Book I. mons: as well as that the refentful 's Achilles will never be prevailed on, by any offers from Agamemnon, to return to the field. Angelo fo fevere against the common frailty of human nature, never turns his eye on his own character. What morofe bigot, or demure hypocrite ever did? From Hamlet's filial affection, you expect what his future behaviour will be, when the ghost bids him revenge his murder. The philofophical character of Brutus bids you expect confiftency and steadiness from his behaviour: he thought the killing of Antony, when Caefar's affaffination was refolved on, would appear too bloody and unjuft: Let us be SACRIFICERS, but not butchers : The hero, therefore, full of this idea of facrificing Caefar to his injured country, after stabbing him in the fenate, tells the Romans to stoop, and befmear their hands and their fwords in the blood of the facrifice. This was agreable to an ancient and religious cuftom. So in 16 Aefcylus we read, that the feven captains, who came against Thebes, facrificed a bull, and dipped their hands in the gore, invoking, at the fame time, the gods of war, and binding themselves with an oath to 15. Hom. II. IX. 16. Επι. ἐπὶ Θηβ. *. 42. &ς. revenge revenge the cause of Eteocles. And "Xenophon tells us, that when the barbarians ratified their treaty with the Greeks, they made a facrifice, and dipped their fpears and fwords in the blood of the victim. By this folemn action Brutus gives the affaffination of Caefar a religious air and turn; and history too informs us, that he marched out of the fenate house, with his bloody hands, proclaiming liberty. As there is nothing pleases the human mind. so much as order, and confiftency; fo when the poet has art to paint this uniformity in manners, he not only hinders confufion, but brings the audience acquainted, as it were, with the perfon represented; you fee into his character, know how he will behave, and what part he will take on any emergency. And Shakespeare's characters are all thus ftrongly marked and manner'd. 17. Xen. Ava. C'. SECT. XI. A Queftion here arifes, which I fhall leave to the reader's confideration. It being proved that manners are effential to poetry, must not the poet, not only know what morals and manners are, but be himself likewife a moral and honeft man? Or can there be knowledge without · practice? 'Tis certain no one can express and Book I. mons: as well as that the refentful " Achilles will never be prevailed on, by any offers from Agamemnon, to return to the field. Angelo fo fevere against the common frailty of human nature, never turns his eye on his own character. What morofe bigot, or demure hypocrite ever did? From Hamlet's filial affection, you expect what his future behaviour will be, when the ghost bids him revenge his murder. The philofophical character of Brutus bids you expect confiftency and fteadiness from his behaviour: he thought the killing of Antony, when Caefar's affaffination was refolved on, would appear too bloody and unjuft: Let us be SACRIFICERS, but not butchers: The hero, therefore, full of this idea of facrificing Caefar to his injured country, after stabbing him in the fenate, tells the Romans to stoop, and befmear their hands and their fwords in the blood of the facrifice. This was agreable to an ancient and religious cuftom. So in 16 Aefcylus we read, that the feven captains, who came against Thebes, facrificed a bull, and dipped their hands in the gore, invoking, at the fame time, the gods of war, and binding themselves with an oath to 15. Hom. II. IX. 16. Ezl. izi On6. ✯. 42. &c. revenge revenge the cause of Eteocles. And " Xenophon tells us, that when the barbarians ratified their treaty with the Greeks, they made a facrifice, and dipped their fpears and fwords in the blood of the victim. By this folemn action Brutus gives the affaffination of Caefar a religious air and turn; and history too informs us, that he marched out of the fenate house, with his bloody hands, proclaiming liberty. As there is nothing pleases the human mind fo much as order, and confiftency; fo when the poet has art to paint this uniformity in manners, he not only hinders confufion, but brings the audience acquainted, as it were, with the perfon represented; you fee into his character, know how he will behave, and what part he will take on any emergency. And Shakespeare's characters are all thus ftrongly marked and manner'd. 17. Xen. Ava6. C'. SECT. XI. A Queftion here arifes, which I fhall leave to the reader's confideration. It being proved that manners are effential to poetry, must not the poet, not only know what morals and manners are, but be himself likewife a moral and honeft man? Or can there be knowledge without practice? 'Tis certain no one can express and paint manners, without knowing what manners are, how they become deformed and monftrous, how natural and beautiful. Nor can he know others without knowing himself; what he is, what conftitutes his good, and what his ill. But whether fuch an enquiry will be attended with anfwerable practice, will depend on the fairness and fincerity of the enquirer. For there is not that man living, who does not act the hypocrite more with respect to himself, than to the rest of the world.-But this is a myfterious fubject, too long for this place: and it may be fufficient therefore at prefent, if we have the authorities of a poet or two, without being at the trouble of going to the more abftruse philosophers. Let us hear Horace : Qui didicit patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis ; CUIQUE. CONVENIENTIA And Johnson, in his dedication of his Volpone to the two univerfities: "It is certaine, nor can "it with any fore-head be opposed, that the too much licenfe of poetafters, in this time, hath much deformed their miftrifs; that, "every day, their manifold and manifeft igno66 rance, |