is extremely apt to deviate into bombaft: he ftrains above his genius; and the violent effort he makes, carries him generally beyond the bounds of propriety. Boileau expreffes this happily : L'autre à peur de ramper, il fe perd dans la nue *. The fame author, Ben Johnfon, abounds in the bombaft: The mother Th' expulfed Apicata, finds them there; Whom when the faw lie fpread on the degrees, After a world of fury on herself, Tearing her hair, defacing of her face, Beating her breafts and womb, kneeling amaz'd, Them, us, and all the world), the fills the air, Sejanus, at 5. fc. laft. Lentulus, the man, If all our fire were out, would fetch down new, L'art poet. chant. 1. 1. 68. P 4 Out Out of the hand of Jove; and rivet him To Caucafus, fhould he but frown; and let His own gaunt eagle fly at him to tire. Catiline, act 3. Can thefe, or fuch, be any aid to us? A thousand, fuch as they are, could not make T'have quench'd the fun and moon, and made the world This is the language of a madman : Catiline, act 4. Guilford. Give way, and let the gufhing torrent come, Behold the tears we bring to fwell the deluge, Till the flood rife upon the guilty world And make the ruin common. Lady Jane Gray, act. 4. near the end. Another fpecies of falfe fublime, is ftill more faulty than bombaft; and that is, to force an elevation by introducing imaginary beings with out out preferving any propriety in their actions; as if it were lawful to afcribe every extravagance and inconfiftence to beings of the poet's creation. No writers are more licentious in this article than Johnfon and Dryden: Methinks I fee Death and the furies waiting For the great spectacle. Draw then your swords : The honour of the day, yet let us care While fhe tempts ours, to fear her own eftate. Catiline, at 5. The furies ftood on hills Circling the place, and trembled to fee men Do more than they: Griev'd for that fide, whilft Piety left the field, They knew not what a crime their valour was, The Sun ftood ftill, and was, behind the cloud The battle made, feen fweating to drive up His frighted horfe, whom ftill the noife drove backward. Ibid. at 5. Ofmyn. While we indulge our common happiness, He is forgot by whom we all poffefs, The brave Almanzor, to whofe arms we owe All that we did, and all that we shall do; Who like a tempeft that outrides the wind, Abdalla. His victories we fcarce could keep in view, Or polish 'em fo faft as he rough drew. Abdemelech. Abdemclech. Fate after him below with pain did move, And Victory could fcarce keep pace above. Death did at length fo many flain forget, And loft the tale, and took 'em by the great. Conquest of Granada, act 2. at beginning. The gods of Rome fight for ye; loud Fame calls ye, To all the under world, all nations, The feas and unfrequented deferts, where the fnow dwells, Where nothing but eternal death and fleep is, Beaumont and Fletcher, Bonduca, act 3. fc. 3. An actor upon the stage may be guilty of bombaft as well as an author in his clofet: a certain manner of acting, which is grand when fupported by dignity in the fentiment and force in the expreffion, is ridiculous where the fentiment is mean and the expreffion flat. This chapter fhall be clofed with the following obfervations: When the fubliine is carried to its due height, and circumfcribed within proper bounds, it inchants the mind, and raifes the most delightful of all emotions: the reader, ingroffed by a fublime object, feels himself raised as it were to a higher rank. When fuch is the effect, it is not wonderful that the hiftory of conquerors and heroes, fhould be univerfally the favourite entertainment. And this fairly accounts for what I once erroneously fufpected to be a wrong bias originally in human nature; which is, that the groffeft acts acts of oppreffion and injuftice, fcarce blemish the character of a great conqueror: we, notwithftanding, warmly espouse his interest, accompany him in his exploits, and are anxious for his fuccefs: the fplendor and enthufiafim of the hero transfufed into the readers, elevate their minds far above the rules of juftice, and render them in a great meafure infenfible of the wrongs that are committed: For in those days might only fhall be admir'd, To overcome in battle, and fubdue Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite Of triumph, to be ftyl❜d great conquerors, Milton, b. 11. The irregular influence of grandeur reaches alfo to other matters: however good, honeft, or useful, a man may be, he is not fo much respected, as is one of a more elevated character, though of lefs integrity; nor do the misfortunes of the former, affect us fo much as thofe of the latter and I add, because it cannot be difguifed, that the remorfe which attends breach of engagement, |