fignificative than any figurative one could have been. And fo is this of ANACREON Ουκέτι Θρηϊκίης ἐπιςρέφομαι, I care no more for Thracia. IN SECTION XXXII. in Oppofition to vulgar or common Expreffions, he treats of the Multitude of TROPES [Mela popar, be calls 'em] which are Tranflations or Turnings of Words from their customary Signification, and applying them to other Things than what they properly mean, on account of fome Refemblance or Reference thefe Things have with each other: So that we may reckon there are as many forts of Tropes as there are different References; tho' it has pleafed Rhetoricians to establish but few. The proper use of all which contributes very much towards Sublimity. The moft confiderable of 'em are a METAPHOR, METONYMY, SYNECDOCHE, IRONY, HYPERBOLE, ALLEGORY, and CATACHRESIS.-Which fee in Book I. Of Tropes perplext, harsh, frequent, fwoln, fetch'd-far, Ill-reprefenting, forc'd, low, lewd, beware. LONGINUS obferves that to foften too bold or harsh Tropes, ARISTOTLE and THEOPHRASTUS well advife an Author to use, Ut ita loquor, quafi, fi hoc modo loqui liceat, fi oportet audacius dicere, &c. IN SECTION'S XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, and XXXVI. he handles this Queftion-Which Stile is moft excellent, that which wants Sublimity and has no other Fault, or, that which z a which has Sublimity and is in lower Things fometime faulty? - And gives the Palm to the latter; preferring HOMER to APOLLONIUS RHODIUS or THEOCRITUS, ARCHILOCHUS to ERATOSTHENES, PINDAR to BACCHYLIDES, SOPHOCLES to ION CHIUS, DEMOSTHENES toHYPERIDES,PLATO to LYSIAS,&c.-Affirming ANNOTATIONS. MR. Pearce Quintilian- Neq; id flatim le OBS. XXV.z quotes two Paffages agreeable to this Determination of Longinus, the first from Pliny the younger, who fays Dixi de quodam Oratore noftri Seculi, recto quidem &fano, fed parum grandi & ornato, ut opinor, aptè: Nihil peccat, nifi quod non peccat: Debet enim Orator erigi, attolli, interdum etiam effervefcere, efferri, ac fæpe accedere ad praeceps, &e. The fecond from a genti perfuafum fit omnia, quæ magni Auctores dixerint, utiq; effe perfecta: nam & labuntur aliquando, & Oneri cedunt, & indulgent Ingeniorum fuorum Voluptati; nec femper intendunt Animum, & nonnunquam fatigantur: cum Ciceroni dormitare interim Demofthenes, Horatio verò etiam Homerus ipfe videatur. Horace's Rule ought therefore always to be observ'd Ubi plura nitent in Carmine, non ego paucis Offendar Maculis, quas aut Incuria fudit, Aut humana parùm cavit Natura.OBS. XXVI. APOLLONIUS the Rhodian was Scholar to Callimachus, An. ante Chrift. 255. and wrote the Argonautica, of whom Quintilian fays, Non contemnendum edidit Ópus æquali quâdam Mediocritate. THEOCRITUS is well known. ERATOSTHENES the Cyrenean was Predeceffor to Apollonius as Keeper of the Ptolemaican Library in Alexandria; he wrote a Poem call'd Erigone. BACCHYLIDES was a Greek Lyric Poet, whofe Verfes were much admired by the Emperor Ju . lian, and preferr'd to Pindar's by Hiero King of Syracufe. PINDAR, born 518 Years before Chrift, is well known, of whom Quintilian, Inft. 10. 1. fays, Novem Lyricorum longè Pindarus princeps, Spiritus Magnificentiâ, Sententiis, Figuris, beatiffimâ Rerum Verborumq; Copiâ, & velut quodam Eloquentie Flumine: propter qua Horatius eum meritò credidit Nemini imitabilem. ION CHIUS was a Dithyrambic Poet, who befides Odes is faid to have wrote 40 Plays. HYPERIDES was an Athenian Orator contemporary with Demofthenes, Affirming it to be as great a Fault in those vanquish'd Gentlemen never to have err'd, as it would have been in the others, who fometimes faulter, never to have foar'd beyond the common Pitch. Great Souls frequently foar too lofty to be intent upon Trifles. If therefore these fometimes err, while t'other always are correct, this may be faid of 'em Illis erit aliqua Laus magnis excidiffe Aufubus, quum Hi vitaville potius Reprehenfionem quàm meruiffe Laudem videantur. However, fays LONGÏNUS, respecting fuch, who in their Stile are truly Sublime, and their Subject withal Beneficial, tho' they may fail of abfolute Perfection, yet are they really in this Respect fomething more than mortal. In other Things they may fhew themselves Rational Creatures, but ANNOTATIONS. mofthenes, whom Quintilian thus fpeaks of, Inft. 10. 1. Dulcis imprimis & acutus Hyperides; fed minoribus Caufis, ut non dixerim utilior, magis par. LYSIAS was a famous Athenian Orator, of whom Cicero fays, Tum fuit Lyfias, ipfe quidem in Caufis forenfibus non verfatus, fed egregiè fubtilis Scriptor atq; elegans; quem jam propè audeas Oratorem perfectum dicere; Lib. de Cl. Or. Quintilian adds Puro tamen Fonti, quàm magno Flumini propior; Init. 10. 1.Cæcilius had preferr'd Lyfias to Plato, as being an Author without Faults, whereas he found feveral in Plato, among which, fays Longinus, these harsh Tropes in this almoft Gods. To be free from Error is indeed to be blameless, but to be Sublime is to be admirable. What can I add more? Why this: That one fingle Sublime Expreffion in any one of their Works will more than recompenfe for all their Failings. Yea, fuppofe any one could collect into one Heap all the Faults that are to be met with in HOMER, in DEMOSTHENES, in PLATO, and other fublime Writers, that whole Collection would not amount to one Thousandth Part in proportion to the Excellencies of thefe deferving Heroes. Hence all Ages and Generations of Men hitherto, not to be baffled by the vain Efforts of the Invidious, have always given them, and fuch as them, their due Honours, and will for ever — Ες τ' ἂν ὕδωρ τε ρέη, καὶ δένδρεα μακρά τεθήλη. IN SECTION XXXVII. from this his Digreffion, LONGINUS returns to his Tropes, and juft mentions Пabona eixoves, Comparifons and Similies; as a-kin to 'em. See the Figure PARABOLE in Book I. But devouring Time having confumed all his Examples, I prefume he'd be pleafed did he know how fublimely Mr. THOMSON will fupply him. ANNOTATIONS. OBS. XXVII. THERfs the Manufcripts. 6 HERE's here of two whole Leaves in The The first to the Sun - WHO would the Blessings, first and last, recount, That in a full Effufion from Thee flow, As foon might number, at the Height of Noon, The next, the Effect of the Sun's fcorching Heat on Flowers WHO can unpitying fee the flowery Race, Summer, ver. 211. Another to Atheistical Cavillers LET no prefuming impious Railer tax Summer, ver. 285. The next on Human Infects THICK, in yon Stream of Light, a thousand Ways, Upwards and downwards, thwarting, and convolv'd, |