well digested his knowledge both of books and men, has little enjoyment but in the company of a few select companions. He feels too sensibly, how much all the rest of mankind fall short of the notions which he has entertained. And, his affections being thus confined within a narrow circle, no wonder he carries them further, than if they were more general and undistinguished. The gaiety and frolic of a bottle companion improves with him into a solid friendship; and the ardours of a youthful appetite become an elegant passion."*

The twentieth essay, on Simplicity and Refinement, which is written in the best manner of the author, shall furnish us with another specimen.

"It is a certain rule, that wit and passion are entirely incompatible. When the affections are moved, there is no place for the imagination. The mind of man being naturally limited, it is impossible that all its faculties can operate at once and the more any one predominates, the less room is there for the others to exert their vigour. For this reason, a greater degree of simplicity is required in all compositions, where men, and actions, and passions are painted, than in such as consist of reflections and observations. And as the former species of writing is the more

* Essays, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. 1, p. 6, 7, edit. of 1777.

engaging and beautiful, one may safely, upon this account, give the preference to the extreme of simplicity above that of refinement.

"We may also observe, that those compositions which we read the oftenest, and which every man of taste has got by heart, have the recommendation of simplicity, and have nothing surprizing in the thought, when divested of that elegance of expression, and harmony of numbers, with which it is clothed. If the merit of the composition lie in a point of wit; it may strike at first; but the mind anticipates the thought in the second perusal, and is no longer affected by it. When I read an epigram of MARTIAL, the first line recals the whole; and I have no pleasure in repeating to myself what I know already. But each line, each word in CATULLUS, has its merit; and I am never tired with the perusal of him. It is sufficient to run over COWLEY once : but PARNEL, after the fiftieth reading, is as fresh as at the first. Besides, it is with books as with women, where a certain plainness of manner and of dress is more engaging than that glare of paint, and airs, and apparel, which may dazzle the eye, but reaches not the affections. TERENCE is a modest and bashful beauty, to whom we grant every thing, because he assumes nothing, and

whose purity and nature make a durable, though not a violent impression on us."

I shall conclude these examples of the style of Hume, with a quotation from his essay on the "Standard of Taste."

"The same HOMER who pleased at ATHENS and ROME two thousand years ago, is still admired at PARIS and at LONDON. All the changes of climate, government, religion, and language, have not been able to obscure his glory. Authority or prejudice may give a temporary vogue to a bad poet or orator; but his reputation will never be durable or general. When his compositions are examined by posterity or by foreigners, the enchantment is dissipated, and his faults appear in their true colours. On the contrary, a real genius, the longer his works endure, and the more wide they are spread, the more sincere is the admiration which he meets with. Envy and jealousy have too much place in a narrow circle; and even familiar acquaintance with his person may diminish the applause due to his performances: But when these obstructions are removed, the beauties which are naturally fitted to excite agreeable sentiments, immediately display their energy; and while the world endures they maintain their authority over the minds of men.Ӡ + Vol. 1, p. 248.

* Vol. 1, p. 210, 211.

The last author who contributed, previous to the appearance of the Rambler, to the improvement of English style, was MELMOTH. His "Letters of Sir Thomas Fitzosborne, on several subjects," were published in the year 1742, and have passed through numerous editions; the first edition also of his translation of the Letters of Pliny the Consul, was printed in the year 1746, the second in 1747, and the third in 1748.

The style of Melmoth, both in his original and translated works, is easy, perspicuous, and elegant. He is more correct in grammatical construction, more select in his choice of words, than any preceding writer, but he is sometimes languid and verbose. His taste, which was very

refined and pure, has seldom permitted him to adopt ornament not congenial to the subject of discussion, and his diction is therefore singularly chaste and free from inflation. His language, however, where the topic demands it, is often truly animated and warm, and the encomium which he has given to the style of a friend, may 'be justly applied to that of his own works; his expressions, says he, are glowing, but not glaring, his metaphors are natural but not common, his periods are harmonious but not poetical.* As an adequate specimen of the composition of

* Fitzosborne's Letters, p. 317, 318, tenth edition.

Melmoth, I shall transcribe his remarks upon grace in writing.

"When I mention grace as essential in constituting a fine writer, I rather hoped to have found my sentiments reflected back with a clearer light by yours; than imagined you would have called upon me to explain in form, what I only threw out by accident. To confess the truth, I know not whether, after all that can be said to illustrate this uncommon quality, it must not at last be resolved into the poet's nequeo monstrare et sentio tantum. In cases of this kind, where language does not supply us with proper words to express the notions of one's mind, we can only convey our sentiments in figurative terms: a defect which necessarily introduces some obscurity.

"I will not, therefore, undertake to mark out, with any sort of precision, that idea which I would express by the word grace: and, perhaps, it can no more be clearly described than justly defined. To give you, however, a general intimation of what I mean, when I apply that term to compositions of genius, I would resemble it to that easy air, which so remarkably distinguishes certain persons of a genteel and liberal cast. It consists, not only in the particular beauty of single parts, but arises from the general symmetry and construction of the whole. An author may