[10.] I allude to such characters as the blubbering droll Tyke.
[11.] Reynolds’s characters are as faithful copies of nature as Woodward’s caricatures of men with heads ten times bigger than their bodies. How could Mr. Surr, in a late well written novel, offer any apology for him? But friendship is as blind as love, in spite of Horace’s opinion.
[12.] Though I call Dibdin a ballad-monger, I do not think him by any means equal to the other songster, sans-souci Dibdin.
[13.] It is a melancholy thing, that men of the first abilities have frequently lent their aid to the cause of vice. Better be dull as Cobb, or Hoare, than so to abuse great talents.
[14.] The age are under great obligations to Mr. Gifford for his very excellent edition of Massinger. I wish he had not been so severe on poor Mason and Coxeter. Their inaccuracies certainly warranted a few expressions of spleen, but not such harsh language as Mr. Gifford uses; but alas! his Persian fist cannot hit a gentle blow. Like his author, whom he has so successfully translated, whenever he attacks, “instat, insultat, jugulat.” —Scal. de Satira.
[15.] I am not one of those who think the age degenerate: but certainly the rigid manly character of old times is melted into one of elegance and comparative softness. Perhaps the change is for the better, as I think no virtue has been lost in the transfusion. Be that as it may, there is something in the tone of Massinger not altogether suited to the general taste of the present time. I wish it was.
[16.] Fletcher is an amiable writer; but the general effect of his tragedies appears to me languid. His comedies, however, are exceedingly entertaining.
[17.] Jonson’s genius and learning shine to advantage in his Volpone, Alchymist, Silent Woman, and Every Man in his Humour. It is to be lamented his characters are not more general.
[18.] Let me join my voice to the universal chorus of praise to Shakspeare, “si quid loquar audiendum.” It is merely a testimony of gratitude; nor presumes to add to that fame which has been celebrated, not to mention a thousand others, by the nervous prose of Johnson and the rapturous poetry of Gray. O “Magnum et memorabile nomen!”
[19.] Hair is a favourite object with all the Irish poets, and endless is the variety of their description: “Soft misty curls;” “Thick branching tresses of bright redundance;” “Locks of fair waving beauty;” “Tresses flowing on the wind like the bright waving flame of an inverted torch.” They even appear to inspire it with expression: as, “Locks of gentle lustre;” “Tresses of tender beauty;” “The maid with the mildly flowing hair,” &c. &c.