And while the Mufe now ftoops, or now afcends, 375 To man's low paffions, or their glorious ends. NOTES.

drefs to his friend, will furnish a Critic with example of every one of those five Species of Elocution, from which, as from its Sources, Longinus deduceth the SUBLIME".

1. The firft and chief is a Grandeur and Sublimity of Conception.

Come then, my Friend! my Genius! come along,
O Master of the Poet, and the Song !

And while the Muse now ftoops, or now ascends,
To man's low paffions, or their glorious ends.

2. The fecond, that pathetic Enthufiafm, which, at the fame time, melts and inflames :

Teach me, like thee, in various nature wise,
To fall with dignity, with temper rife,
Form'd by thy converfe, happily to fteer
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere;
Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease,
Intent to reason, or polite to please.

3. A certain elegant Formation and Ordonance of Figures:

Oh! while along the ftream of Time thy name
Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame,
Say, fhall my little bark attendant fail,
Purfue the triumph, and partake the gale!

4. A fplendid diction:

a

When ftatefmen, heroes, kings, in duft repofe,
Whofe fons shall blush their fathers were thy foes,

πέντε πηγαί τινές εἰσι τῆς ὑψηγορίας. 1. Πρῶτον με καὶ και κράτισον τὸ αξὶ τας νήσεις ἀδρεπήβολον. 2. Δεύτερον δὲ τὸ σφοδρὸν καὶ ἐνθεσιαςικὸν πάθω. 3. Ποιὰ τῶν οχημάτων πλάσις. 4. Η γυναία φράσις. 5. Πέμπτη 5 μεγέθος αίτια, καὶ συγκλείωσα τὰ πρὶ ἑαυτῆς ἅπανία, ἡ ἐν ἀξιώματι και άρση σύνθεση

Teach me, like thee, in various nature wife,
To fall with dignity, with temper rife ;
Form'd by thy converse, happily to fteer
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere;
Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease,
Intent to reason, or polite to please.

380

Oh! while along the stream of Time thy name
Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame;
Say, fhall my little bark attendant fail,

385

Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale ?
When statesmen, heroes, kings, in duft repose,
Whose fons fhall blufh their fathers were thy foes,
Shall then this verfe to future age pretend
Thou wert my guide, philofopher, and friend? 390
That urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art
From founds to things, from fancy to the heart;

NOTES.

Shall then this verfe to future age pretend
Thou wert my guide, philofopher, and friend?
That, urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art
From founds to things, from fancy to the heart;
For wit's falfe mirror held up Nature's light;
5. And, fifthly, which includes in itself all the reft, a
Weight and Dignity in the composition :

Shew'd erring pride whatever is, is RIGHT;

That REASON, PASSION, anfwer one great A1M;
That true SELF-LOVE and SOCIAL are the SAME,
That VIRTUE only makes our BLISS below;

And all our Knowledge is, OURSELVES TO KNOW.

1

For Wit's falfe mirror held up Nature's light;
Shew'd erring Pride, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT;
That REASON, PASSION, anfwer one great aim; 395
That true SELF-LOVE and SOCIAL are the fame ;
That VIRTUE only makes our Blifs below;
And all our knowledge is OURSELVES TO KNOW.

VARIATIONS.

VER. 397. That virtue only, &c.] In the MS. thus,
That just to find a God is all we can,
And all the Study of Mankind is Man.

NOTES.

VER. 391. Shew'd erring Pride, Whatever is, is Right ;] The poet's address to his friend, which concludeth this epiftle fo nobly, and endeth with a recapitulation of the general argument, affords me the following obfervation, with which I fhall conclude these remarks. There is one great beauty that fhines through the whole Essay: The Poet, whether he speaks of Man as an Individual, a Member of Society, or the Subject of Happiness, never miffeth an opportunity, while he is explaining his ftate under any of these capacities, to illuftrate it in the most artful manner by the inforcement of his grand Principle: THAT

EVERY THING TENDETH TO THE GOOD OF THE

WHOLE; from whence his fyftem receives the reciprocal advantage of having that grand Theorem realized by facts, and his facts juftified on a principle of Right or Nature.

1

THE

UNIVERSAL

PRAY E R.

DEO OPT. MAX.