in his Short Difcourfe concerning the Kind of Verfe, and which is prefix'd to it; as alfo in his Entrance on the Ninth Book; and 'tis not His Fault if there have been Those, who have not found a Hero, or Who he is. 'tis Adam, Adam, the First, the Representative of Human Race; He is the Hero in This Poem, though as in Other Heroic Poems, Superiour Beings are Introduc'd. the Bufinefs of it is to conduct Man through Variety of Conditions of Happiness and Diftrefs, All Terminating in the Utmoft Good. from a State of Precarious Innocence, through Temptation, Sin, Repentance, and finally a Secure Recumbency Upon, and Interest In the Supream Good by the Mediation of his Son. He is not Such a Hero as Achilles, Ulyffes, Eneas, Orlando, Godfrey, &c. all' Romantic Worthies, and Incredible Performers of Fortunate, Savage Cruelties: He is one of a nobler Kind, Such as Milton Chofe to Write of, and found he had a Genius for the Purpose. he is not Such a Conqueror as Subdu'd Armies or Nations, or Enemies in Single Combat, but his Conqueft was What Juftly gave Heroic Name to Perfon, and to Poem; His Hero was More than a Conqueror through Him that Loved us. as Rom. viii. 37:

This was declar'd to be the Subject of the Poem at the Entrance on it, Man's First Difobedience and Misery 'till our Restoration to a More Happy State. the Defign of it is also De

Declar'd; 'twas to Juftify Providence, All which is Done. the Moral we are alfo Directed to, and This the Poet has put into the Mouth of an Angel. Many Moral Reflections are excited throughout the Whole Work, but the Great One is Mark'd Strongly XII. 745, &c. PIETY AND VERTUE, ALL COMPRIZ'D IN ONE WORD CHARITY, IS THE ONLY WAY TO HAP PINESS.

if the Sublimity and Peculiarity of the Matter of this Poem, if its Superiority in That Respect has rais'd it above Some of the Rules given by Ariftotle, or Whatever Other Criticks, and Gather'd From, or Founded on the Iliad, Odyffey, or Eneid, it has Distinguifh'd it to its greater Glory; 'tis not only an Heroic Poem, but the Moft So that Ever was Wrote, Milton did not defpife Rules, Such as were Built upon Reason, So far as those Establish'd Reach'd; but as his Free and Exalted Genius Afpir'd Beyond what had Yet been Attempted in the Choice of his Subject, Himself was his Own Rule when in Heights where None had gone before, and Higher than Which None Can Ever go.

Milton's true Character as a Writer is that he is an Ancient, but born two Thousand Years after his Time. his Language indeed is Modern, but the Beft, next to Greek and Latin, to Convey thofe Images Himself Conceiv'd; and That moreover Greek'd and La

tiniz'd, and made as Uncommon and Expreffive as our Tongue could be, and yet Intelligible to us for whom he Wrote. But All his Images are Pure Antique. So that We read Homer and Virgil in reading Him. We hear Them in our Own Tongue, as we See What They Conceiv'd when Milton Speaks; Yes, and We find Our Selves amongst Persons and Things of a more Exalted Character. Connoiffeurs in Painting and Sculpture can Beft tell what is the Difference of Tafte in Ancient and Modern Work, and can therefore Beft Underftand what I am Now Saying; it must Suffice that I tell Others that there is a Certain Grace, Majefty and Simplicity in the Antique which is its Diftinguishing Character. the Same Kind of Tafte is Seen in Writing; and Milton has it, I think, to a Degree beyond what We have ever found in Any Modern Painter or Sculptor, not Excepting Rafaelle Himfelf.

Those who are unaccustom'd to this Train of Thinking, may only pleafe to Dip into Chaucer, Spencer, Ariofto, even Tafo or any of the Moderns, and obferve what Gothick Figures and Things prefent Themselves to their Imagination, or what are Comparatively Mean. let them read even the Ancients, the Best of Them (always excepting the Most Ancient of all, the Pentateuch, Job, and Some Other of the Sacred Books) and they will find even Thefe Fill not, nor Inrich the

Mind as Milton does; His Eden, His Chaos, Hell, Heaven; His Human Figures, His An-. gels, Good and Evil, His Mediator, His God, all is Superiour to what is Elsewhere to be found, All are with regard to the rest like what Rafaelle's Pictures Exhibit, Compar'd with what we See in Thofe of any Other Mafter; Or, (to Speak more Familiarly to Common Obfervation) they are as Westminster Abbey, or even St. Paul's, Compar'd with the Pantheon, the Colifeum, the Temple of Thefeus, or Other Remains of Architecture of the Pureft Antiquity; even the Prints of them, Those I mean done by the Best Hands, and which are not very Rare, will Explain, and Prove what I Advance.

in the Parnaffus, (One of the Famous Pictures of Rafaelle in the Vatican) Dante is reprefented as having his Eye upon Homer ; had Milton been put there, Homer and He ought to have been Embracing Each other. he Knew him Perfectly; it fhould not be faid he Copy'd, he Imitated him, but that they both Wrote by the Self-fame Poetical Genius. what is Purely Milton's Own is Equal at leaft to the Beft of that Prince of Poets, and when he Profits himself of What He has done, 'tis with Equal Beauty and Propriety. a Simile, for Inftance, in Paradife Loft, Shines no less than in the Iliad or the Odyssey, and Some of Milton's have the Same Peçuliarity as we find in Some of Homer, they i 4 Strike

Strike firmly on the Point they are directed to, and the Main Business being done, the Poet gives the rein a little to Fancy, Entertaining his Reader with what is not Otherwife to the Purpose. This by the way. Virgil has alfo Borrow'd from Homer, and Much more than Milton. but even Virgil has not Always done it with Equal Success. it has been faid 'twas as Eafy to take the Club out of the Hand of Hercules, as a Simile from Homer. Virgil has made ufe of That in Od. VI. 102, where Nauficaa Daughter of King Alcinous is faid to be Diftinguish'd amongst her Maids as Diana, Taller than her Nymphs about her; This Simile En. I. 502 is apply'd to Dido, furrounded by, not Maids or. Women, but Men whom the Reader will imagine to be Soldiers, Guards. Who fees not the Simile Now has not only Loft its Beauty, but, as a Flower cropt from its Native Stalk, 'tis Faded, 'tis Offenfive. You will find No S. ch Inftances in Milton.

And

not only Similes, whatever Other Paffages He Tranfplants they rear their Flourish'd heads, are as Gay and as Fragrant as whence theywere taken. and what Glory the Invention has not in Such Occafions is fully recompenc'd to the Genius and Judgment; What is Inferted Fits as well as in the Original Work; or if That is not Equal to Milton's Own, He makes it So by Raifing its Native Character. to call Large Fields, or a far Ex

tended