tains the sight, but the lines and life of the picture are not to be inspected too narrowly. This Author formed himself upon Petrarch, or rather upon Marino. His thoughts, one may observe, in the main, are pretty; but oftentimes far fetched, and too often strained and stiffened to make them appear the greater. For men are never so apt to think a thing great, as when it is odd or wonderful; and inconsiderate authors would rather be admired than understood. This ambition of surprizing a reader, is the true natural cause of all fustian, or bombast in poetry. To confirm what I have said, you need but look into his first poem of the Weeper where the 2d, 4th, 6th, 14th, 21st stanzas are as sublimely dull, as the 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 17th, 20th, and 23d stanzas of the same copy, are soft and pleasing and if these last want any thing, it is an easier and more unaffected expression. The remaining thoughts in that poem might have been spared, being either but repetitions, or very trivial and mean. by this example in the first one may guess at all the rest; to be like this, a mixture of tender gentle And • Crashaw was so fond of Marino, a writer of fine imagination but little judgment, as to translate the whole first book of his Strage de gli Innocenti (published 1633), which Marino himself preferred to his Il Adone, and to which Milton was indebted for many hints, which, however, he greatly improved. See particu larly Stanza 7, and several succeeding Stanzas in Crashaw, p. 35, for a description of Satan. Milton, in his Mansus, celebrates the Adonis: the Strage was not then published. It was first printed in France, and Chapelain prefixed a learned preface to it. There was a translation of all the four books of the Slaughter of the Innocents, published 1675, by T. R. and dedicated to the Dutchess of York. thoughts and suitable expressions, of forced and inextricable conceits, and of needless fillers-up to the rest. From all which it is plain, this author writ fast, and set down what came uppermost. A reader skim off the froth, and use the clear underneath; but if he goes too deep, will meet with a mouthful of dregs; either the top or bottom of him are good for little, but what he did in his own, natural, middleway, is best. may To speak of his numbers, is a little difficult, they are so various and irregular, and mostly Pindaric; 'tis evident his heroic verse (the best example of which is his Music's duel) is carelessly made up; but one may imagine from what it now is, that had he taken more care, it had been musical and pleasing enough, not extremely majestic, but sweet: and the time considered of his writing, he was (even as uncorrect as he is) none of the worst versificators. I will just observe, that the best pieces1 of this 1 To these might be added some other pieces of Crashaw that deserved his praise; particularly a translation from Moschus, and another from Catullus. His 23d Psalm is not equal to that of Sandys', whose Psalms deserve much more attention than they meet with. Roscommon has borrowed many lines from the Dies Iræ of Crashaw, particularly Stanza 17, 66 My God, my Father, and my Friend, Crashaw gives it thus, page 194 of his Poems, 1670, My Hope, my Fear, my Judge, my Friend, Take charge of me and of my end !” Pope has taken many expressions and lines from this author, who having been a convert to popery, we may imagine was recommended to our author in his younger years. It is in his author are a paraphrase on Psal. xxiii. On Lessius, Epitaph on Mr. Ashton, Wishes to his supposed mistress, and the Dies Ira. LETTER XXVII. December 30, 1710. I RESUME my old liberty of throwing out myself upon paper to you, and making what thoughts float uppermost in my head, the subject of a letter. They are at present upon laughter, which (for aught I know) may be the cause you might sometime sthink me too remiss a friend, when I was most entirely so: for I am never so inclined to mirth as when I am most pleased and most easy, which is in the company of a friend like yourself. As the fooling and toying with a mistress is a proof of fondness, not disrespect, so is raillery with a friend. I know there are prudes in friendship, who expect distance, awe, and adoration; but I know you are not of them; and I for my part am no idol-worshipper, though a Papist. If I were to address Jupiter himself in a heathen way, I fancy I should be apt to take hold of his knee in a familiar manner, if not of his Eloisa to Abelard that many expressions and thoughts of Crashaw chiefly occur; particularly his description of a religious house, from Barclay; the situation of the Paraclete; and also line 347, from the complaint of Alexias, the forsaken wife of Elexis, though much heightened and improved. Cowley wrote a poem on Crashaw's death, whom he highly celebrates. He died of a fever at Loretto, being newly chosen canon of that church. beard like Dionysius; I was just going to say, of his buttons; but I think Jupiter wore none (however I won't be positive to so nice a critic as you, but his robe might be subnected with a Fibula). I know some philosophers define laughter, A recommending ourselves to our own favour, by comparison with the weakness of another: but I am sure I very rarely laugh with that view, nor do I believe children have any such consideration in their heads, when they express their pleasure this way: I laugh full as innocently as they, for the most part, and as sillily. There is a difference too betwixt laughing about a thing, and laughing at a thing: one may find the inferior man (to make a kind of casuistical distinction) provoked to folly at the sight or observation of some circumstances of a thing, when the thing itself appears solemn and august to the superior man, that is, our judgment and reason. Let an ambassador speak the best sense in the world, and deport himself in the most graceful manner before a Prince, yet if the tail of his shirt happen (as I have known it to happen to a very wise man) to hang out behind, more people shall laugh at that than attend to the other; till they recollect themselves, and then they will not have a jot the less respect for the minister. I must confess the iniquity of my countenance before you; several muscles of my face sometimes take an impertinent liberty with my judgment, but then my judgment soon rises, and sets all right again about my mouth and I find I value no man so much, as him in whose sight I have been playing the fool. I cannot be sub persona before a man I love; and not to laugh with honesty, when nature prompts, or folly (which is more a second nature than any thing I know), is but a knavish hypocritical way of making a mask of one's own face. To conclude, those are my friends I laugh with, and those that are not I laugh at; so am merry in company, and if ever I am wise, it is all by myself. You take just another course, and to those that are not your friends, are very civil: and to those that are, very endearing and complaisant; thus when you and I meet, there will be the Risus & Blanditia united together in conversation, as they commonly are in verse. But without laughter on the one side, or compliment on the other, I assure you I am, with real esteem, Your, &c. LETTER XXVIII. FROM MR. CROMWELL. October 16, 1711. MR. WYCHERLEY visited me at Bath in my sickness, and expressed much affection to me: hearing from me how welcome his letters would be, he presently writ to you; in which I inserted my scrall, and after a second. He went to Gloucester in his way to Salop, but was disappointed of a boat, and so returned to the Bath; then he shewed me your answer to his letters, in which you spoke of my goodnature, but, I fear, you found me very froward at Reading; yet you allow for my illness. I could not |