; his
heroes are all foreigners; he cultivates a country that is nothing
a-kin to him, and Lombardy reaps the honour of all. Other poets chose
some action or hero so illustrious, that the name of the poem prepared
the reader, and made way for its reception; but in this poem none can
divine what great action he intended to celebrate, nor is the reader
obliged to know whether the hero be Turk or Christian; nor do the
first lines give any light or prospect into the design. Altho' a poet
should know all arts and sciences, yet ought he discreetly to manage
his knowledge. He must have a judgment to select what is noble and
beautiful, and proper for the occasion. He must by a particular
chemistry, extract the essence of things; without soiling his wit with
dross or trumpery. The sort of verse Davenant makes choice of in his
Gondibert might contribute much to the vitiating his stile; for
thereby he obliges himself to stretch every period to the end of four
lines: Thus the sense is broken perpetually with parentheses, the
words jumbled in confusion, and darkness spread over all; but it must
be acknowledged, that Davenant had a particular talent for the
manners; his thoughts are great, and there appears something roughly
noble thro' the whole." This is the substance of Rymer's observations
on Gondibert. Rymer was certainly a scholar, and a man of discernment;
and tho' in some parts of the criticisms he is undoubtedly right, yet
in other parts he is demonstrably wrong. He complains that Davenant
has laid the scene of action in Lombardy, which Rymer calls neglecting
his own country; but the critic should have considered, that however
well it might have pleased the poet's countrymen, yet as an epic poem
is supposed to be read in every nation enlightened by science, there
can no objections arise from that quarter by any but those who were of
the same country with the author. His not making choice of a pompous
name, and introducing his poem with an exordium, is rather a beauty
than a fault; for by these means he leaves room for surprize, which is
the first excellency in any poem, and to strike out beauties where
they are not expected, has a happy influence upon the reader. Who
would think from Milton's introduction, that so stupendous a work
would ensue, and simple dignity is certainly more noble, than all the
efforts and colourings which art and labour can bestow.

The ingenious and learned Mr. Blackwall, Professor of Greek in the
u