petual glitter of expreffion, the fwoln imagery, and ftrained defcription, with which they abound, are ornaments of a falfe kind. The following paffage may be produced as a fpeci men-: It was early in a fummer morning, when the air was cool the earth moift, the whole face of the creation fresh and gay. The noify world was fcarce awake. Bufinefs had not quite fhook off his found fleep, and Riot had but just reclined his giddy head. All was ferene; all was still; every thing tended to infpire tranquillity of mind, and invite to ferious thought. Only the wakeful lark had left her neft, and was mounting on high, to falute the opening day. Elevated in air, the feemed to call the laborious hufbandman to his toil, and her fellow fongfters to their notes-Earliest of birds, faid I, companion of the dawn, may I always rife at thy voice! rife to offer the matin-fong, and adore that beneficent Being "who maketh the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoice." How charming to rove abroad, at this fweet hour of prime ! to enjoy the calm of nature, to tread the dewy lawns, and tafe the unrifled freshnefs of the air! The greynefs of the dawn decays gradually. Abundance of ruddy ftreaks tinge the fleeces of the firmament; 'till, at length, the dappled aspect of the Eaft is loft in one ardent and boundlefs blufh.- -Is it the furmife of imagination, or do the skies really redden with fhame, to fee so many fupinely fretched on their drowsy pillows? Hervey's Reflections on a Flower-Garden.. This paffage is rendered ridiculous by being unneceffarily loaded with the triteft epithets of poetry. All the writings of this author are nearly in the fame ftrain. There is a certain degree of elevation, to which profe may be permitted to rife. Its elevation, however, muft not be perpetual; when a writer affects unvaried magnificence, it is probable that his reader will at length be feized with fatiety. Ornament looses its effect when every page is crowded with embellishments. In the following beautiful paffage, we difcover none of thofe improprieties which appear in that quoted above. It difcovers an elevation of fentiment, free from all puerility of language. There is a kind of voice that fpeaks through the universe. The language of nature is that of delight; and even the parts incapable of admitting this delight, have yet the means of imparting it. Behold the fun! The luftre which it fpreads, and the beauties which it enables you to discover, kindle your admiration. The Indian views it with rapture. He feels gratitude for its bounty. He addreffes the God of fire with hymns of praife, and fongs of triumph. But in vain fhould he attempt to make that fun fhare his gratifica tions. The orb of day is uninfluenced by his expreffions of adoration. It heeds no proteftations; it feels no emotions: but that orb adminifters to the comfort of the devotee, and conveys animation and chearfulness to millions. The ftructure of the heavens manifeft fuch defign, and wifdom, that fome of the ancient philofophers fuppofed man born only to view and admire them. The bounty displayed in this earth, equals the grandeur confpicuous in the heavens. There is no region in which the volume of inftruction is not unfolded. In every climate is found proper food. for the fupport of the inhabitants, and proper medicines for the removal of their difeafes. And fhould every age even change its food and its difeafes, there would ftill be found in the world fufficient for the inhabitants. So bountiful and provident is nature! The diftribution of oceans, feas, and rivers; the variety of fields, meadows and groves; the luxuriance of fruits, herbs and flowers; the return of spring, fummer, autumn, and winter, not only regular in their proaches, but bringing with them prefents, to make their return defirable; the pleafing viciffitudes of day and night; all have a voice, which by telling man, he is conftantly receiving favours, reminds him he fhould be ready to bestow them. Dyer's Dissertation on Benevolence. · This paffage expreffes elevated notions in elevated language.. It does not, like the one lately quoted, contain any thing ridiculous or difgufting. The orb of day is the only expreffion which approaches to puerility but it is evidently introduced to avoid repetition, : ap There is one fpecies of writing in which the florid ftyle: may be employed with propriety; I mean the oriental tale. This kind of compofition poffeffes many charms, when finished with a masterly hand. And accordingly it has always very popular from the time of its introdeion into been Europe. In France it was at one time cultivated with particular attention; though the oriental tales that obtained a currency in that country, had often yery little to recommend them. Enfuite vinrent, de Syrie Volumes de contes fans fin Du Talmudifte, et du Rabbin, Hamilton. English literature can boast of several beautiful compofitions of this kind. It will be fufficient to mention Johnfon's Rasselas, Hawkfworth's Almoran and Hamet, and Langhorne's Solyman and Almena, together with the various tales which occur in the Spectator, Rambler, and Adven Iurer. Although the oriental tale admits the florid ftyle, yet , every page must not be highly ornamented. The mind is apt to be dazzled by too much splendour: and where all is magnificent, we become fick of admiration. CHAP. XXIV. OF THE SIMPLE AND THE AFFECTED STYLE. S IMPLICITY, applied to writing, is a term very frequently ufed; but, like other critical terms, it is often ufed in a very loofe and vague manner. This circumftance has chiefly arifen from the variety of meanings attached to the word. It will therefore be neceffary to diftinguish these different fignifications; and to fhew in what fenfe the term is properly applicable to ftyle. We may remark four different acceptations in which it is taken. The firft is fimplicity of compofition, as oppofed to a great variety of parts. This is the fimplicity of plan in dramatic or epic poetry, as diftinguished from double plots, and crowded incidents. Thus we term the plan of Home's Douglas fimple, and that of Dryden's Spanish Fryar complicated. We fpeak of the fimplicity of Homer's Iliad, in oppofition to the digreffions of Lucan's Pharsalia. In this fenfe, fimplicity is the fame with unity. The fecond fenfe is fimplicity of thought, as opposed to refinement. Simple thoughts are what arife naturally, what the fubject or the occafion fuggefts unfought, and what when once fuggested, are easily apprehended by all. Refinement in writing expreffes a lefs natural and obvious train of thought, which it requires a peculiar bent of genius to purfue. Thus we fay, that Parnell and Goldsmith exhibit greater fimplicity of thought than Cowley and Donne : Cicero's thoughts on moral fubjects are natural: Seneca's too refined and far-fetched. In thefe two fenfes of fimplicity, when it is oppofed either to variety of parts, or to refinement of thought, it bears no proper relation to ftyle. In the third place, fimplicity ftands oppofed to fuperfluous ornament, or pomp of language. Thus Jortin is termed a fimple, and Hervey a florid writer. The fimple style, in this fenfe, coincides with the plain or with the neat style, which, as it has been already treated of, requires no farther illuftration. There is also another fignification attached to the term fimplicity. This does not refer to the degree of ornament employed, fo much as to the eafy and natural manner in which our language expreffes our thoughts. In this fenfe, fimplicity is compatible with the higheft ornament. It ftands oppofed, not to ornament, but to affectation. Thus Homer poffeffes this kind of fimplicity in the greateft perfection and 7 yet no poet has more ornament and beauty. A graceful fimplicity of ftyle feems to be of eafy attainment; though in practice the matter is found to be quite otherwise.* It does not appear difficult to catch the man * Itaque eum qui audiunt, quamvis ipfi infantes fint, tamen illo modo confidunt fe poffe dicere. Nam orationis fubftilitas imitabilis quidam illa videtur effe exiftimanti, fed nihil eft experienti minus... Ciceronis Qrator. ner of Xenophon, or Addifon; yet, who has ever imitated. either of them with fuccefs? ફ A writer of fimplicity expreffes himself in a manner which every one thinks eafy to be attained. There are no marks of art in his expreffion; it feems the very language of nature you fee in the style, not the writer and his labour; but the man in his own natural character. He may be rich in his expreffion; he may avail himself of the beauties of figurative language, Or of the forms which Fancy doth inrol. Yet Davies. Still, however, every thing feems to flow from him without effort; and he appears to write in this manner, not because he has ftudied it, but because it is most natural to him. it must not be imagined, that a ftyle of this kind is to be attained without ftudy. To conceal its own efforts, is faid to be the perfection of art: and when we find an author's style characterized by a beautiful fimplicity, we may conclude that this is the effect of natural ingenuity aided by an affidious attention to the rules of compofition.. It is the opinion of fome critics, that a certain degree of negligence is not ungraceful in this kind of ftyle. "Let it poffefs," fays Cicero" let it poffefs fomewhat of foftness and eafe, that may indicate a species of negligence, not-unpleafing in an author who appears more folicitous about the thought than the expreffion." Molle quiddam, fomewhat of foftness and cafe, is undoubtedly confiftent with grace and fimplicity but how any fpecies of negligence fhould have the good fortune to be regarded as ornamental, it is not altogether eafy to conceive. The ftyle of fome authors who are chargeable with frequent negligences, may be highly agreeable but it is agreeable becaufe its intrinfic beauties are more than fufficient to compensate for thefe inftances of neglect. An author, it is true, ought always to be more folicitous about fentiments than language: yet the utmoft attention to the former is not incompatible with a high degree of attention to the latter. Reading an author of fimplicity, is like maintaining familiar converfation with a perfon of diftinction, who lays * Ciceronis Orator... |