Culpabit duros, incomptis allinet atrum
Transverso calamo signum, ambitiosa recidet
Ornamenta, parum claris lucem dare coget,
Arguet ambigue dictum, mutanda notabit.

There is more than one Example of every kind of these Faults in the
Tragedies of _Shakespear_, and even in the _Coriolanus_. There are Lines
that are utterly void of that celestial Fire of which _Shakespear_ is
sometimes Master in so great a Degree. And consequently there are Lines
that are stiff and forc'd, and harsh and unmusical, tho' _Shakespear_ had
naturally an admirable Ear for the Numbers. But no Man ever was very
musical who did not write with Fire, and no Man can always write with
Fire, unless he is so far Master of his Time, as to expect those Hours
when his Spirits are warm and volatile. _Shakespear_ must therefore
sometimes have Lines which are neither strong nor graceful: For who ever
had Force or Grace that had not Spirit? There are in his _Coriolanus_,
among a great many natural and admirable Beauties, three or four of those
Ornaments which _Horace_ would term ambitious; and which we in _English_
are apt to call Fustian or Bombast. There are Lines in some Places which
are very obscure, and whole Scenes which ought to be alter'd.

I have, Sir, employ'd some Time and Pains, and that little Judgment which
I have acquir'd in these Matters by a long and a faithful reading both of
Ancients and Moderns, in adding, retrenching, and altering several Things
in the _Coriolanus_ of _Shakespear_, but with what Success I must leave to
be determin'd by you. I know very well that you will be surpriz'd to find,
that after all that I have said in the former Part of this Letter against
_Shakespear_'s introducing the Rabble into _Coriolanus_, I have not only
retain'd in the second Act of the following Tragedy the Rabble which is in
the Original, but deviated more from the _Roman_ Customs than _Shakespear_
had done before me. I desire you to look upon it as a voluntary Fault and
a Trespass against Conviction: 'Tis one of those Things which are _ad
Populum Phalerae_, and by no means inserted to please such Men as you.

Thus, Sir, have I laid before you a short but impartial Account of the
Beauties and Defects of _Shakespear_, with an Intention to make these
Letters publick if they are approv'd by you; to teach some People to
distinguish between his Beauties and his Defects, that while they imitate
the one, they may with Caution avoid the othe