There is no parodying a passage in Milton, without speaking of the late literary treasure, Mr T. Warton's edition of Milton's juvenile poems. Its critical notes have all the eloquence and strength of Johnson, without his envy. Johnson told me once," he would hang a dog that read the Lycidas twice." "What, then,” replied I, " must become of me, who can say it by heart; and who often repeat it to myself, with a delight which grows by what it feeds upon?" "Die," returned the growler," in a surfeit of bad taste."

Thus it was, that the wit and awless impoliteness of the stupendous creature bore down, by storm, every barrier which reason attempted to rear against his injustice. The injury that injustice has done to the claims of genius, and the taste for its effusions, is irreparable. You, my dear Madam, I am assured, have sense to perceive, and generosity to deplore its consequences.

LETTER XVI.

COURT DEWES, Esq.

Lichfield, May 27, 1785.

No, no, my ever esteemed friend, I cannot believe that Mr Hayley's friendship for Mr Sargent shews him unexisting poetic beauties in that gentleman's fine dramatic poem, the Mine; because I am perfectly sure that personal regard or dislike never raises in my own brain the illusions of prejudice for or against a literary composition. It is true, where I know that a brilliant or sublime work has proceeded from a hand I love, that consciousness increases the delight I feel in examining its features; but the delight must first spring from the merit of the author, not that of the man.

I love Mrs K- think her letters and conversation abound with genius; yet I cannot admire her verses. Dr Johnson's character and manners always excited much more of my indignation than esteem, yet do I continually shed tears of rapture over such of his writings as are free from the envious taint of his disposition. My

personal knowledge of Mr Sargent is very slight, were personal knowledge apt to influence me:but if the Mine is not, upon the whole, a composition of very considerable poetic merit, I have wholly mistaken the nature of poetry. When I observed to its author, that some of the lines in the dialogues had a certain roughness which might disgust the fastidiousness of modern taste, it is curious that he accounts for this roughness exactly as you do for the many inharmonious lines in Comus, which I am very certain are more harsh, and more frequent than in the Mine. The poems being of much the same length, if the ancient judged right, as you say he did, to set off, by contrast, the more melodious passages, the modern is justified in following his example. Mr Sargent tells me, that it was his choice to relieve his lawn by some inequalities, though he wished not to introduce into it the asperities of StoneHenge.

The Critical Review does justice to the splendour of Mr Sargent's poem. Its strictures upon it breathe a poetic sensibility far more than usual with those cold gentlefolk, the public critics, and of nice and just discrimination rarely found on their

pages.

I declare to you, my dear Sir, that I am all astonishment how you can endure my poetry, if

cause.

you think a work, which holds the light of genius so far above me, destitute of its great essentials. Permit me to thank you very warmly for shewing me the impropriety of my epithet swart for a sunbean. Misled by the "swart star" of Milton, I had associated no other idea but that of sultriness to the word, nor once reflected that, in using it for noon-day heats, I imputed the effect to the I altered swart into fierce in the copy I intend for my miscellany, the instant I had read your last letter. Be assured I shall always receive your observations upon any thing I write with the most cheerful gratitude, and endeavour to avail myself of them. Never yet have I felt the slightest reluctance to kiss the rod of friendly criticism. There are strange mistakes of press in my panegyric sonnet on the Mine, which I sent to the Gentleman's Magazine.

So we have lost the poet laureat. I always thought Mr Whitehead's abilities to oconsiderable for that rhyming drudgery; and now a yet greater bard undertakes the labouring oar of the boat which is to row our Monarch over one of the Pierian rivers.

Our concerts this winter have been very delightful. Mr Saville's songs are always exquisite ; and his fair pensive Philomel improves in every exertion. Attending frequently to Mr Saville's

manner of instructing his daughter in a song that is new to her, it is curious to observe on what nice touches musical expression depends, and how necessary a feeling heart, and even poetic taste, to enable a professor to teach his pupils to sing with elegance, pathos, and grace. Adieu.

LETTER XVII.

DR S

Lichfield, June 7, 1785.

THAT poetic criticism had been so much your study, I did not indeed know till I learnt it from your last letter. It was my idea, that the more important sciences had left you little time for the muses. Suffer me to observe, that was the highest compliment I could pay to the understanding of any man, who considers Mr

feeble poet.

as a

The misunderstood observation of Horace,

"Not to admire is all the art I know,

To make men happy or to keep them so,"