Hiftories; nay, if thofe who have the higheft Refpect for the Myfteries of the Chriftian Religion, and who are ftruck with Awe at fome Parts of it, yet cannot forbear now and then making free with the Devil, the Serpent, the Frailty of our firft Parents, the Rib which Adam was robb'd of, and the like; it feems a very hard Task for a profane Poet to endeavour to remove thofe Shadows of Ridicule, to reconcile together what is divine, and what looks abfurd, and to command a Refpect that the Sacred Writers could hardly obtain from our frivolous Minds.

What Milton fo boldly undertook, he perform'd with a fuperior Strength of Judgment, and with an Imagination productive of Beauties not dream'd of before him. The Meannefs (if there is any) of fome Parts of the Subject, is loft in the Immenfity of the poetical Invention. There is fomething above the reach of human Forces to have attempted the Creation without Bombaft, to have defcrib'd the Gluttony and Curiosity of a Woman without Flatnefs, to have brought Probability and Reafon amidst the hurry of imaginary Things belonging to another World, and as far remote from the Limits of our Notions, as they are from our Earth; in fhort, to force the Reader to

fay,

fay, "If God, if the Angels, if Satan would fpeak, I believe they would fpeak as they do in Milton."

I have often admir'd how barren the Subject appears, and how fruitful it grows under his hands.

The Paradife Loft, is the only Poem wherein are to be found, in a perfect degree, that Uniformity which fatisfies the Mind, and that Variety which pleases the Imagination: All its Epifodes being neceffary Lines, which aim at the Centre of a perfect Circle. Where is the Nation who would not be pleas'd with the Interview of Adam and the Angel? With the Mountain of Vision, with the bold Strokes which make up the relentless, undaunted, and fly Character of Satan? But above all, with that fublime Wisdom which Milton exerts, whenever he dares to defcribe God, and to make him speak? He feems indeed to draw the Picture of the Almighty as like as Human Nature can reach to, through the mortal Duft in which we are clouded.

The Heathens always, the Jews often, and our Chriftian Priefts fometimes, reprefent God as a Tyrant infinitely powerful. But the God of Milton is always a Creator, a Father, and a Judge; nor is his Vengeance jarring with his Mercy,

nor

nor his Predeterminations repugnant to the Liberty of Man. Thefe are the Pictures which lift up indeed the Soul of the Reader. Milton in that Point, as well as in many others, is as far above the ancient Poets, as the Chriftian Religion is above the Heathen Fables.

But he hath especially an indifputable Claim to the unanimous Admiration of Mankind, when he defcends from thofe high Flights to the natural Defcription of human Things. It is obfervable, that in all other Poems, Love is reprefented as a Vice, in Milton only 'tis a Virtue. The Pictures he draws of it, are naked as the Perfons he fpeaks of, and as venerable. He removes with a chafte hand, the Veil which covers every where else the Enjoyments of that Paffion. There is Softnefs, Tendernefs, and Warmth, without Lafcivioufnefs; the Poet tranfports himself and us into that State of innocent Happiness, in which Adam and Eve continued for a fhort time. He foars not above human, but above corrupt Nature; and as there is no Inftance of fuch Love, there is none of fuch Poetry.

How then it came to pafs that the Paradife Loft had been fo long neglected, (nay, almoft unknown) in England, (till the Lord Sommers, in fome measure, taught

Mankind

Mankind to admire it) is a Thing which I cannot reconcile, neither with the Temper, nor with the Genius of the English Nation.

The Duke of Buckingham in his Art of Poetry gives the Preference to Spencer. It is reported in the Life of the Lord Rochefter, that he had no Notion of a better Poet than Cowley.

Mr. Dryden's Judgment on Milton is ftill more unaccountable. He hath beftow'd fome Verfes upon him, in which he puts him upon a Level with, nay above Virgil and Homer ;

The Force of Nature could no further go;
To make a third, she join'd the former two.

The fame Mr. Dryden, in his Preface upon his Translation of the Æneid, ranks Milton with Chapellain, and Lemoine, the moft impertinent Poets who ever fcribbled. How he could extol him fo much in his Verfes, and debafe him fo low in his Profe, is a Riddle, which, being a Foreigner, I cannot understand.

In short, one would be apt to think, that Milion had not obtained his true Reputation, till Mr. Addifon, the beft Critick, as well as the beft Writer of his Age, pointed out the moft hidden Beauties of the Paradife Loft; and fettled for ever its Reputation.

It

It is an eafy and a pleasant Task to take notice of the many Beauties of Milton, which I call univerfal: But 'tis a ticklish Undertaking, to point out what would be reputed a Fault in any other Country.

I am very far from Thinking, that one Nation ought to judge of its Productions by the Standard of another; nor do I prefume, that the French (for Example) who have no Epick Poets, have any Right to give Laws on Epick Poetry.

But I fancy many English Readers, who are acquainted with the French Language, will not be difpleas'd to have fome Notion of the Tafte of that Country: And I hope they are too juft either to submit to it, or defpife it barely upon the score of its being foreign to them.

Would each Nation attend a little more than they do, to the Taste and the Manners of their refpective Neighbours, perhaps a general good Tafte might diffufe itself through all Europe from fuch an Intercourfe of Learning, and from that useful Exchange of Obfervations. The English Stage, for Example, might be clear'd of mangled Carcaffes, and the Style of their tragick Authors come down from their forced Metaphorical Bombaft, to a nearer Imitation of Nature. The French would learn from the English to animate their Tragedies with more

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