lowing fheets. Though his perfonal capacity, and the treafures of his own library, might have enabled him to furpass whatever has appeared of this kind before, he did not omit to use the affiftance of his friends occafionally. As to the choice of his fubjects, he has not, like his predeceffors, abandoned himself to fiction and fancy, but has rather preferred what concerns the improvement of real life, in the most confiderable characters, defcriptions, conditions, manners and events of it. In his choice of authors, he has not used the noted poets of later date, as Milton, Cowley, Waller, Dryden, Otway, Lee, Prior, Congreve, and fuch of their fucceffors as adorn our own times; he has chofen rather to devote himself to

neglected and expiring merit; conceiving it more useful and meritorious to revive and preserve the excellencies, which time and oblivion were upon the point of cancelling for ever, than to repeat what others had extracted before, and incur the cenfure of borrowing their collections to impose upon his readers. As to his ufe therefore of authors, he has made this work a kind of fupplement to the others of the fame kind before extant; and has began to extract from the poets, where the generality of them began to write with any degree of perfection, as to matter, method, numbers, diction and elegance. Though

Though he had fufficient temptation to have called in auxiliaries of a more ancient date, he was afraid to venture them in this refined æra of our language, till his readers might be prepared by the poetry of an intermediate age to relish the wholsome force and native beauties of older times, notwithstanding their antiquated garb and manners. The religious heats that fubfifted during the reformation, were fo averse to the muses, that no poetical compofitions, of any merit, appeared till the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign (though two or three Holyday Writers, as Mr. Dryden calls them, had given the world a few imitations from the Italian upon the fubject of love.) At that time came out the fine collection, called, * The Mirror for Magiftrates. This piece was done by feveral hands. It represents pathetically the falls of many great and unfortunate men of our nation, and beautifully advises others to avoid following their example. Besides the particular praises given this work by Sir Philip Sidney, and (*) Mr. Edmund Bolton, another judicious critick, who writes not long after him, that it received the general approbation, appears from its having been three or four times reprinted.

London, 40, 1559. +Defence of Poefie.

(*) Hypocritica, lately published,

reprinted. Every impreffion had new additions from other eminent hands, amongst whom the Earl of Dorfet is not the least confpicuous. Our compiler has fcarce cited any poet antecedent to the authors of this collection, for the reasons we have given above; and what he has extracted from others better known, as from Spenser,&c. appears almost entirely new, having never been quoted in this manner, and perhaps, little obferved before. He has not only endeavoured to fupply the omiffion of the authors, from whom this collection is taken, whose works might eafily have been had, as they are extant in volumes; but as there are many other ingenious dramatick poets, whofe writings were never printed together in editions, and confequently were little likely to fall in the way of other compilers, our author, to make his work as complete as poffible, has fpared no pains in confulting as great a number as he could procure. This might not have been fo easy to others; loofe pamphlets being very liable to be loft, or not recovered without long fearch and great expence; of which one volume, containing ten of Massenger's plays, is a proof, that was fold lately at an auction for between three and four pounds. But happily between his own ftores, and the large fupplies of whatever was fcarce and valuable

from

rom those of his acquaintance, he has had he opportunity of ufing, in the prefent collection, between four and five hundred plays, both tragedies and comedies; for which latter fpecies of poem, no other compiler feems to have had any relish. He has, however, admitted paffages from ancient comedies; not being of their opinion, who confine inftruction and poetry to verfe only And to avoid the offence that the measure of profe might give the eye in print, when mingled with verfe, he has confined the profe lines to the fame extent with those of the verfes. He has admitted no profeffed tranflations, that this collection, according to its title, might be entirely English: And as to the difpofition of the paffages, they are more regular than in any other book of this kind; the quotations not only being placed under their proper topicks, but ranged according to the order of time, in which they were wrote, that every chapter might fhew the progreffive alterations and improvement of our style and language. And that the work might be the more authentick, nothing is transcribed at second hand, but all the paffages are copied from the authors themselves; an advantage, as we have obferved before, not in the power of every compiler. Great care has alfo been taken in pointing and print

ing

ing them correctly, and punctually to af fign his own thoughts to every author.

Having given fome account of this work, it may be no unnatural transition to fay fome. thing of its merits and utility. It is a kind of body instinct with foul in every part. Wherever you open it, you are in the heart of your fubject: Every leaf includes many leffons, and is a fyftem of knowledge in a few lines. It is a guide in the actions, paffions, fortunes, misfortunes, and all the viciffitudes, of life. The merely fpeculative may here find experience; the flattered, truth; the diffident, refolution; the prefumptuous, modefty; the oppreffor, mercy; the proud, humility; and the powerful, juftice. Youth and age may improve equally by confulting it: The one it directs, the other it admonishes: Whilft it amends the heart, it informs the head, and is, at the fame time, the rule of virtue, and the standard of poetical eloquence; efpecially to those who can difcern delicacy of wit, dignity of fentiment, and fublimity of thought, through antiquated modes of fpeech, and the language of an age ago.