Authors; but all that I aim at, is to fhew, that as he was ca pable of reading fome of the Romans, fo he had actually read Ovid, and Plautus, without fpoiling or confining his Fancy, or

Genius.

66

66

"Whether his Ignorance of the Antients were a Difadvantage to him or no, may admit of a Difpute." I am furpriz'd at the Aflertion; unlefs Mr. Rowe means, That all things may be argu'd upon; and that the Problems of Euclid, fo long admitted as indisputable, may, by a new fort of Scepticism, be call'd in queftion. The Reafon he affigns for this, is thus: "For tho the Knowledge of them might have made him more correct, yet it is not improbable but that the Regularity and "Deference for them, which would have attended that Correct"nefs, might have reftrain'd fome of that Fire, Impetuofity, "and even beautiful Extravagance, which we admire in ShakeSpear." I must own, that I am not capable of comprehending his Proof, or indeed of finding that it is any Proof at all: For if the Knowledge of the Antients would have made him correct, it would have given him the only Perfection he wanted; and that is certainly an Advantage not to be difputed. But then this "Correctnefs might have reftrain'd fome of that Fire, "Impetuofity, and even Beautiful Extravagance, &c." We do not find, that Correctness in Homer, Virgil, Sophocles, Euripides, &c. reftrain'd any Fire that was truly celeftial: And why we fhould think, that it would have had a worfe Effect on ShakeSpear, I cannot imagine; nor do I underftand what is meant by Beautiful Extravagance: For if it be fomething beyond Nature, it is fo far from being admir'd by Men of Senfe, that it is contemn'd and laugh'd at. For what there is in any Poem, which is out of Nature, and contrary to Verifimilitude and Probability, can never be beautiful, but abominable. The Business of Poetry is to copy Nature truly, and obferve Probability and Verifimilitude juftly; and the Rules of Art are to thew us what Nature is, and how to diftinguish its Lineaments from the unruly and prepofterous Sallies and Flights of an irregular, and uninftru&ted Fancy. So that as I think it is plain, that Shakespear was

not

not intirely ignorant of the Antients; fo, I believe, it is as evident, that he would have been much more, not lefs, perfect than he is, had his Ignorance of them been much less, than it really was. A judicious Reader of our Author will eafily discover those Defects, that his Beauties would make him with had been corrected by a Knowledge of the whole Art of the Drama. For it is evident, that by the Force of his own Judgment, or the Strength of his Imagination, he has follow'd the Rules of Art in all thofe Particulars in which he pleases. I know, that the Rules of Art have been fufficiently clamour'd against by an ignorant and thoughtless fort of Men of our Age; but it was because they knew nothing of them, and never confider'd, that without fome Standard of Excellence, there could be no Juftice done to Merit, to which Poetafters, and Poets must elfe have an equal Claim, which is the highest Degree of Barbarifm. Nay, without an Appeal to these very Rules, Shakespear himself is not to be diftinguifh'd from the most worthless Pretenders, who have often met with an undeferv'd Applaufe, and challeng'd the Title of great Poets, from their Succefs.

.

Το

Nature, Nature is the great Cry against the Rules. We must be judg'd by Nature, fay they; not at all confidering, that Nature is an equivocal Word, whofe Senfe is too various and extenfive ever to be able to appeal to; fince it leaves it to the Fancy and Capacity of every one, to decide what is according to Nature, and what not. Befides, there may be a great many things natural, which Dramatick-Poetry has nothing to do with. do the Needs of Life, is as natural as any Action of it; but to bring fuch a thing into a Piece of History-Painting, or DramatickPoetry, would be monftrous and abfurd, tho natural; for there may be many things natural in their proper Places, which are not fo in others. It is therefore neceffary, there fhould be Rules to let the Poet know not only what is natural, but when it is proper to be introduc'd, and when not. The Droll-Pieces of the Dutch are all very natural; yet I dare believe there is no Man so very ignorant of the Decorum of History-Painting, as to think, that in the Tent of Darius, by Monfieur Le Brun, or the Jephtha's

Sacrifice,

Sacrifice, it wou'd be natural or proper to introduce one of those Droll-Pieces, either of drinking, dancing, fnick-or-fnee, or the like. For tho both the Painters have propos'd Nature for their Copy, and have drawn her perfectly well; yet Grief and Laughter are fo very incompatible, that to join thefe two Copies of Nature together, wou'd be monftrous, and fhocking to any judicious Eye. And yet this Abfurdity is what is done fo commonly among us in our Tragi-Comedies; this is what our Shakespear himself has frequently been guilty of, not only in those Mixtures which he has given us of that kind, but in many other Particulars, for want of a thorow Knowledge of the Art of the Stage.

. After this, I hope no Man will affert, that Criticism is an illnatur'd Work, unless he will declare for all the Extravagancies of Ignorance, and that Abfurdities ought to be indulg'd for the fake of a great Name. For if Truth and Reafon may be of any Account, to point out the real Errors of any Man, muft be thought a good-natur❜d Office; fince it is to bring Men to a juft Sense of things, and a true Knowledge and Taste of Nature, and Art. Did ever any Man think it an ill-natur'd thing to tell a Friend of his Mistakes in Conduct? Much lefs muft it be thought fo in the Discoveries of the Errors of writing; because by the Correction many are inform'd how to direct themselves justly, and not to follow the Ignes Fatuos of a diftemper'd Fancy, without ever confulting Judgment; which must make its Decifion by the Rules of Art. I confefs, that there is a Decency in doing this, which to forfake, is to become liable to this Cenfure, as Mr. Rymer has done; who was not content to point out the Faults of Shakespear, but would deny him all manner of Excellence: The like has been done by the Remarker on Cato. This indeed favours of Ill-nature and Envy: But fure no body will accuse AriStotle of the fame Crime, for those he discovers in Sophocles, Euripides, and fome other Greek Poets, whofe Beauties and Perfections he recommends to our Imitation. Notwithstanding that he forms from thefe his Poeticks, and tho they were of fuch great Authority and Esteem; yet this Father of all Criticks makes no

Difficulty

Difficulty of fhowing in what they tranfgrefs'd the Rules, which he founds on Reason, and Nature: Which the Athenians rightly look'd on, as a piece of Justice, not Ill-nature. For if, as he allow'd them their Excellencies, he had not pointed out their Defects; he had left room for a Bigotry to a Name, to have made their Vices pafs for Virtues, to the prejudice of the juft Improvement of fo noble an Art. Thus I fhall all along recommend the Beauties of Shakespear; but muft beg leave to lay down the Rules of the Drama, left we fall into an erroneous Imitation of his Faults. The Answer of Dionyfius to Pompey the Great, will be juft, to all who fhall be of his mind, Pompey complain'd, that he had found fault with Plato, to which he replies in this manner, "Your Veneration for Plato is juft, but your Ac"cufation of me unjuft. When a Man writes to fhow what is good or bad in a Subject, he ought, with the utmost Exactness, to point out its Virtues, and Vices, because that is a certain way "to come at the Truth, which is the most valuable of all things. "Had I wrote against Plato, with a Design to decry his Works, "I ought to have been accounted as envious as Zoilus; but, on "the contrary, my Defign was to praise him: Yet if in doing "this, I have difcover'd and improv'd any of his Errors or De"fects, I have done nothing that merits a Complaint, &c.

કંદ

ઠંડ

This, I hope, is fufficient to clear juft Criticifm from the Imputation of Ill-nature: And I am of opinion, that fince Poetry has always been efteem'd, in all civiliz'd and polite Countries, a noble Art; there is a Neceffity to free it from that Barbarifm it has hitherto lain under in this Nation, especially in its most valuable and ufeful Part, the Drama; to lay down those Rules which may form our Judgment, and bring it to a Perfection, that it has not yet known among us.

There is indeed a very formidable Party among us, who are fuch Libertines in all manner of Poetry, efpecially in the Drama, that they think all regular Principles of Art an Impofition not to be born; yet, while they refuse in Poetry just Rules, as a Teft of their Performance, they will allow no Man a Mafter in any other, that follows not the Rules of his Art, be it

Painting,

Painting, Statuary, Architecture, &c. tho the Precepts of Poetry are not lefs founded on Nature, and Reason, and muft indeed be the only Distinction betwixt an Artist, and a Pretender. This false Notion has open'd a Door to all the abominable Scriblers, who have fo often won a Reputation from the Ignorance of the Town (to the Scandal of the Nation) nay, who have pafs'd for Authors of the first Rank; tho their Writings, as Ben Johnson, in his Difcoveries, has it, A Man would not wrap up any wholesome Drug in, &c. For if Poetry have no certain Standard of Excellence, no fix'd Rules to go by; then it muft of confequence be an arbitrary Licence of writing what extravagant thing foever one pleases; and that Mess of Madness, that is most plaufibly cook'd up by the Players, and goes beft down with the Mob, that is, the Ignorant of all Degrees and Stations, is the best Poetry: A Notion fo very whimsical, that it was never entertain'd in any City in the Universe, but London (and perhaps Madrid,) for it levels all Men, makes Settle and Durfey as good Poets as Otway, and Addison: Which is to deter Men of Learning and Genius from writing, fince they are liable to Cenfures, almost as fcandalous as those the Poets of Madrid are fubject to; as we have the Account from The Lady's Travels into Spain: Which, because it bears fome Proportion to the State of our Stage, I fhall tranfcribe.

------- The finest Comedy in the World, (fays fhe) I mean 'thofe acted in the Cities, very often receive their Fate from the weak Fancy of fome ignorant Wretch or other. But there

is one particularly, a Shoe-maker, who decides the Matter, and who has gain'd fo abfolute an. Authority fo to do, that when the Poets have made their Plays, they go to him, and as it were, fue to him for his Approbation: They read to him their Plays; and the Shoe-maker, with grave Looks thereupon, utters abundance of Nonfence; which nevertheless the poor Poet is forc'd to put up. After all, if he happens to be at the first acting of it, every body has his Eyes upon the Behaviour and Action of this pitiful Fellow: The young People, of what Quality foever, imitate him; if he yawns, they yawn; if he laughs, fo do they. In a word, fometimes he grows angry or VOL. VIII

b

weary,