criticism, or the more secret and dangerous attempts of tacit malevolence and pretended contempt;--that he had lately hit upon a project, which, by its nature, must secure to itself the attention of the public, and which, if he had not formed a very wrong estimate of its merit, would draw his former efforts from the dust of unmerited oblivion into general notice and universal approbation. "It could not have escaped an exact observer, and such a one he might, without hazarding the imputation of flattery, pronounce Mr. Griffin, (whereupon Mr. Griffin bowed,) that the reputation of our great tragic poet was sinking apace; and that not so much from any radical or intrinsic defect in his writings, as from some venial errors and incidental omissions. Our more refined neighbours had never been able to relish the low humour which pervades every scene, or the frequent violation of those unities which they observe with so religious a regard. Mr. Voltaire, with that philosophic candour which so strongly characterised his life and writings, had abandoned his defence; and though, in some instances, he had deigned to borrow from him, had condemned him as the poet of a barbarous age and the favourite of an unenlightened people. Even among a national audience, the most admired of his dramas were received at least without that enthusiastic applause they had formerly excited; and we must. expect that, in another century, the partiality for our favourite poet will vanish, together with our national antipathies against popery and wooden shoes, and frogs and slavery, and that a taste for French criticism will immediately follow a relish for their cookery. Something must be done, Mr. Griffin, and that shortly. The commentators have done little or nothing. Indeed what could be expected from such a plan; could any thing be more ridiculous? They have absolutely confined themselves to what Shakspeare might possibly have written! I am fully sensible that the task of reducing to poetic rules and critical exactness, what was written in ignorance or contempt of both, requires a genius and ability little inferior to that of the original composer; yet this is my project, which, however arduous in the undertaking, however difficult in execution, I am persuaded to attempt; and to whom can I with greater proprietyMr. Griffin, who himself -so early an age-- -in &c. &c. so extraordinary a mannerMy friend continued by remarking, "that the people of Athens allowed to the judicious critic who should adapt a tragedy of Æschylus to the stage, an equal proportion of credit and copy-money with the author of an original drama. Yet he desired me to observe, that the author of Grecian tragedy was far more strictly observant of poetic discipline than the father of the English stage. In all his tragedies, there is only one in which he has ventured to break the unity of place; an essential point, and, as my friend declared, highly necessary; though it is very natural for the spectator to mistake the stage for a palace, actresses for virgin princesses, &c., yet it is impossible for him to imagine that he is in Bohemia, when, but the act before, he was fully convinced that he was in Sicily." 66 He at length concluded by drawing out of a tin box some Proposals for publication," which he desired might be communicated to the public through the medium of my paper; at the same time presenting me with a very copious specimen of the work he had undertaken. He reflected on the honour of such a distinction, "but he was naturally partial to rising merit; and Gregory Griffin might see a period when he himself should exist only in his writings." In the course of conversation, my new acquaintance became extremely communicative; desired my opinion of a preface and dedication, and whether he should prefix it to an improved edition of Sleidan de Quatuor Imperiis, or Girton's Complete Pigeon Fancier; but, upon recollection, resolved upon an Ode, which he had lately composed, On the Use of Acorns in consumptive Cases. Having occasion, in the course of conversation, to remark the number of classical scholars produced in our public seminaries, and the comparative paucity of those who have directed their attention to the cultivation of their native language, my friend regarded the cause as extremely evident; "there were several assistances which the classical composer enjoyed, which-but all these difficulties I should see obviated in his New Dictionary of Rhymes; it was a work, which had cost him considerable labour and study. Those of his predecessors, Bysshe, Gent, and others, were mere farragos, in which sound only was consulted, without any nicety of taste or accuracy of selection, This chaos, this rude and indigested mass, he had reduced to order, by selecting the rhymes proper for every possible subject, and reducing them to a systematical arrangement. However, as this scheme must be unavoidably retarded by the prosecution of his former project, he should be peculiarly happy to see his system familiarly explained and This illustrated in some of my future lucubrations." request, from an earnest desire I entertained of assisting young practitioners in the pleasing art of poetry, I immediately complied with; however, as I did not fully comprehend his system, I took the liberty of transcribing the following passages from my author's manuscript: "For the eclogue or pastoral dialogue, let the student conclude his lines with the rhymes underwritten; always taking care to finish his sense with the second rhyme, and at no time to suffer his verse to exceed the just measure of ten syllables. The rhymes for this purpose be these : "Should our student turn his thoughts to panegyric, we would advise that he adhere to the endings we have here prescribed, as "the muse a tributary refuse. race divine. "If the practitioner should perchance be possessed of a great fund of humour, and be inclined to employ his wicked wit in ridiculing the clergy, we would admonish him to adhere to the following terminations, in order as they are appointed, being careful only to confine his lines to eight syllables : Should the public approve of this specimen of my friend's abilities, I may perhaps, in some future paper, present them with a sample of his projected publication. No. 36. MONDAY, JULY 16, 1787. Neglectum adhibere clientem. Juv. A long neglected client to admit. DRYDEN. D. I FEEL myself so much obliged by the continued notice of my correspondents, that I should consider myself as highly ungrateful if I did not sometimes leave wholly to them the weekly entertainment of our readers. Ἡδὲ τρίτηγε καὶ ΜΕΣΗ των ειρημένων δυοῖν Αρμονιων ἡν ΚΟΙΝΗΝ καλῶ σπανειτε κυρίς καὶ ΚΡΕΙΤΤΟΝΟΣ Ὀνόματος, σχῆμα μέν ἴδιον ἐδὲν ἔχει κεκέραται δέ πως ἐξ ἐκείνων μετρίως. ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ |