fortune which attends fuch a tragical event; but this fhort piece of intelligence slightly "touches the pafsions, But if you fhould open

all that is included in this single expression of "a city's being facked, the flames would appear fpreading themselves through the houses and "temples, you would hear the crash of falling

edifices, and the commingled din of different noifes. Some would be feen flying they knew "not whither, and others clafping round their relations in the laft embraces. You would hear the cries of women and children; and be fhocked to fee poor old men, that have unhappily lingered out a life that must be closed in fuch a tremendous fate. Here you would behold the plunder of whatever was valuable, "whether facred or profane. Some are running "off with the fpoil; others, in different quar

ters of the city, are returning to it. Here "the captives bound in chains are driven before "their tyrants: the mother struggles hard to "keep her grafp of her infant; and the very "conquerors themselves, where they find an ex"traordinary booty, are fighting for their fhares. "Though the facking of a city, as I have ob"ferved, comprehends all these horrors, yet "how different is the mention of the thing in general, to the diftinct and particular repre*fentation of fuch a direful catastrophe *?”

§. 6. It may not be unserviceable to give some directions concerning the Hypotypofis. As,

(1) Let our descriptions be exact and faithful copies from nature, Dr YOUNG, in one of his notes upon his Paraphrafe on Part of the Book of Job, obferves, that our judicious and fublime "Author just touches the great points of dif "tinction in each creature (the peacock, oftrich,

&c.) and then haftens to another. A defcrip"tion is exact, when you cannot add but what is "common to another thing, nor withdraw but fomething peculiarly belonging to the thing "defcribed. A likeness is loft in too much defcription, as a meaning often in too much il"luftration."

(2) Let us know when we have faid enough, and avoid tautology. If we aim to make a description large, let us beware that we do

not

enim qui dicit expugnatam effe civitatem, complectitur omnia quæcunque talis fortuna recipit, fed in affectus minus penetrat brevis hic velut nuntius. At fi aperias hæc quæ verbo uno inclufa erant, apparebunt effufæ per domos ac templa flammæ, & ruentium tectorum fragor, & ex diverfis clamori bus unus quidam fonus, aliorumque incerta fuga: alii in extremo complexu fuorum cohærentes, & infantium feminarumque ploratus, & male ufque in illum diem fervati fato fenes: tum illa profanorum facrorumque direptio, efferentium prædas repetentiumque discursus, & acti ante fuum quifque prædonem atenati, & conata retinere infantem fuum mater, & ficubi majus lucrum eft, pugna inter victores. Licet enim hæc omnia (ut dixi) complectatur everfio, minus eft tamen totum dicere, quam omnia. QUINTIL, lib. viii. cap. 3. § 5.

not fall into a famenets of idea. whole tea b

will mar the beauties of the

judicious. Ovi tells us,

All things were lea:

A thought fublime in its own native unti but how does the Piet wretched

when he immediately adds.

The fea too had 10 hores

“ Lucan's defcription of te

"The P1, that thing with wemmen ize "O'erfets whole woods in ts

"And, rifing from Helferd's war e

“Th’exhausted land of al 3 min nas "The P1, as ing the tie 1 anve "Its wand ring current to sada ka « For when young Zaxator miksete ne var, "Loft and confounder n te vazi se “This river, with bring fan deny i " When all the f f ne me

"And nature's felf ar at a me "Quenca'd the dire fame ha e te

* Omnia pontis ent. Dasar por p Cr 1. Name

+ Quoque magis misu alu é ört a strang Eridanes, fractalote emirit non Hefperiamque exhaust autis

§6. It may not be unserviceable to give some directions concerning the Hypotypofis. As,

(1) Let our descriptions be exact and faithful copies from nature, Dr YOUNG, in one of his notes upon his Paraphrafe on Part of the Book of Job, obferves, that our judicious and fublime "Author just touches the great points of dis"tinction in each creature (the peacock, oftrich, "&c.) and then haftens to another. A descrip❝tion is exact, when you cannot add but what is "common to another thing, nor withdraw but fomething peculiarly belonging to the thing "described. A likeness is loft in too much description, as a meaning often in too much il"luftration."

66

(2) Let us know when we have said enough, and avoid tautology. If we aim to make a defcription large, let us beware that we do

not

enim qui dicit expugnatam effe civitatem, complectitur omnia quæcunque talis fortuna recipit, fed in affectus minus penetrat brevis hic velut nuntius. At fi aperias hæc quæ verbo uno inclufa erant, apparebunt effufæ per domos ac templa flammæ, & ruentium tectorum fragor, & ex diverfis clamori bus unus quidam fonus, aliorumque incerta fuga: alii in extremo complexu fuorum cohærentes, & infantium feminarumque ploratus, & male ufque in illum diem fervati fato fenes: tum illa profanorum facrorumque direptio, efferentium prædas repetentiumque discursus, & acti ante fuum quifque prædonem catenati, & conata retinere infantem fuum mater, & ficubi majus lucrum eft, pugna inter victores. Licet enim hæc omnią (ut dixi) complectatur everfio, minus eft tamen totum dicere, quam omnia. QUINTIL, lib. viii. cap. 3. § 5.

not fall into a fameness of idea, whofe dead fly will mar the beauties of the Hypotypofis with the judicious. OVID tells us, that at the deluge,

All things were sea:

A thought fublime in its own native simplicity; but how does the Poet wretchedly tautologize, when he immediately adds,

The fea too had no fhores * ?

"LUCAN'S defcription of the Po," fays Mr ADDISON, "would have been very beautiful, had "he known where to have given over.

"The Po, that rushing with uncommon force, "O'erfets whole woods in its tumultuous course, "And, rifing from Hefperia's watry veins, "Th' exhaufted land of all its moisture drains. "The Po, as fings the fable, first convey'd "Its wand'ring current thro' a poplar fhade; "For when young PHAETON mistook his way, "Loft and confounded in the blaze of day, "This river, with surviving streams supply'd, "When all the reft of the whole earth was dry'd, "And nature's felf lay ready to expire,

Quench'd the dire flame that set the world on fire t. "The

* Omnia pontus erant. Deerant quoque littora ponto. OVID. Metamorph. lib. i. ver. 292.

+ Quoque magis nullum tellus fe folvit in amnem Eridanus, fractafque evolvit in æquora fylvas, Hefperiamque exhaurit aquis: hunc fabula primum

Y

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