me Parts are made
stupendously magnificent and grand, to surprize with the vast Design and
Execution of the Architect; others are contracted, to amuse you with his
Neatness and Elegance in little. So, in _Shakespeare_, we may find
_Traits_ that will stand the Test of the severest Judgment; and Strokes as
carelessly hit off, to the Level of the more ordinary Capacities: Some
Descriptions rais'd to that Pitch of Grandeur, as to astonish you with the
Compass and Elevation of his Thought; and others copying Nature within so
narrow, so confined a Circle, as if the Author's Talent lay only at
drawing in Miniature.

In how many points of Light must we be obliged to gaze at this great Poet!
In how many Branches of Excellence to consider and admire him! Whether we
view him on the Side of Art or Nature, he ought equally to engage our
Attention: Whether we respect the Force and Greatness of his Genius, the
Extent of his Knowledge and Reading, the Power and Address with which he
throws out and applies either Nature or Learning, there is ample scope
both for our Wonder and Pleasure. If his Diction and the cloathing of his
Thoughts attract us, how much more must we be charm'd with the Richness
and Variety of his Images and Ideas! If his Images and Ideas steal into
our Souls, and strike upon our Fancy, how much are they improv'd in Price,
when we come to reflect with what Propriety and Justness they are apply'd
to Character! If we look into his Characters, and how they are furnish'd
and proportion'd to the Employment he cuts out for them, how are we taken
up with the Mastery of his Portraits! What Draughts of Nature! What
Variety of Originals, and how differing each from the other! How are they
dress'd from the Stores of his own luxurious Imagination; without being
the Apes of Mode, or borrowing from any foreign Wardrobe! Each of them are
the standards of Fashion for themselves: like Gentlemen that are above the
Direction of their Tailors, and can adorn themselves without the aid of
Imitation. If other Poets draw more than one Fool or Coxcomb, there is the
same Resemblance in them as in that Painter's Draughts, who was happy only
at forming a Rose: you find them all younger Brothers of the same Family,
and all of them have a Pretence to give the same Crest: But
_Shakespeare_'s Clowns and Fops come all of a different House; they are no
farther allied to one another than as Man to Man, Members of the same
Species: but as different in Fea