430; (9.) party spirit, ver. 452, &c.;
(10.) envy, ver. 466; against envy, and in praise of good-nature, ver.
508, &c. When severity is chiefly to be used by critics, ver. 526, &c.
PART III.
Rules for the conduct of manners in a critic--(1.) candour, ver. 503;
modesty, ver. 566; good-breeding, ver. 572; sincerity, and freedom of
advice, ver. 578; (2.) when one's counsel is to be restrained, ver. 584.
Character of an incorrigible poet, ver. 600. And of an impertinent
critic, ver. 610, &c. Character of a good critic, ver. 629. The history
of criticism, and characters of the best critics--Aristotle, ver. 645;
Horace, ver. 653; Dionysius, ver. 665; Petronius, ver. 667; Quintillian,
ver. 670; Longinus, ver. 675. Of the decay of criticism, and its
revival. Erasmus, ver. 693; Vida, ver. 705; Boileau, ver. 714; Lord
Roscommon, &c., ver. 725. CONCLUSION.
PART FIRST.
'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But, of the two, less dangerous is the offence
To tire our patience, than mislead our sense.
Some few in that, but numbers err in this;
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose,
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.
'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. 10
In poets as true genius is but rare,
True taste as seldom, is the critic's share;
Both must alike from Heaven derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
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