a regulated uniformity of ex- 
cellence, it appears to reprefs any of thofe 
explofions of energy, with which poets, 
Jefs cenerally pleaf ing, will fometimes af- 
tonifh and delight. His° ornaments are 
few, and generally confined to a fimile in 
fullform : of thefe, too, the place may be 
generally predicted :—the concluding afr 
of a feene feems an alarum bell to ‘the 
poet’s imagination, which thinks itfelf © 
obliged to obey the fummons ; and is thus 
fo often called upon by duty and autho- 
rity, that 1t feldom performs a voluntary, 
On thefe occafions, however, the reader is 
fo often pleafed, that an air without an or- 
. — Mameng 
‘ 
