ast in life that most military men have it, and few naval;
that several men of rank have it, and few lawyers,' &c. &c. I say,
omit the whole of that sentence, because, like the 'cosmogony, or
creation of the world,' in the 'Vicar of Wakefield,' it is not much
to the purpose.

"In the sentence above, too, almost at the top of the same page,
after the words 'that there ever was, or can be, an aristocracy of
poets,' add and insert these words--'I do not mean that they should
write in the style of the song by a person of quality, or _parle
euphuism_; but there is a _nobility_ of thought and expression to
be found no less in Shakspeare, Pope, and Burns, than in Dante,
Alfieri,' &c. &c. and so on. Or, if you please, perhaps you had
better omit the whole of the latter digression on the _vulgar_
poets, and insert only as far as the end of the sentence on Pope's
Homer, where I prefer it to Cowper's, and quote Dr. Clarke in
favour of its accuracy.

"Upon all these points, take an opinion; take the sense (or
nonsense) of your learned visitants, and act thereby. I am very
tractable--in PROSE.

"Whether I have made out the case for Pope, I know not; but I am
very sure that I have been zealous in the attempt. If it comes to
the proofs we shall beat the blackguards. I will show more
_imagery_ in twenty lines of Pope than in any equal length of
quotation in English poesy, and that in places where they least
expect it. For instance, in his lines on _Sporus_,--now, do just
_read_ them over--the subject is of no consequence (whether it be
_satire_ or epic)--we are talking of _poetry_ and _imagery_ from
_nature_ and _art_. Now, mark the images separately and
arithmetically:--

"'1. The thing of _silk_.
2. _Curd_ of _ass_'s milk.
3. The _butterfly_.
4. The _wheel_.
5. Bug with gilded wings.
6. _Painted_ child of dirt.
7. Whose _buzz_.
8. Well-bred _spaniels_.
9. _Shallow streams run dimpling._
10. Florid impotence.
11. _Prompter. Puppet squeaks._
12. _The ear of Eve._
13. _Familiar toad._
14. _Half froth, half venom, splits_ himself abroad.
15. _Fop_ at the _toilet_.
16. _Flatterer_ at the _board_.
17. _Amphibious thing_.
18. Now _trips a lady_.
19. Now _struts a lord_.