Now I fancy, that, to preferve an exact Harmony and Variety, the Paufe at the 4th or 6th fhould not be continued above three lines together, without the interpofition of another; elfe it will be apt to weary the ear with one continued tone, at least it does mine: That at the 5th runs quicker, and carries not quite fo dead a weight, fo tires not so much, tho' it be continued longer.

3. Another nicety is in relation to Expletives, whether words or fyllables, which are made use of purely to fupply a vacancy: Do before verbs plural is abfolutely fuch; and it is not improbable but future refiners may explode did and does in the fame manner, which are almost always used for the fake of rhime. The fame caufe has occafioned the promifcuous ufe of you and thou to the fame person, which can never found so graceful as either one or the other.

4. I would also object to the irruption of Alexandrine verses, of twelve fyllables, which, I think, fhould never be allow'd but when fome remarkable beauty or propriety in them atones for the liberty: Mr. Dryden has been too free of these, especially in his latter works. I am of the fame opinion as to Triple Rhimes.

3

5. I could equally object to the Repetition of the fame Rhimes within four or fix lines of each other, as tiresome to the ear thro' their Monotony.

6. Monofyllable Lines, unless very artfully managed, are stiff, or languifhing: but may be beautiful to express Melancholy, Slownefs, or Labour.

7. To come to the Hiatus, or Gap between two words, which is caus'd by two vowels opening on each other (upon which you defire me to be particular) I think the rule in this cafe is either to use the Cæfura, or admit the Hiatus, just as the ear is leaft fhock'd

E 2

fhock'd by either: For the Cæfura fometimes offends the ear more than the Hiatus itself, and our language is naturally overcharg'd with confonants: As for example; If in this verse,

The old have Int'reft ever in their eye, we should say, to avoid the Hiatus,

But th' old have intreft.

The Hiatus which has the worst effect, is when one word ends with the fame vowel that begins the following; and next to this, those vowels whofe founds come nearest to each other, are most to be avoided. O, A, or U, will bear a more full and graceful found than E, I, or Y. I know, fome people will think these Obfervations trivial, and therefore I am glad to corroborate them by fome great authorities, which I have met with in Tully and Quintilian. In the fourth book of Rhetoric to Herennius, are these words: Fugiemus crebras vocalium concurfiones, quæ vastam atque biantem reddunt orationem; ut hoc eft, Bacca anea ameniffimæ impen debant. And Quintilian, 1. ix. cap. 4. Vocalium concurfus cum accidit, biat & interfiftit, & quafi laborat oratio. Peffimi longe quæ eafdem inter fe literas committunt, fonabunt: Præcipuus tamen erit hiatus earum quæ cavo aut patulo ore efferuntur. E plenior litera eft, I anguftior. But he goes on to reprove the excess on the other hand of being too folicitous in this matter, and fays admirably, Nefcio an negligentia in hoc, aut folicitudo fit pejor. So likewife Tully ́(Orator. ad Brut.) Theopompum reprehendunt, quod eas literas tanto opere fugerit, etfi idem magifter ejus Socrates: which laft author, as Turnabus on Quintilian obferves, has hardly one Hiatus in all his works. Quintilian tells us, that Tully and Demofthenes did not much obferve this nicety, tho' Tully himself fays in his Orator, Crebra ifta vocum concurfio, quam

magna

magna ex parte vitiofam, fugit Demofthenes. If I amnot mistaken, Malherbe of all the moderns has been the moft fcrupulous in this point; and I think Menage in his obfervations upon him fays, he has not one in his poems. To conclude, I believe the Hiatus fhould be avoided with more care in poetry than in Oratory; and I would conftantly try to prevent it, unless where the cutting it off is more prejudicial to the found than the Hiatus itself. I am, &c.

A. POPE.

Mr. Walsh died at forty-nine years old, in the year 1708, the year before the Effay on Criticism was printed, which concludes with his Elogy..

P.

LETTERS

TO AND FROM

H. CROMWELL, Efq,

From the Year 1708 to 1711,

I

LETTER I,

March 18, 1708.

Believe it was with me when I left the Town,

as it is with a great many men when they leave the World, whofe lofs itself they do not fo much regret, as that of their friends whom they leave behind in it. For I do not know one thing for which I can envy London, but for your continuing there. Yet I guess you will expect me to recant this expreffion, when I tell you that Sappho (by which heathenifh name you have chriften'd a very orthodox Lady) did not accompany me into the Country. Well, you have your Lady in the Town ftill, and I have my Heart in the Country ftill, which being wholly unemploy'd as yet, has the more room in it for my friends, and does not want a corner at your ervice. You have extremely obliged me by your frankne s and kindness; and if I have abus'd it by too much freedom on my part, I hope you will attribute it to the natural openness of my temper, which hardly knows how to fhow Respect, where it feels Affection. I

would

would love my Friend, as my Mistress, without ceremony; and hope a little rough ufage fometimes may not be more difpleafing to the one, than it is to the other.

If you have any curiofity to know in what manner I live, or rather lofe a life, Martial will inform you in one line:

Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lego, cœno, quiefco.

Every day with me is literally another yesterday, for it is exactly the fame: It has the fame business, which is Poetry, and the fame pleasure, which is Idleness. A man might indeed pafs his time much better, but I queftion if any man could pass it much eafier. If you will visit our shades this spring, which very much defire, you may perhaps inftruct me to manage my game more wifely; but at prefent I am fatisfy'd to trifle away my time any way, rather than let it stick by me; as fhop-keepers are glad to be rid of those goods at any rate, which would otherwife always be lying upon their hands.

Sir, if you will favour me fometimes with your letters, it will be a great fatisfaction to me on feveral accounts; and on this in particular, that it will fhow me (to my comfort) that even a wise man is fometimes very idle; for fo you must needs be when you can find leisure to write to

I

LETTER II.

Your, &c.

April 27, 1708.

Have nothing to fay to you in this letter; but I was refolv❜d to write to tell you fo. Why should not I content myfelf with fo many great Examples of deep Divines, profound Cafuifts, grave Philofophers; who have written, not letters only, but whole

E 4

Tome