SECT. 2.
What Kind of Pastorals would please most Universally; and delight the greatest Number of Readers.
For my own Part, as I said, I could be delighted with any Kind of Pastoral, if the Writer would but be at the Pains of selecting the most beautiful Images, and tenderest Thoughts. This is the first and principal Matter. Yet this might be perform'd by a moderate Capacity, without a Genius born for Tragedy.
Would a Person but form a delightful Story, invent new and uncommon and pleasing Characters, and furnish his Mind with a small Number of fine Images from the Country, before he sate down to write his Pieces, He would not fail of Success. But if Writers will only put down a parcel of common triffling Thoughts from Theocritus and Virgil, nor will so much as aim at any thing themselves, can you blame me Cubbin, if I throw 'em aside. Let 'em have a thousand Faults, I can be pleas'd by 'em, if they have but Beauties with 'em; nor will you ever hear me blame Shakespear for his Irregularity. And Pastoral is delightful to me in it's own Nature, that were these Authors to employ but my Mind in any manner, I should have Patience to peruse 'em.
But if these Authors were unwilling to be at the Pains of forming a pleasant Story themselves, they might go upon little Tales already known, such as, The Two Children in the Wood, and a thousand others inimitably pretty and delightful.
And had we a Set of such Pastorals as these, I am satisfied they would take extreamly. More Cubbin, perhaps than yours ever will; because perfect Pastories are directed only to Persons of Reading and Judgment. But you cannot I suppose satisfie your own Mind, unless you write up to what you judge the Standard of Perfection in every sort of Writing.
FINIS.
Notes on the Text.
It was impractical to issue Purney's Enquiry in facsimile because of the blurred condition of the photostats. This reprint follows the original text faithfully, with the following exceptions: the long "s" and the double "v" are modernized; small capitals, which appear frequently in the 1717 version, are reduced to lower-case letters; a few very slight typographical errors have been silently corrected. On page 40, line 1, thoroughly reads throughly in the original; and the three lines of Greek on p. 70, somewhat garbled in the original, are given in corrected form.