But let
any one read the pastorals of that author, and he will be convinced,
that this judicious critic, notwithstanding his fine reasonings, had a
false taste, and fixed the point of perfection much nearer the extreme
of refinement than pastoral poetry will admit of. The sentiments of his
shepherds are better suited to the toilets of Paris than to the forests
of Arcadia. But this it is impossible to discover from his critical
reasonings. He blames all excessive painting and ornament, as much as
Virgil could have done had he written a dissertation on this species of
poetry. However different the tastes of men may be, their general
discourses on these subjects are commonly the same. No criticism can be
very instructive which descends not to particulars, and is not full of
examples and illustrations. 'Tis allowed on all hands, that beauty, as
well as virtue, lies always in a medium; but where this medium is placed
is the great question, and can never be sufficiently explained by
general reasonings.
I shall deliver it as a third observation on this subject, "That we
ought to be more on our guard against the excess of refinement than that
of simplicity; and that because the former excess is both less beautiful
and more dangerous than the latter.
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