comes up to the correct, graceful, and elegant simplicity of Terence. We have no such love elegies as those of Tibullus; no such pastorals as some of Theocritus's; and for lyric poetry, Horace stands quite unrivalled. The name of Horace cannot be mentioned without a particular encomium. That "curiosa felicitas," which Petronius has remarked in his expression; the sweetness, elegance, and spirit of many of his odes, the thorough knowledge of the world, the excellent sentiments, and natural easy manner which distinguish his satires and epistles, all contribute to render him one of those very few authors whom one never tires of reading; and from whom alone, were every other monument destroyed, we should be led to form a very high idea of the taste and genius of the Augustan age.

To all such, then, as wish to form their taste, and nourish their genius, let me warmly recommend the assiduous study of the ancient classics, both Greek and Roman:

"Nocturnâ versate manu, versate diurna.*

Without a considerable acquaintance with them, no man can be reckoned a polite scholar, and he

*Read them by day, and study them by night."

FRANCIS.

will want many assistances for writing and speaking well, which the knowledge of such authors would afford him. Any one has great reason to suspect his own taste, who receives little or no pleasure from the perusal of writings, which so many ages and nations have consented in holding up as objects of veneration. And I am persuaded it will be found, that in proportion as the ancients are generally studied and admired, or are unknown and disregarded in any country, good taste and good composition will flourish or decline. They are commonly none but the ignorant or superficial who undervalue them.

At the same time, a just and high regard for the prime writers of antiquity is to be always distinguished from that contempt of every thing which is modern, and that blind veneration for all that has been written in Greek or Latin, which belongs only to pedants. Among the Greek and Roman authors, some assuredly deserve much higher regard than others; nay, some are of no great value. Even the best of them lie open occasionally to just censure; for to no human performance is it given to be absolutely perfect. We may, we ought therefore to read them with a distinguishing eye, so as to propose for imitation their beauties only; and it is perfectly consistent with just and candid criticism, to find fault with parts, while, at the same time, it admires the whole.

After these reflections on the ancients and moderns, I proceed to a critical examination of the most distinguished kinds of composition, and the characters of those writers who have excelled in them, whether modern or ancient.

The most general division of the different kinds of composition is, into those written in prose, and those written in verse; which certainly require to be separately considered, because subject to separate laws. I begin, as is most natural, with writings in prose. Of orations, or public discourses of all kinds, I have already treated fully. The remaining species of prose compositions, which assume any such regular form as to fall under the cognizance of criticism, seem to be chiefly these: Historical writing, philosophical writing, epistolary writing, and fictitious history. Historical composition shall be first considered; and, as it is an object of dignity, I propose to treat of it at some length,

As it is the office of an orator to persuade, it is that of an historian to record truth for the instruction of mankind. This is the proper object and end of history, from which may be deduced many of the laws relating to it; and if this object were always kept in view, it would prevent many of the errors into which persons are apt to fall concerning this species of composition. As the primary end of history is to record truth, impar

tiality, fidelity, and accuracy, are the fundamental qualities of an historian. He must neither be a panegyrist nor a satirist. He must not enter into faction, nor give scope to affection; but, contemplating past events and characters with a cool and dispassionate eye, must present to his readers a faithful copy of human nature.

At the same time, it is not every record of facts, however true, that is entitled to the name of history but such a record as enables us to apply the transactions of former ages for our own instruction. The facts ought to be momentous and important, represented in connexion with their causes, traced to their effects, and unfolded in clear and distinct order. For wisdom is the great end of history. It is designed to supply the want of experience. Though it enforce not its instructions with the same authority, yet it furnishes us with a greater variety of instructions, than it is possible for experience to afford in the course of the longest life, Its object is, to enlarge our views of the human character, and to give full exercise to our judgment on human affairs. It must not, therefore, be a tale calculated to please only, and addressed to the fancy. Gravity and dignity are essential characteristics of history; no light ornaments are to be employed, no flippancy of style, no quaintness of wit: But the writer must sustain the character of a wise man, writing for the instruction of posterity; one who

has studied to inform himself well, who has pondered his subject with care, and addresses himself to our judgment, rather than to our imagination. At the same time, historical writing is by no means inconsistent with ornamented and spirited narration. It admits of much high ornament and elegance; but the ornaments must be always consistent with dignity: they should not appear to be sought after, but to rise naturally from a mind animated by the events which it records.

Historical composition is understood to comprehend under it,-annals, memoirs, lives. But these are its inferior subordinate species; on which I shall hereafter make some reflections, when I shall have first considered what belongs to a regular and legitimate work of history. Such a work is chiefly of two kinds. Either the entire history of some state or kingdom through its different revolutions, such as Livy's Roman History; or the history of some one great event, or some portion or period of time which may be considered as making a whole by itself; such as Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War, Davila's History of the Civil Wars of France, or Clarendon's of those of England.

In the conduct, and management of his subject, the first attention requisite in an historian, is to give it as much unity as possible: that is, his history should not consist of separate uncon